LIANNE RAYMOND

neuroplasticity

One piece of the puzzle that could point me toward walking down a different street may be found in the neural web of my brain. This occurred to me as I was listening to David Sousa talk about how the brain learns at an education conference in January. His two big themes were how it is never too late to change the brain and the impact of emotions on learning. Brain research is a hot area and the studies come out fast and furious these days. And as a teacher I get to hear a lot about this research, naturally. But at the conference in January, instead of just thinking about how this research could and would impact my teaching, I started also thinking about taking it out of the classroom. Making it personal.

Neuroplasticity. Adult brains were once thought to be fairly static. Once certain neural connections had been formed, it was thought to be a done deal. But now we know that the brain can continue to change and rewire itself throughout life. Like so many people with persistent weight issues, I have pored over nutrition books, exercise programs, theories about body chemistry. I have tried numerous approaches to eating and exercise. I have all the information I needed to make the right choices, so why aren’t I making them consistently? Maybe I had left out an important piece of the puzzle. Could childhood experiences around food have left me with some wonky neural pathways that made it more difficult to make the right choices? Had my actions over time had only served to strengthen these pathways? Time to call in the electrician and do some rewiring.

Autobiography in Five Chapters

by Portia Nelson

Chapter One

I walk down the street There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in I am lost . . . . I am helpless It isn't my fault It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But, it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three

I walk down the same street There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in . . . it’s a habit . . . but my eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter Four

I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

Chapter Five

I walk down another street.

I have always liked this poem by Portia Nelson. It seems like the perfect way to start my new blog since this is going to be an exploration of my journey to free myself from that which is weighing me down. Which is a fancy way of saying "losing weight", something I have done many times before, only to gain it back.

However, I feel hopeful that this time I am walking down another street.