Platform Art is A Guaranty and Cultuur+Ondernemen organized a number of Artist Meetings. Artists explored with experts how to strengthen and expand their independent social and economic position. In BK Information in the coming period, we will provide abridged reports of each Artist Meeting made by Cultuur+Ondernemen. This time provocative systems therapist and coach Jeroen Stek gave tips for a happy brain.
A work fails, a project goes completely differently than expected or that beautiful expo passes you by. The way you deal with this is determined by the wiring of the brain. Imaginary cables in the head that are laid partly during childhood and from genes. The good news is that that wiring is constantly renewing and you can influence it.
Hallucinating reality
The same event is perceived differently by everyone. This is because our brain creates a picture of the reality around us. In fact, our brain hallucinates reality. The assessment of the situation around us, happens in our head. With a stressed brain, you tend to see mostly the bad. You are more likely to make stupid choices, which do not necessarily lead to feelings of happiness. People with a positive, creative and curious brain, of course, are not constantly overwhelmed by happiness. But they generally make wél a better assessment of the reality around them. And they are able to accumulate moments of happiness earlier.
How do you get a happy brain?
Changing the fixed grooves in the brain is a big job. Every stimulus - thoughts, perceptions, behaviors - consists of some kind of code for the brain. A familiar code is rewarded in the brain with a small puff of happiness hormone. The same goes for negative thoughts. So if you think often enough that you are a failed artist, the brain will automatically produce dopamine for that. And so you get a nice feeling from a negative thought.
In contrast, new thoughts or behaviors, unfamiliar codes to the brain, do not trigger a shot of dopamine. It takes between three weeks and three months to get that done. Only then is the brain accustomed enough to that new stimulus to attach a pinch of happiness hormone to it as well. So getting the brain used to new thoughts, different behaviors or a new view of reality requires a good deal of perseverance. And a structured approach.
Fun, perfection and depth
The key question is: how? Smiling a little more often - in the car, at work, even in the rain - already helps some. But real change requires more. For example: a good balance between so-called "emotional areas. These are them:
1. Pleasant life
This includes everything a person does to have fun. Going to concerts, eating out, vacations, going out, playing, having fun. Good to feel pleasant, but don't strike out. Those who strike out in having fun will experience a sense of emptiness. A rich stinker, who has everything to choose from, is not automatically happy.
2. Living well
Being the best is what you strive for in this field. The best artist, the best parent, the best athlete. If you strike out in this, you experience loss. You lose energy and end up in burnout. Moreover, you will never be the best: there is always someone who does it just a little better than you. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with ambitions. It is good to want something that is not yet within reach.
3. Meaningful life
This means doing something selflessly for another person. The result that follows is satisfaction. Especially when you do this in moderation. The other person is happy, and that makes you - if all goes well - happy too.
The knitting disc of five
Keeping these three emotional areas in balance is only part of the story. How do you work your brain so that it is happy a little more often? For that, taking good care of five different things is important. The disk of five, but for the brain.
1. Positive attention
Dwell a little more often on the things you like, enjoy or like. That helps train your brain to be happy. This is important because our feelings determine how we see the world. By paying attention to positivity in your life, you crank up the internal hormone factory. You make more dopamine (happiness hormone) and oxytocin (important for making new connections in the brain). You teach your brain to pay more attention to the fun parts of life. Sometimes this is difficult. We are like being kidnapped by our brain. It may seem like we are rational beings; the opposite is true. Consider a relationship. In the beginning, during the infatuation, you only see the other person's great sides. But when the shit hits the fan, that person suddenly turns into a person with a lot of unpleasant traits. Your feelings determine how you think about the other person.
Exercise
How do you ensure more attention to positivity in your brain? Make a notebook in which you write down three things every day that struck you in a positive way. These can be even very small things: the light that fell beautifully through the window of your studio, a passerby who let you pass. Try to keep this up for at least three months. Then the structural effect of the exercise will be noticeable.
Note! Negative emotions have an important function in life, so they don't need to be hidden away. They are there, and that's it. Notice them, be sad or angry, but don't let them kidnap you. The negativity is what it is.
2. Play
Keep playing. Juggle three sugar cubes. Hop to your car. Balance on the edge of the sidewalk. Because of the school system and the way our society is set up, we have lost the ability to play. Stress is a manifestation of this: many people take themselves far too seriously.
Exercise
Play more, especially when the going gets tough. Hop, skip, do something crazy. A pleasant way to crank up the happy brain, and deal with things that go differently than expected with more resilience. Or just throughout the day, to keep the fun going.
3. Stress
Two substances are important in rewiring the brain: DHAE and cortisol. Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, is indispensable. This is because it allows you to be super-focused in situations of danger. And that, as a survival strategy, is not at all surprising. Only, in our lives today there are very few life-threatening dangers. But we still make cortisol, through stress. And that's dangerous. Because cortisol cuts into our brain, especially the learning area, to keep the brain fully focused on the threat. In addition, it squeezes the blood vessels. When this happens too often, it leads to all kinds of cardiovascular diseases.
Exercise
How do you learn to manage stress differently? Keep these three focal points in mind:
- Do one thing at a time. Multitasking is something our brain really can't do.
- Thinking out something complicated? Provide as few distractions as possible.
- Make time every hour for three to five minutes to loaf. Lounging gives your thinking brain space to archive all the stimuli of the past hour. One hundred percent chance you'll then start the next task with more energy.
4. Connection
What is now dé big trick for happiness? That is connection with other people. Those two, three or maybe four close friends you can always turn to. With whom you have deep conversations, and who sense you flawlessly.
Exercise
Consider this: who can you always turn to, even in the middle of the night? Cherish these people and always take them into your heart.
5. Health
If you want to get it right in the head, you can't do without a healthy body. Eat healthy, preferably as much plant-based as possible. Sleep well, and preferably about eight to nine hours a day. And get plenty of exercise.
Exercise
Important appointment? Do a simple high intensity workout beforehand, by bringing the heart rate above one hundred beats per minute for a while. On the spot, draw a twenty-second sprint. Rest for ten seconds, and sprint for another twenty seconds. Finish with a relaxation exercise. And voilà: your brain is optimally ready for what is to come.
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