I was lucky to have my daughter in Florida forwarding me a video on YouTube by Dr Tara Swart, No. 1 Neuroscientist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCW2NHbWNwA&authuser=0. It is a video of a little over 2 hours. Such long videos I tend to ignore. But Divinity favoured my watching the video in 30 mins intervals at a time. I was truly fascinated and amazed by the contents she has shared.

Dr Tara Swart is a neuroscientist and a former psychiatric doctor. She has been a Senior lecturer at MIT Sloan and visiting senior lecturer at Kings College, London, best selling author and an executive advisor to some of the world’s most respected leaders in media and business.

(synopsis below by Gul Malani)

In order to make it brief and specific for my own understanding as well as for our blog readers, I am listing below my important takeaways covered in this video. For a complete, unbiased understanding, I strongly recommend watching the video.

• Our Brain has enormous potential. Just by imagining, a study group of weight lifters increased their muscle mass by 13% in two weeks without lifting any weights
• Stress hormone is Cortisol and Stress is contagious as Cortisol leaks out in our sweat and goes into the skin of others affecting them too
• As a survival mechanism or food security, Stress causes Belly fat. It also causes inflammation
• Brain is actively growing and changing until we are 25 years old. From 25 to 65 years, if we do intense activities it will actively change and improve the Brain functions
• Stress is when the mental, emotional and physical load is more than you can bear
• Right eye to left eye viewing forms the emotional contact between persons and creates the emotional resonance or bonding loop between the two.
• Physical interaction like handshake, a hug or a kiss on the cheek as well as laughing together helps emotional bonding. It releases Oxytocin. Having a bath or massage releases Oxytocin too!
• Women that interact and work closely in a group tend to have synchronised mensuration cycles
• Managing their own Stress Levels is important to the Leaders. Even if they try to supress it, their stress will pass on to others in their team
• Melatonin helps us to sleep, Cortisol helps us to wake up
• High levels of Cortisol lead to sleep disruptions, belly fat, weakens the strong connection between the Brain and the Gut, increases reflux, indigestion, irritability, results in mood changes, dries the skin, creates unhealthy issues on the skin, increases inflammation. Cortisol also runs down our Immune System.
• Half the battle is won if people are aware that they are stressed. Problem is when people are not aware that they are stressed
• Get rid of the Cortisol by sweating, doing aerobic exercises, writing a journal, consulting a Therapist
• Lying in bed for 9 hours and Good sleep of 8 hours 15 mins is recommended for all to lay down memories, emotions and for the cells to regenerate themselves.
• Sleeping on the side is a better position for the veins in your neck
• Co-sleeping in proximity and cuddling are powerful for interactive bonding and are neuro protective. Oxytocin gets released with close contact sleeping which is fundamental to our survival, emotionally and spiritually. Separate bedrooms are not recommended except for short duration situations.
• The Glymphatic system is the waterway to clean out the brain. It takes 7 to 8 hours to flush out the brain.
• Intuition should be our strongest decision making modality. Intuitions are the lessons we have picked up on the way but are not conscious of it. It is in our Neural system which is in our Brain and also in our Gut. It is a feeling of knowing something but we do not know why we know it, it is embodied within us.
• Because of the Pandemic, many of us have definitely appreciated the importance of our time spent in Nature. Time spent in Nature has a positive impact on our physical, mental health and longevity. Also, having a Purpose that transcends our self is important for our mental health. Do things that makes life worth living.
• Being creative every week also has a positive impact on our mental health, Neuro aesthetics is about having some creative activity in our weekly schedule. Listening to Bird Songs, smelling flowers, being in Nature, learning to dance or sing, drawing, painting, reading books etc are all part of neuro aesthetics. Neuro aesthetics is about living a life that is aesthetically pleasing to our brain and not just our health. If you are able to spare your mental resources to appreciate beauty, that means that you are feeling safe and not just living to survive! There is beauty and wisdom in this Universe that we have access to.
• Dr Tara lives maintaining positive, deep, spiritual relationships with her tribe
• The two main drives in our Brain are Sex & Food, so potential impact is huge. There is now a lack of empathy on our comments and actions on other people. Pornography changes the way men view women. The impact on women is great as it changes the way they have to look, sex has become a transaction. Respect and empathy in relationships has changed
