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3 Things You Can Do to RADICALLY Improve Brain Function

Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s all in your head”?  Well that wise old adage is the way that things are actually functioning in you.  You are quite literally taking in BILLIONS of bits of information each microsecond, through endless fields of receptor sites in the cells of your body.  And all of this information is being processed, filtered, and compressed by your brain to deliver you “doable” and coherent information.

Without this extremely efficient processing system, you would surely go insane from all of the information you’re taking in each moment.

Don’t believe me?  Then where are your toes…?

Gotcha!  Your attention went right to your toes, didn’t it?

You see, you just had your entire attention shifted to something that your brain is aware of, but it wasn’t consciously on your radar screen.  Your ATTENTION and your FOCUS just shifted to your toes.

And were your toes not there before?

Of course they were, it’s just that you didn’t “remember” them until it was suggested to you to shift your awareness, because if your attention had constantly been focused on your toes, your attention would have been skewed.  You wouldn’t have been fully capable of focusing on the matter at hand, and what you are doing right now.

Now take this example and stretch it out to begin to understand the job that your brain is doing.  What if it were not just your toes, but EVERY other body part, organ, action and function going on inside of your body (and don’t even get started on the “outer world” information that you are taking in through your senses), if you had to deal with all of that consciously at the same time, you would surely go mad.

The part of your brain that has been most noted for being responsible for this filtering process is know as the Reticular Activating System (or RAS), and this filter is there to deliver to your conscious awareness only those things are are deemed most important (by your habitual mental setup), and only those things that you can handle.  Now if your mental muscles have been trained to not be capable of handling much, then your awareness is lackluster; dull.  It’s just like any other muscle, if it’s not used properly, and the equipment is not built well, then it’s going to atrophy and breakdown.

So The 3 Keys To Radically Improving Your Brain Function are:

 

1.  Building your brain out of the right materials (so you have the hardware to handle greater capacities)

2. Strengthening the mental muscles by right usage and focus techniques

3.  Intelligently providing circulation to the circuitry everyday.

1. Building your brain out of the right materials

Now, most people have never had the real raw materials to make their brain’s hardware into the Super CPU that it can potentially be…. We grew up on Twinkies, for crying out loud!

But now we are at a place in the field of science and nutrition where it has become exceedingly simple to get the most powerful foods in the world into your body for creating a world-class, amazing brain.  I’m going to share with you 3 critical nutrients upgrade your mental hardware.

#1 Neurotransmitters.  Neurotransmitters are commonly thought to only be endogenous chemicals (generated from within), when in actuality significant neurotransmitter activity has been demonstrated to exist in various foods that are only now becoming known to the popular culture.  Again, we grew up in the Twinkie, Dorito, diet cola era, so obviously research into the neurotransmitter activity in our popular foods isn’t going to turn up much of anything… as a matter of fact, many experts believe that these foods actually suck the smarts right out of you (Get a peek at Homer’s brain.)

Neurotransmitters are CRITICAL chemicals that transmit signals from neurons to your cells.  This is basically the “communication” of one cell to another, in an IMMEASURABLE amount of neuro-communications happening in your system while you are alive… So, yes, it’s pretty important.

The days of the Twinkie are now making their way to the History Museum as a new class of foods has risen to the forefront called Superfoods.  One of the most potent superfoods that really stack up in the neurotransmitter department are hemp seeds.

Hemp seeds are gaining HUGE attention as a superfood that’s giving people a new found edge.  They are tiny seeds that pack a tremendous amount of nutrition.  Hemp seeds are the highest source of edistin, which is the #1 most usable protein by the human body (an important structural building block of your brain).

Hemp seeds provide the added nutrients needed to enhance the cellular communication that you are looking for.  Things like magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, and antioxidants like vitamin E .  This is a superfood par excellence.  I share a lot more about hemp seeds and 20 other cutting-edge superfoods in my book The Key to Quantum Health.

#2 EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids).  Your brain is mostly FAT and WATER.  Now this information is CRITICAL for you to understand.  Fat has been given such a misconstrued identification in our society.  It can be considered criminal how so-called experts have tried to profit off of people’s misunderstandings of fat by advocating low-fat and even NO-FAT diets, without sharing the important distinction between processed, denatured, rancid, oxidized fats and oils, and the vital, life-giving, energizing, fat-burning EFA’s that are literally what the name implies (they are ESSENTIAL for good health and well-being).

