Little Things that can Make a Big Difference

For those of use with a brain injury, each day brings new challenges.  Brain injury can affect not only how we function, but also how we feel.  I’m four and a half years into this journey, and while I know I still have a long way to go, I’ve learned many things along the way.  One of the most important things I’ve learned is the value of the little things that can make a big difference, such as how I start my day.

Starting Each Day Right

How I feel on waking can often be tied to how well I did or didn’t sleep the night before.  I may feel physically, mentally, and even emotionally drained as I transition into wakefulness.  An online course available in my meditation app introduced me to the concept of intentionally deciding how I feel each morning rather than just waking up and hoping for the best. 

 The course teaches that we can have some of the greatest impact on our day in the first few minutes after waking.  It suggested that we dedicate two minutes or more to just smiling.  Smiling is a two-way street… if we are feeling an abundance of feel-good hormones, we smile.  Conversely, it is scientifically proven that if we smile, our body releases feel-good hormones ⁽¹⁾.  It’s interesting to note that it’s the physical act that causes the brain to respond in this way.  You could even put a plastic pen between your teeth and slide it all the way back, hold it there for a couple of minutes and your brain is already releasing feel-good hormones ⁽²⁾ – so a forced smile is just as good as a genuine smile to get the desired results. 

Funny thing is, as soon as I put a fake smile on, it makes me smile for real (sometimes it even makes me laugh) – and just like that I’m setting the stage for my day.

Productive Mornings

Waking with a smile is an integral part of how I work to make my days as positive as possible.  Then, as soon as I’m up and about, and heading towards my coffee maker, I begin my morning ritual.  A morning ritual can be anything you want it to be but should include activities that have a continuing positive impact on your day.  I start each day listening to an online audio course on my Insight Timer phone app while I have my morning supplements, brew my morning cup of coffee, and spiff up the kitchen counter.  These classes normally run 10 to 15 minutes, just the right amount of time.

Next, I like to set my intentions… this can be for the day, the week, the month, or even the year.  I may set intentions for my morning, for my workday, or if I’m setting longer term intentions, I’ll often do so while looking over the well populated cork vision board in our office space.  A vision board is a visual representation of goals and intentions, it can include images, words, and phrases that are meaningful to us, and get our minds working in a positive way.  For me, this board reminds me every morning of our goals in a very effective way, with graphic images and phrases that help me to focus not just on the work I do each day, but why I do it.  While it does include images for vacations we’d like to take and a camp trailer we intend to own in the near future, it also includes reminders of just how good everything is right now.  For example, there is an image that is of a marriage ceremony, and with our plans to be married next month, it fills me with joy each time I see it.  I have pinned up some motivational cards as well, one says, “This is going to be a great day.” – I like to read it aloud each morning.  In researching for this post, I learned that this sort of visualization is similar to “Best Possible Self” methodologies in studying the impact of positive visualization on happiness and well-being ⁽³⁾.

There are many studies that suggest that physical activity can promote an enhanced feeling of wellbeing ⁽⁴⁾, positively impact neuroplasticity ⁽⁴⁾ and even improve quality of nocturnal sleep ⁽⁵⁾.  Additional benefits cited include improvement of mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood, as well as improving self-esteem and cognitive function ⁽⁶⁾.  Well, what better way to start our mornings than with all of these benefits – so after coffee and before work, I like to get in some movement.  Some mornings this means a little low impact weightlifting or a 2- to 30-minute aerobic workout, but my very favorite morning activity is a nice walk outside.  I find that after a good walkabout, I return feeling energized and ready for my day.  Next is always meditation, as I’ve discussed in other posts.

Gratitude

As simple and even cliché as it may sound, the reality is that scientific studies have shown having a daily gratitude practice improves our sense of well-being ⁽⁷⁾.  In addition to an increase of happiness, when we are focused on what we are grateful for, our mood is boosted, productivity increased, blood pressure drops, and our heart rate decreases ⁽⁹⁾. Gratitude is essentially just having an appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to ourselves ⁽⁹⁾.  This can be anything from the people in your life, to having a roof over your head, or even just a great tasting cup of coffee.  Studies show that focusing on gratitude causes an increase in production of another feel-good hormone: oxytocin ⁽¹⁰⁾.

I can’t deny that I have experienced many days when gratitude hasn’t come easy.  I was able to influence this in a positive way with a gratitude journal.  For some, a gratitude practice may be as simple as sitting quietly and thinking on what they are grateful for – but I find the gratitude journal helps me in that area.  It’s a simple journal that, for each day, provides a statement of “I am grateful…” and then offers three blank lines to fill in.  Each morning, after my morning activities and before work, I grab my gratitude journal and list three things that I’m grateful for.  This seems to have a greater impact on me when I stop and think on each item to consider just why I’m grateful for what I’ve just written.  It always leaves me feeling better about pretty much everything.

Making Ourselves Happy

Some days are better than others, and when you have a brain injury, that can be a very delicate balance.  My intent with this post is to get you thinking about how you can take positive steps to give yourself the best starting position possible each and every day.  Happiness isn’t something that the world gives us, it’s something we must find on our own – or make on our own. 

Our perception of happiness and well-being is closely connected to a key set of hormones in our brains such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphin, and oxytocin.  As describe above, certain activities cause our bodies to produce these hormones, impacting how we feel and how we perceive the world around us.  Smiling, physical activity, visualization, setting intentions for the day, and practicing gratitude are scientifically proven to improve your sense of well-being and level of happiness.

My takeaway here is that I can change how I feel each day in positive ways, so I have a daily morning ritual that I practice in order to get the most out of each day.  I believe that everyone should find the things that impact your day in the most positive ways possible and make that part of your morning ritual each and every day.

References

1. Jingjing Chang, Meng Zhang, Glenn Hitchman, Jiang Qiu, Yijun Liu (2014), When You Smile, You Become Happy: Evidence from Resting State Task-based fMRI
2. Wiswede, Münte, Krämer, and Rüsseler (2009), Embodied Emotion Modulates Neural Signature of Performance Monitoring
3. Carrillo, Rubio-Aparicio, Molinari, Enrique, Sánchez-Meca, and Baños (2019), Effects of the Best Possible Self intervention: A systematic review and meta-analysis
4. Mandolesi, Polverino, Montuori, Foti, Ferraioli, Sorrentino, and Sorrentino (2018), Effects of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Functioning and Wellbeing: Biological and Psychological Benefits
5. Morita, Sasai-Sakuma, Inoue (2017), Effects of Acute Morning and Evening Exercise on Subjective and Objective Sleep Quality in Older Individuals with Insomnia
6. P Callaghan (2004), Exercise: a neglected intervention in mental health care?
7. Emmons, McCullough (2003), Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life
8. John D. Kelly, IV, MD (2016), Your Best Life: Breaking the Cycle: The Power of Gratitude
9. Sansone, MD and Sansone, MD (2010), Gratitude and Well Being: The Benefits of Appreciation
10. Algoe, Way (2014), Evidence for a Role of the Oxytocin System, Indexed by Genetic Variation in CD38, in the Social Bonding Effects of Expressed Gratitude