“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality” – Seneca
Mental strength can be defined as the ability to handle periods of extreme stress, pain, and pressure, while remaining centered and focused.
It is as much the physical aptitude to overcome pain, as it is the intellect to comprehend it – a synergetic balance of emotional stability and logical understanding.
It’s not that mental strength is the absence of fear or anxiety; it’s the understanding of it. Mentally strong people feel the discomfort, embrace it, and rationalize it down to the bone. They know that pain can be channeled into strength when it is perceived accordingly.
Accordingly, mental strength cannot be born. It must be learned through experience, sculpted from one’s own genetics, personality, and external environment.
Yet just because someone has a lot of life experience does not necessarily mean they are mentally strong. The key difference maker is how they use neuroplasticity.
What is Neuroplasticity?
“You’re not stuck with the brain you’re born with” – Debbie Hampton
Neuroplasticity is the ability to form new neural connections and pathways in the brain, typically in response to learning, physical injury, or an emotional experience. (1, 2). It is the brain’s way of reconditioning the mind and body to the environment.
Think of a time when you were really emotionally hurt. Maybe you just lost a loved one, you broke-up, or someone close betrayed you. The brain processes heavy emotions like these by turning your neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin into a withdrawal state, killing off brain cells in the process.
But eventually, you did recover, and your brain became conditioned to this type of event. This is neuroplasticity in action. Over the course of time and intense thought, you formed new neural connections and pathways that strengthened your brain circuitry. The next time a similar emotional response occurs, it will not feel as intense.
The crazy thing about neuroplasticity is that we can also control it on demand, through repetition and focus. We do not need an external experience to strengthen our neural pathways. There are many success stories to prove this.
Dr. Joe Dispenza, now an international lecturer and educator, was hit by a car when he was biking during a triathlon. The accident catapulted him out of his seat and compressed six vertebrae in his back. He was told he would never walk again, and needed radical surgery.
But to the doctor’s dismay, he dismissed the surgery. Dispenza decided to reconstruct his back himself – through thought alone. For 10 weeks, he spent 3 hours every day visualizing each vertebra, and carefully molding them into their proper position. He was walking by 10 weeks, and training by week 12 (3).
Another success story was Debbie Hampton, who healed her brain after suffering a drug-induced coma. When she awoke, she could not speak and had little recollection of existing memories. Yet through reading, neurofeedback, yoga, meditation, and a healthy diet, her memories resurfaced and she re-learned how to talk (4).
By creating new neural connections, we are literally creating a new reality for ourselves (5). This gives promising hope for patients of dementia, cancer, mental illness, or simply the drive to become a better you.
Neuroplasticity is fundamental to cultivating mental strength as it gives us the chance to reinvent our reality after experiences of pain and suffering.
How To Practice Neuroplasticity
Thankfully, you do not need to be in a car accident or a coma to develop mental strength. To practice neuroplasticity, you must actively visualize your ideal reality and put in the effort to manifest its existence. How peculiar… the law of attraction does not sound so crazy now.
There are several ways to practice, including:
Probably the best way to practice neuroplasticity is through meditation. Through breath alone, you can change your brain’s chemistry to the vibration of your thoughts. Pleasant thoughts produce pleasant vibrations, and in turn, create a pleasant reality.
Journaling allows you to release the mayhem of your mind into a tangible place. This helps you come to terms with your own insecurities, subject to the ink of a ballpoint pen. Additionally, journals are incredible for goal setting, mental clarity, and reducing stress.
Hear me out. The benefits of cold showers come from their displeasure. By frequently exposing yourself to the cold, you are conditioning your brain to physically exhausting experiences.
- Healthy Diet
Naturally, eating a well-balanced diet is a catalyst for health. Through an array of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and proteins, you condition the body to become physically stronger.
- Exercise
Just like the brain, our muscles grow through time under tension. Exercise is a great proponent to physical strength and endurance.
Of course, these are not the only practices you can do. The idea of practicing neuroplasticity is to actively condition your brain to an ideal reality, or become comfortable with the reality you are currently living.
Conclusion
We know neuroplasticity is a predictor of future events. When we are in a fearful state, we will unconsciously seek out people and activities that add to the fear. When we are happy, we instinctively find opportunities that make us even happier. The objective is to get out of your fearful frequency and into a vibration of positivity.
Neuroplasticity allows us to rewire our brain at our own discretion. It is the most valuable component of mental strength because it suggests that we can overcome extreme pain and discomfort through thought alone.
Mental strength is not about avoiding pain – it is about channeling it in the right direction to perform at the highest level. We are not defined by our past. Through visualization, we can reinvent our perspective, and become the best versions of ourselves.