It’s no secret that life comes with its fair share of ups and downs. Many people have regrets about the past, worries about the future and feel there work-life balance is all wrong.
Obstacles can seem to come from nowhere but more often than not they build up over time, walling you in and creating a life of untapped potential.
So why is it that some people seem to be hardwired for happiness? What secret do these people have that makes them so resilient to the inevitable stress of being human and living in a fast moving world?
Hi, my name is Frances Masters.
I’m a BACP accredited psychotherapist withover 30,000 hours of direct client experience.
In 2009 I co-founded the charity Reclaim Life and trained volunteer coaches in a unique model which integrated for the first time powerful psychotherapeutic skills with holistic life coaching tools. The extended training program is accredited by the National College of Further Education.
Your amazing brain
The astonishing science behind the Fusion Model
Contrary to previous beliefs, breakthrough scientific research in neuroscience has shown that, rather than being a physiologically static organ, the brain can be profoundly changed on a physical level. [1]
Your brain is made up of billions of neurons, brain cells which form structures called neural pathways. It’s this wiring that determines your personality, thoughts, intelligence and emotions. Your neural networks define you.
Numerous studies, including one conducted by neuroscientist Richard Davidson and the Dalai Lama, suggest that the brain has the ability to construct and deconstruct neural pathways in order to ‘adopt different thinking circuits.’
We now have a new understanding of how to reprogram areas in the brain associated with attention, anxiety, depression, fear, anger and even the body’s ability to heal itself. [2][3][4][5]
During a lifetime, our neural networks change and adapt. Certain pathways are strengthened, while the lesser-used connections weaken, or even disappear entirely. New skills are learned and forgotten, and habits are formed and broken. This usually happen gradually, over the course of a lifetime.
However, with the right techniques, new beneficial neural networks can be formed and detrimental pathways dropped. This can be done in a fraction of the time it would normally take, with truly breathtaking results.
In the same way car engines can be turbocharged, tuned and optimized, with the right set of tools, your brain can be effectively supercharged for optimum performance.
[1] Pascual-Leone, A., Amedi, A., Fregni, F., & Merabet, L. B. (2005). The plastic human brain cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 28, 377-401.
[2] Lazar, S.; Kerr, C.; Wasserman, R.; Gray, J.; Greve, D.; Treadway, Michael T.; McGarvey, Metta; Quinn, Brian T. et al. (2005-11-28). “Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness”. NeuroReport 16 (17): 1893–97.
[3] Lutz, A.; Greischar, L.L.; Rawlings, N.B.; Ricard, M.; Davidson, R. J. (2004-11-16). “Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice”. PNAS 101 (46)
[4] Sharon Begley (20 Jan 2007). “How Thinking Can Change the Brain”. Wall Street Journal..
[5] Davidson, Richard; Lutz, Antoine (January 2008). “Buddha’s Brain: Neuroplasticity and Meditation”.