How to achieve balance in a world that is not? The first vocation of HATAHE. Today, we invite you to discover 12 neurohacking techniques, from neuroscience, to help you find a balance in your life.
1/ Gratitude, neurohacking technique number 1
By creating “positive mental states,” like practicing gratitude, new synapses in the brain are formed and strengthened. The key idea is that the brain and the mind influence each other continuously.
So, by controlling how we direct our attention, we can use the mind to change the brain, which in turn will change our mind. The Mindset an essential technique of neurohacking.
2/ Moments of introspection
Put your brain “at rest” or in “default mode”. That is to say, stopping the brain activity actively engaged in a search for continuous productivity, is essential. Brain activity during these states correlates with socio-emotional functioning. Such as self-awareness and moral judgment, as well as aspects of learning and memory. We need these times of introspection. They are indispensable neurohacks in our search for balance.
3/ The goals we set for ourselves: effective neurohacking technique!
Setting clear objectives is indeed crucial, to orchestrate an effective neurohacking plan! In fact, it turns out that just setting goals is a neurohack in itself, even before you accomplish them.
Researchgate has published an in-depth study on the power of goals. Led by Dr. Elliott Berman of the University of Oregon, it demonstrates that simple goal setting in one’s life leads to significant increases in motivation, planning ability, effective socialization (goal-driven shared) and improved self-control.
It’s fascinating ! So, even if achieving goals may seem far away, setting them is already a key step in mental well-being. To your lists!
4/ Sleep
A technique of neurohacking too often neglected… We all know sleep is important, but do we know how essential it is for cognitive function? Anyone who’s been through a day at work after a sleepless night feels a drop in focus, on – practically, all tasks.
But why does our body need so much sleep? Interesting phenomenon: during REM sleep, most brain activity is quite similar to the state of an awake person! Understanding why we sleep has long been a scientific point of contention.
In recent years, research has shown that during sleep cerebrospinal fluid passes through channels that work to remove debris from the brain. Such as beta-amyloid, a protein whose accumulation is associated with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as many other toxins that contribute to neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. Harvey B. Simon established an additional corollary between sufficient sleep and our ability to learn and remember.
A person whose lifestyle does not include adequate sleep (7 to 8 hours for most people) exposes themselves to serious cognitive impairment and cardiovascular risks.
Discover our training How to get back to sleep and overflow with energy? A program co-designed with Doctor François Duforez.
5/ Food as neurohacking of balance
In terms of food, one rule prevails: if we want a high-performance brain, we must provide it with high-performance fuel!
Our diet is therefore decisive for our well-being and our balance in life. For the phases of the diet to be optimal: ingestion, chewing, digestion and the transformation of food into nutrients – amino acids, glucose and fatty acids…
Above all, you must provide your body with what it needs. . And banish all processed products that cannot be assimilated by the body, which produce inflammation.
Food supplements that contribute to the transformation of food into nutrients do not replace a quality diet. A rich, seasonal, local, varied and colorful diet! They complete it.
This is nutritional neurohacking or nutritherapy.
We must MOVE MOVE! From an evolutionary perspective, all adaptive capacity comes down to movement. It’s fair to say that our brain’s primary function is to inform “movement”.
The end of the movement is quite simply death. The more dynamically we move, the more alive we are and the more our body and brain develop and increase in capacity.
Exercise is inversely correlated with all known chronic diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, depression and anxiety. And leads to longevity, increased productivity, increased cognitive ability and improved mood. Nothing beats physical action, an easy-to-implement neurohacking technique that you won’t be able to do without!
From regulating hormones and neurotransmitters, to increasing neurogenesis, to positively modulating gene expression, there is no drug or substitute that comes close to the physiological and cognitive benefits of movement and movement. ‘exercise.
At least, when you know that, no more excuses not to move!
7/ The relationships we maintain
Trust… Within the entourage that we have, and with which we evolve, one of the fundamental aspects is again, trust. The reliability of those around us can increase or decrease depending on the psychological environment we create for and with others.
