No.1 Neuroscientist: Why You Should Always Look Into Someone’s Left Eye! & How Stress Leaks Through Skin, Is Contagious & Gives You Belly Fat! Dr. Tara Swart

Sep 25, 2023 2h 3m 27 insights
Dr. Tara Swart, a neuroscientist, medical doctor, executive advisor, and author, discusses building mental resilience and overcoming challenges. She explores the brain-body connection, stress contagion, neuroplasticity, and leveraging ancient wisdom for well-being and personal growth.
Actionable Insights

1. Prioritize Sleep for Brain Cleansing

Aim for 7-8 hours of actual sleep (requiring 8-9 hours in bed) to allow the glymphatic system to actively flush out toxins from the brain, crucial for preventing dementing diseases.

2. Manage Stress to Prevent Belly Fat

Chronic stress elevates cortisol, which acts as a survival mechanism to store stubborn fat around the abdomen; reducing cortisol is key to shifting this fat, even if diet and exercise aren’t working.

3. Recognize Stress Contagion

Leaders’ stress levels physiologically impact their teams, as cortisol can leak from sweat and affect others; managing personal stress is crucial for collective well-being in an organization.

4. Practice Deliberate Neuroplasticity

To change stubborn habits, first become aware of the pattern and underlying beliefs, then focus attention on triggers and consequences, and finally, deliberately practice new behaviors in small scenarios.

5. Visualize Goals with Gratitude

Spend five minutes daily visualizing your desired outcomes as already true and feeling gratitude for them; this shifts your brain from a fear state to a trust state, facilitating change.

6. Embrace Neuroplasticity for Growth

Even after age 25, engaging in intense cognitive challenges (like learning a new language) can improve higher brain functions such as emotional regulation, problem-solving, and flexible thinking.

7. Co-Sleep for Bonding and Resilience

Sleeping with a partner fosters bonding, physical warmth, and releases oxytocin, which is neuroprotective and can increase physiological resilience, as measured by heart rate variability.

8. Cultivate Purpose Beyond Self

Having a purpose that transcends personal satisfaction, such as volunteering or helping others without direct personal gain, is crucial for mental health and overall well-being.

9. Integrate Creative Activities Regularly

Regularly engage in creative activities like dance, music, art, reading novels, or spending time in nature at least once a week to positively impact mental health, physical health, and longevity.

10. Curate Your Social Circle

Be mindful of your ’tribe’ because social contagion means you’re more likely to adopt attitudes and behaviors of those around you; seek out people who are growing and open to challenge.

11. Align Values for Relationships

To manifest a great relationship, list desired attributes in a partner, then ensure you embody those same qualities and values yourself, as you attract people at your level of psychological evolution.

12. Be Mindful of Your Language

The words you use, even casually (e.g., ’need’ versus ’treat myself’), can psychologically prime your brain, influencing your behavior and sense of empowerment or disempowerment.

13. Sweat Out Excess Cortisol

Engage in aerobic exercise to physically sweat out excess cortisol from your body, which is an effective way to reduce stress levels.

14. Journal or Talk to Process Stress

Write down or speak aloud your negative thoughts and stressors to get cortisol and associated negative thoughts out of your brain-body system.

15. Learn New Skills for Brain Benefits

Learning a new language or musical instrument can provide ‘global benefits’ to your brain, improving executive functions beyond just the skill itself.

16. Ensure Accountability for Habits

Incorporate external accountability (friends, mentors, action boards) when practicing new behaviors, as it’s easy to give up when the process feels hard.

17. Use Positive Affirmations

Identify recurring negative thoughts related to lack of confidence and create strong, counteracting positive affirmations; repeat these to wear down old neural pathways and build new ones.

18. Engage in Bonding Behaviors

Increase oxytocin by making right-eye-to-left-eye contact, engaging in appropriate physical touch (handshakes, hugs), laughing together, and taking warm baths.

19. Sleep on Your Side for Brain Cleansing

If you wake up at night, turn onto your side (left or right) as it’s the optimal position for the brain’s glymphatic cleansing process.

20. Choose Dark-Skinned Foods

Opt for darker versions of foods (e.g., black beans, blueberries, dark chocolate, purple broccoli) as their pigments contain anthocyanin antioxidants that contribute to neurogenesis (growth of new brain cells).

21. Engage in Gentle Exercise

Prioritize gentle, consistent exercise over high-intensity workouts for neuroplasticity, as excessive high-intensity exercise can spike cortisol levels.

22. Maintain Regular Sleep-Wake Times

Beyond getting enough sleep, maintaining consistent sleep and wake times (within an hour) offers additional, unexplained benefits for brain health.

23. Eat 30 Different Plant Products

Aim to consume 30 different plant products (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes) each week, varying colors, for optimal brain health.

Do not accept age-related limitations (e.g., needing reading glasses) and actively resist changing behavior to accommodate them; this can improve physical abilities like eyesight and posture.

25. Appreciate Everyday Beauty

Consciously notice and appreciate aesthetically pleasing things in your environment, like the smell of flowers or birdsong, as this signals safety to your brain and is good for health.

26. Consider Time-Restricted Eating

If foundational habits (sleep, diet, exercise, stress management) are solid, time-restricted eating (e.g., 12 noon-8 pm) can regulate blood sugar and offer brain health and longevity benefits.

27. Visualize for Muscle Growth

Visualize yourself lifting weights or performing physical feats, as studies show this can lead to a 13% increase in muscle mass, demonstrating the power of mind over matter.