So the key here is to pick up excellent sources of Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids, in the right balance for the human body, which has been found to be 4:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3.  Omega 3‘s are essential for building your cell membranes which allow them to regenerate and protect your cells from damage.  The home run hitter to look to again here is hemp seed and hemp seed oil.  Hemp seeds are 3:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3, you can add a tbsp to your shakes, make fresh salad dressings from it, as well as add it into other recipes.  Other excellent sources of EFA’s are flax seed oil, krill oil, and chia seeds.

#3 Water. Your body uses water as the pathway for your entire nervous system to transfer neurotransmitters throughout your entire perimeter of your body.  Your nervous system is essentially how you experience the world and interact with your environment, so it is of CRITICAL importance to be well hydrated with clean, highly structured water.  There is a great video posted on my website about where to get the best water (Spring Water LIVE).

The basic amount to start with is to take your body weight, and divide it in half, and the number that you come up with is the base number of ounces in water that you need to be consuming everyday to ensure proper hydration for your brain, nervous system, and metabolism.  Without proper hydration, you’ll feel tired, sluggish, and an in ability to focus.  Fresh, clean water allows all of your cells to communicate properly and perform all of their metabolic functions.  This is something so simple that pays off big rewards.  Have half your body weight in ounces of water everyday.  (And be sure to get the BEST water [Checkout that video!])

2. Strengthening the mental muscles by right usage and focus techniques.

 

Go back to the instance when your “conscious” attention was shifted to your toes, only when the suggestion was brought to your awareness.  There are SO MANY things going on all the time, literally an infinite amount, and now more than ever it is critical that you gain mastery over being able to focus your mind on those things that are most important to you… Or you will find that with even the slightest suggestion, your attention will be thrown off, and you will find yourself thinking about a purple elephant standing on a chair (see there you go again), and losing track of what matters most and your ability to radically improve your productivity and get more done then you ever thought possible.

You see, your brain operates in patterns, you can call them patterns of influence.  And for most of us, we have unknowingly trained our brains to be incredibly inefficient by allowing ourselves to continuously be caught up in the distractions.  Your brain is an absolutely miraculous machine, and it’s constantly scanning for patterns and strengthening neuro-nets to make your actions more efficient.  And if your predominant actions/ habits are to be “multi-tasking” and caught up in a bunch of inefficient, stressful,  away-from-the-objective work, then your amazing brain will look for opportunities, situations, and circumstances to back that up.  It’s all in what you have knowingly OR unknowingly programmed it to do.

Your brain is there to keep your reality attuned to what you are used to. This is basically to master the level that you’re at so that you can effectively survive.  And from there (if you are aware of this), you can reach to the next stage of your development with more ease and grace.

To strengthen your mental muscles, you have to first become aware of the ability to program it the way that you want to, and then to incite a practice to begin to retrain your mind to become more streamline in it’s ability to focus.  This goes back to powerful teachings that have been around since the beginning of documented human history, and that’s the power of meditation.  Meditation can be defined as undistractible attention to the present.  You are actually tuning in to life.  Where so often we have been caught up in the distraction, and missing out on enjoying the experiences of peace and clarity, which only happen in the nowness of life (Not in the past, and Not in the future).

Start with 5 minutes a day, preferably first thing in the morning (after you have your morning water and use the restroom ,of course).  Sit with closed eyes, and your back straight, and focus on your in-breath and out-breath.  Breath in for a count of 5, breath out for a count of 5.  You will find this to be very relaxing.  Just follow your breath, and this will begin to train your brain to focus like a laser beam.  This powerful practice will be able to be carried with you more and more throughout the day, as your practice is developed.  There are a couple of incredible meditations and visualization exercises in Chapter Seven of my book The Key to Quantum Health that would be incredibly valuable to you if you really wanted to take the express lane to improving your memory, productivity, and your ability to achieve greater success.

3. Intelligently providing circulation to the circuitry everyday.

Notice how the words circuitry and circulation are so similar… Your body is literally an immense myriad of intelligent wiring and energy circuitry.  From your muscular system, your circulatory system, your lymphatic system, your nervous system, and beyond, your entire body is wired up and transmitting energy at astonishing levels, and its very noticeable when your “wattage is low”.

Enhanced circulation is such a powerful game-changer for many people.  To move stagnant energy, to allow a powerful energy flow in your system, is KEY to having a better brain and better health over all.

This is THE reason why exercise is so important.  Intelligent exercises that get your blood flowing, your lymphatic system moving and removing toxins (energy blockages) from your body, pays off big dividends in your life.  The added benefit is you get a more attractive appearance, but the real money-maker is the increased mental clarity, focus, stamina, and feeling of well-being.  This is all a result of the release of life-giving endorphins and enkephalins.  And it’s what your brain pays you as a reward for taking action to take better care of it.

