Neuro GROOVE

Hi there wonderful reader! Welcome to this electrifying corner of cyberspace where neurons party and bodies boogie! Here, we are not just decoding the brain’s secrets or breaking down movement mechanics ; we’re on a wild adventure through the thrilling intersection of neuroscience and movement.

The brain & its plasticity- Hope for ALL!

Not too long ago, science used to believe that the brain was able to develop and grow until around 25 yrs old and that, after that age , there was nothing left but decay. Fortunately for all of us, research continued and we know now that this idea is not accurate.

Let’s talk about PLASTICITY.

In biology ,it refers to the capacity of organisms or cells to alter their composition in response to changes in the environment.

The term NEUROPLASTICITY, we can say, refers to the brain’s ability to modify, change and adapt both function and structure throughout life and in response to experience.

We are constantly learning, adapting , growing and changing throughout our entire lives, creating new neural connections every day. This is GREAT news because if we are always changing it means we can always get better!.

Your Nervous System is UNIQUE

When talking about plasticity I believe it is important to mention that each individual Nervous System will adapt and change in relationship to its specific context.

By looking at the previous chart, we can already realize the many aspects that influence our lives. Depending on our environment and the stimuli we are exposed to within each of these elements, our Nervous System will develop in time as a result of the interpretation of the outer and inner reality of each individual . If you look at two different people, born at the same time but in different countries with different culture, food, weather, beliefs, etc., chances are they will indeed differ in many ways . What is even more awesome is that even two people born in the same family and at the same time will , as well, never be a replica of each other's experience .

Understanding this is crucial. Knowing how your UNIQUE Nervous System works will give you access to a more personalized and holistic approach to movement and health.

Performance or Survival?

The Brain’s priority is to keep you SAFE. In order to do so, it is constantly checking for potential threats. It relies on several systems to get information about our external and internal environments ( SENSORY INPUT ) and based on that information the brain will decide how to respond (MOTOR OUTPUT). If the information the brain receives is not clear enough , it will potentially be interpreted as a THREAT and the response to it will be PROTECTIVE. If, on the other hand, the information is clear , the brain will feel safe and the motor output will be EMPOWERING .

Cool fact about our Brain is that it will try its best to keep you posted on how it is feeling. Ever heard of PAIN? One of the most complex alarm systems that the brain creates to alert you on something not being quite right and to potentially stop you and keep you away from any danger. There are other forms of PROTECTIVE OUTPUTS such as:

Lack of strength

Dizziness

Stress

Immobility

Headaches

Anxiety

One tricky aspect of this amazing system is that protective outputs might not necessarily correlate to an obvious issue. Let me illustrate this with an experience I once had :

I was watching TV and suddenly , seemingly out of the blue, my heart started to race, my vision got blurry and I found myself fearing for my life . ‘Am I having a heart attack? Should I go to the hospital?’ were some of my thoughts. A beam of light made me realize that I was going through a peak of anxiety so I decided to turn the TV off, go outside to get fresh air, start to breath slower , look far away and do little bounces to release some of that energy and within a few minutes I started to feel more at ease.

So, why did I get this rush of anxiety if I was just chilling on the sofa watching telly? I was technically safe . But that same week I had spent an enormous amount of time looking at screens , using social media for work and I had moved very little, ate poorly, rested quite badly and had been overthinking too much about my problems. Without consciously knowing, my threat level was going higher and higher until my brain decided it was enough , too much threat ! And so the alarm went off. And it definitely worked. I realized I had been neglecting various aspects of my well being and that I had to do something to LOWER THE THREAT LEVELS and allow my brain to feel safe again.

Needless to say, all of this had also affected my movement practice. Lack of balance, lack of motivation , etc. As soon as I started my journey to reducing threat, my movement practice got better… I went from SURVIVAL MODE to PERFORMANCE MODE.

Be your own life-long science project

I understand how overwhelming it might feel when we start to accept this characteristic of humans . ‘How do I even start ? How do I know what to do and which aspect to attend to ?’. We are suddenly faced with an immense amount of information telling us what health should look and feel like and how to best pursue these health standards. I am also aware of the frustration that comes with comparison and (perceived) ‘failure’ to reach that ideal. That is why ,understanding that your Nervous System is as unique as your fingerprints is key.

Assess, try, reassess and continue to try until slowly you will feel more connected to the things that really work for YOU.

Pave YOUR way

If you take into consideration all of the above mentioned and for a moment use some time to reflect on how those aspects of your life are currently flowing and where (if anywhere) would you like them to flow towards , I am sure you can intuitively know at least some of the steps you could take to get there. I am not talking about extreme disciplines , or sudden dramatic modifications to your routine…small changes can also take you far:

➕Get some sun per day if you can

➕Try to eat food that fuels your systems

➕Move your body in a variety of ways, even if it is for just a few minutes

➕Hydrate as much as you can

➕Try to engage in activities that make you feel joy

Remember that plasticity is happening whether we want it or not. It is not ‘good or bad’, it just is .As a rule of thumb for your Nervous System EVERYTHING MATTERS and we can work with it and try to find ways to use this wonderful tool to our advantage to pursue whatever goals we have in life and to ultimately feel and perform better.

What 's next?

Life can be very hectic and you might not find all the time you need to figure out a plan that will work for your specific goals ,so finding help from others can take away a bit of pressure and allow you to focus on what’s important to you.

As well as this blog, I also create content on social media to share some cool information that can potentially help you and it is free to watch ( I love sharing what I learn with others 😀 and I do believe that having access to this kind of information is really important ) - you can find links to the different platforms on the website footer - .

If you really want to up the ante and are interested in having a plan tailored to your own unique ( and super awesome ) Nervous System that can help you become a better and smarter mover, get in touch with me and we can work together to create an affordable and accessible movement plan that will take you a step closer to your goals - you can send me a message via the Contact Me section on the website’s footer -.

And that is a wrap on our neural adventure of today! Keep those synapses firing and your bodies moving as we continue to explore the fascinating interplay between brain and body.

Stay curious, stay active and remember - every move you make is a step towards a smarter, more connected you.

Until next time, keep your brain buzzing and your body grooving!.

Celeste ~