He was journaling, writing notes, meditating, practicing mindfulness, cooking healthier, and practicing habits that inspired me to try something new.

Specifically - he started writing and drawing with his opposite dominant hand. Being the network chiropractor and science nerd, I thought to myself, “What a brilliant way to retrain and challenge your nervous system to develop stronger, new pathways - really a concept of novelty to keep our brains constantly firing on all cylinders.”

Here’s the thing - yes…writing with your opposite hand is a challenge. It takes longer, it’s messy, it’s annoying, frustrating, and can make you revisit your 5 year old self when first learning how to write. 

AND…it’s extremely beneficial for your brain to be challenged with new (novel) things in a healthy way. Too much new information can be overwhelming and cause system shut down. However, what’s even more detrimental is getting stuck in monotonous habits that can lead to almost “zombie-like” days, depression, tension, stress, an inability to learn and retain new information, etc.

Let’s face it. We’ve all had those days where we think, “Holy crap - I don’t even remember what roads I took to get home today,” OR “I don’t even remember the name of the person I just met at the coffee shop.” These can be signs of a nervous system that’s overwhelmed, overloaded, stressed, and stuck in old habits and patterns. Otherwise known as BRAIN FOG.

These reasons alone are exactly why at Inspire Life we check and adjust your body and nervous system differently each time rather than pushing the same bones the same way every time (novel adjustments - imagine that!). As we help retrain your nervous system, over time it’s creating and developing new connections, new pathways, new resources to function better.

Besides getting adjusted, here are some other ways you can add novelty into your day to keep your brain and body firing on all cylinders as we age:

• Learn a new language or musical instrument
  • Duolingo is an easy app to learn a new language
• Drive a new way home from work
• Write with your opposite dominant hand a few minutes a day
• Try writing in cursive
• Learn a new sport (challenge your body to move in a way it’s never moved)
• Add 5 minutes of brain puzzles to your day (sudoku, crosswords, other brain game apps)

As always my friends, keep inspiring!

Thank you for reading the Inspire Life blog