Truly, almost any exercise is great.  But if you want to target improving the circulation of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to your brain, then an exercise that involves inversions is where it’s at.  This is one of the greatest benefits of yoga.  Yoga develops your body, mental acuity, stamina, balance, and increases the flow of energy in your body.  The results are in, and yoga is one of the best ways to up-level your body AND your brain.

What all of these incredible tips translate to is more energy, more clarity, more creativity, the ability to solve problems very quickly, dramatically reduced stress levels, improved intellectual capacities, and much more…. It’s your BRAIN!  So put these strategies to work for you in your day-to-day life: Add-in some brain boosting foods, get at least 5-minutes of meditation in everyday, and exercise your body for a better, more beautiful brain.

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  1. Hi Shawn,
    many thanks for the great info you’re providing.
    Can you tell me what oil you recommend for cooking?
    I’m moving towards more of a raw food diet, however, I still occasionally make stir-fries, or roasted veggies. I was using extra virgin olive oil, ’til someone told me it’s best just left in its natural state i.e. as a salad dressing.
    Thanks again.

  2. HI SHAWN, I ALWAYS ENJOY READING YOUR BLOG INFORMATION. RIGHT NOW I AM STRUGGLING WITH WEIGHT, MEMORY PROBLEMS AND FATIGUE. I AM READING YOUR BOOK THAT I PURCHASED AT YOUR SEMINAR IN CLAYTON IN DECEMBER AND HOPE TO FIND SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP ME. DARLENE M.

    1. Hi Darlene, thanks so much for the gratitude and for sharing. The best thing that you can do to make a big impact on weight management, memory, AND fatigue is to ensure that you’re adding in more raw healthy Omega 3’s. Most of Americans are extremely deficient in Omega 3’s. Be sure to check out the Bonus Section 4 in the book and see the sources of EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) that I recommend. I really like chia seeds and coconut oil for the issues that you want to effect. You’ve got to be vigilant about adding them in everyday. This one thing alone can change everything for you very quickly. Be vigilant, EVERYDAY, EVERYDAY, EVERYDAY. You’ll get there Darlene, just take inspired action!

  3. I can understand every word of this blog. When you are full of great energy you are capable of grasping a large amount of data and able to take action on multiple duties to execute great outcomes. I have tried hemp seeds, great water, and meditation and the truth of proof prevails with the systems spoken of in this blog. A lot of times I have to stop to remember to meditate because so many thoughts process at once and I am a natural creative individual. Once I met Shawn I learned how to control thoughts and create well-being matters and fluent positive thoughts and actions.

    The first time he educated me on how to develop the process through my foods I was not certain of his message. I could not grasp what he was teaching…Shortly after I started implementing the foods into my daily diet and exercising my thoughts to higher norms, I was capturing more in my memory bank and allowing myself to be more free to what the universe had to provide me. “Super” Foods make “Super” Days!

    This is a great blog!

    1. Cerise, you said something extremely powerful in your comment, It’s All EXPERIENTIAL. It’s when you took the information and applied it, that’s when the real life-change happened. You are an absolute genius, and by fueling your path with the right nutrition for your purpose (Art, poetry, creativity) it added new colors to it… It took things to greater levels and greater layers of expression.

      I often say that knowledge is not power, it’s POTENTIAL power… The real power is when knowledge is applied; Acted upon; Activated. Thanks for adding your color and creativity.

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  5. I like the superfood blue green algae for the brain. It has low molecular weight proteins that pass through the blood-brain barrier. It contains more vitamin B-12 than liver. Also fish get their omega-3 from eating algae. Vegans can eat blue green algae since it is not an animal food. But it is not a plant food either. It existed before plants and animals. It put the oxygen in the air.

    The brain doctor, Dr Daniel Amen, says to protect the brain, do not hit a soccer ball with your head. Alcohol used to be an illegal mind altering drug. Now it is a legal drug.

    1. Fantastic insights Chuck. AFA Blue-green algae is one of my favorite things too. Thanks for sharing the distinction for everyone that it’s a vegan friendly food, and highly beneficial to those who eat animal products as well.

      Some of the other great foods that are at the foundation of our biosphere are spirulina and marine phytoplankton, so everyone check those out as well! Marine phytoplankton is a particularly good brain food due to the long chain lipids it contains… For instant energy, and instant brain food, experiment with Ocean’s Alive Marine Phytoplankton and see if it’s one of those special foods that takes you to a greater level.

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