• Brain is actually growing and changing till we are 25 years old, from 25 to 65, if we do not do anything, our Brain will plateau. If you do things that are intense enough to force your brain to change, then you can learn new things and bring global benefit to your brain like developing executive functions, which are the highest functions of the brain. You will be able to regulate your emotions better, solve complex problems, think flexibly, creatively, override any conscious or unconscious biases we may have.
  • In order to develop our brain, we first need to raise Awareness, then focus attention, marry the decision with the consequence. Next step is deliberate practice which may be hard as the Brain is an energy hungry organ so it takes the path of least resistance. If you continue persisting on the new pathway, eventually the new pathway you are building will become stronger than one you have before. Dr Tara says that years of practice and journaling has made her better on holding herself accountable. For most people external help may be needed, like personal journals or Action Boards that family can see and help or even get professional help.
  • We have to process all our emotions to handle grief or trauma. Avoiding the emotions will not help in the long run. They will come back and torment us!
  • If we do aerobic exercises, it will increase neuro plasticity, embryonic cells will convert faster to neurons and establish pathways and connectivity
  • Dark foods have a high level of antioxidants in the pigment and in their skins and so they contribute more to neuro genesis. So, eat black beans instead of white, blue berries instead of strawberries, dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, ??……..sprouts instead of Green Broccoli, good quality coffee. Vary what you eat, but choose the dark option if you can.
  • For neuro plasticity you do not want to do too much of high intensity exercise because it heightens the Cortisol levels. Best is to do gentle exercises. Eating various types of plants without meat and varying the colors. Managing your stress by Meditation and being hydrated. If you are doing all these things and you want to play at level 2, you could do time restricted eating, Do it between 12 noon to 8 pm or do between 8 am to 8 pm. That kind of fasting is beneficial to your Brain only if your foundation is right. Fasting helps you to regulate your Blood Sugar levels. Spike in Blood Sugar levels are not helpful to your Body or your Brain. Fasting and calorie restriction do have Brain health as well as longevity benefits. Someone who doesn’t sleep enough, is stressed or eats badly will not benefit from fasting.
  • Repeated negative thoughts should be replaced by positive affirmation for improving Brain health. Changing the language in your mind about the things you think will give the best outcome. You can understand your own thinking and reversing and repeating that often will wear down the older pathway in your Brain. The statement that you repeat often is then the one that the Brain believes, more than the earlier one. We can say I am going to be safe and repeat it, not say just shallow statements like I am attractive or I will be rich, etc. Finding statements that have nothing to do with social or parental expectations, or what someone else wants, but what you want to know for yourself and that will set you up to go out into the real world and do the stuff that you need to do to get the other things that you want.
  • Dr Tara believes in manifestation based on your Brain, your thoughts, your beliefs, your actions. Your Brain is the source for everything you want to attract into your life. It is much more empowering to believe that it is your Brain that is making something happen and not some external force
  • Humming & chanting that come from indigenous wisdom are really beneficial for expressing creativity and calming down the nervous system
  • In the 80’s a group of Octogenarians that were made to live in homes typical of 60’s were taller, and younger looking in one weeks time! They removed their limitations on themselves.
  • Language is very important to our Brain! If the words used mean retirement or old age, we tend to slow down! Words can change our behaviour quickly! When we use the word ‘need’ it implies that we don’t have enough and we are missing something in our life!
  • People should realise as to how much potential they have in their brain, how capable they are of having an even more Amazing Life!
  • Be very clear on what else you want and then sit down for five minutes and visualise those things to be true and give gratitude for that. See it, feel it in your body, taste it in your mouth, hear it in your ears, completely immerse yourself in that for five minutes or more. Essentially you are moving your Brain from a fear state to a trust state and that is the gateway to make new changes.

BON VOYAGE FOR YOUR JOURNEY TO AN AMAZING LIFE