Quotes: Aditi Nerurkar

"The language of gratitude is a powerful circuit breaker for your brain's stress pathway. Gratitude has been shown to decrease stress, improve mood and resilience, and improve life satisfaction. In one study, gratitude was found to be protective for depressive and physical symptoms during a stressful life event; in another, gratitude decreased stress levels in just one month. Gratitude can also help alter your brain circuitry for negative experiences; instead of sticking to you like Teflon. This process is known as cognitive reframing –– that is, what you focus on grows." 

–– Aditi Nerurkar, Harvard physician, author, speaker, and TV correspondent 

Source: Aditi Nerurkar, MD. The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience. New York: HarperCollins, 2024, p. 214.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2023, p. 162.

Quotes: Alexander Graham Bell

"I am a believer in unconscious cerebration*. The brain is working all the time, though we do not know it. At night, it follows up what we think in the daytime. When I have worked a long time on one thing, I make it a point to bring all the facts regarding it together before I retire; and I have often been surprised at the results." *cerebration = thinking

–– Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), Scottish-born (with ties to Canada and the United States), inventor, scientist and engineer 

Source: Alan Lightman. In Praise of Wasting Time. New York: TED Books, Simon and Schuster, 2018; p. 54. 

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 59.

Quotes: Matt Farley

"If you reject your own ideas, then the part of the brain that comes up with ideas is going to stop." 

–– Matt Farley (b. 1978), American musician, song writer, and film maker 

Source: Austin Kleon Newsletter, April 5, 2024.