It is important to try to create psychological environments based on honesty. It is a must-have neurohack to flourish. In a professional setting, research has shown that employee happiness is more dependent on conditions that foster trust and honesty than pay per se.
The importance of trust for mental well-being is further amplified with friends, family, and romantic relationships.
These relationships are the foundation of our social identity and security. We cannot maintain a healthy psychological state if our first social circle systematically compromises our ethics or trust.
8/ Our behavior towards others, neurohacking of fulfillment
Benevolence, kindness, generosity – qualities to rehabilitate without moderation! Privileging help and generosity towards our friends, our relatives and even strangers, generates benefits for others, of course, but also for oneself.
Our mental health is only a winner! Numerous studies have highlighted the fact that altruistic behaviors (like volunteering) actually help people to thrive.
Giving is not just about helping to improve the lives of those we help. But it also helps to optimize our own sense of well-being.
9/ Moments for yourself, with yourself
For many of us, the most difficult relationship in our lives is not the one we have with others, but rather the one we have with ourselves. We all know how easy it is to be hard – too hard on ourselves.
While some constructive criticism can help us grow, most of our self-negativity produces the opposite, both psychologically and physically.
Self-criticism can cause the brain’s amygdala, which aids in the fight-or-flight response, to trigger an increase in blood pressure and a release of the stress hormone cortisol. To be a true creator and innovator, we must trust ourselves. Following our sensitivity, unleashing our potential. We have to do things that others don’t yet know how to do.
The harder the achievement, the more likely it is that many failures will precede eventual success. This means interpreting failure as learning rather than defeat!
The love, the passion that we put into what we want to create is a strength, a real driving force! Far from the limiting thoughts that we tend to impose on ourselves.
10/ Light
Light: an essential element – a nutrient! for our body and mind. A technique of neurohacking for millennia… Until the very recent past of our evolutionary history, Man evolved almost all of his time outdoors. We all know that sun exposure has effects on tanning and vitamin D.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of physiological dynamics that result from our relationship to light. Light and dark cycles control our circadian rhythms and the quality of our energy and sleep.
The infrared spectrum of sunlight directly stimulates the mitochondria which produce the energy with which our body functions.
Our generations are experiencing a profound lack of outside light, which causes deficits in mitochondrial frequencies. And therefore has negative effects on our sleep patterns and our balance. The down you can feel in winter is clearly the result of a lack of light.
The three simplest steps that we can follow to compensate for our lack of light are as follows: avoid blue and bright light at night, go out in the sun as often as possible! and opt for healthier indoor lighting.
11/ Air and water quality: forgotten neurohacking techniques
In recent years, a very positive phenomenon: the quality of air and water has become a real public health issue. Since most of us spend a large majority of our time inside our own homes, the quality of the ambient air should be given great attention, beyond the quality of the air of our city or region.
We all know that prolonged exposure to poor air quality can trigger lung diseases and disorders. But did you know that poor air quality can also trigger neurological diseases?
The Hindawi Journal Of Toxicology has published a comprehensive study on the subject. Concluding that various forms of particulate and airborne toxins can trigger neuroinflammation. But also oxidative stress lesions and mitochondrial dysfunction – at the origin of many neurodegenerative diseases.
We can then improve the indoor air quality of our home by following very simple steps: open the windows, run the air filters, and deal with any form of mold or other air quality issues.
Air quality is one of the too often overlooked Neurohacks!
12/ Sleep conditions
Given the unique role of sleep in overall health and well-being, optimizing sleep quality is crucial. In addition to our bedtime routine, factors in our sleep environment itself can drastically affect the quality of our sleep.
Sleep in the dark, minimize disturbing sounds, have a white noise generator and high quality bed and bedding. These elements not only improve the quality of a third of our life.
But more importantly, this period of time plays a huge factor in the health and quality of the remaining two-thirds! Sleep environment hacks are unique in that they affect our lives without requiring any ongoing activity beyond setting up the correct conditions. So easy!
