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The Energy of You Volume XX Issue #33

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Hi Reader,

Last year, a client came to me feeling completely stuck. She was approaching retirement but found herself in freeze mode when it came to making decisions, and it was delaying her retirement. She came to me to work on her fears around finances and getting herself unstuck.

Together, through Webwork and coaching, we untangled the old stories that kept her paralyzed. That got her making the decisions she needed to make and she entered into her retirement season. She shared that she had always wanted to try pottery, but felt like that boat had sailed and it was too late to learn. After a few sessions she signed up for a beginners class at the local community college.

For decades, we were told brain decline was inevitable with age.

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“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“It’s all downhill after 40.”
“Those neurons you lose? Gone forever.”

Except, that’s not true.

One of the most revolutionary discoveries in neuroscience is that our brains remain remarkably adaptable throughout life. This capability, called neuroplasticity, means your brain can literally rewire itself at 60, 70, or even 80 years old.

And here’s where it gets juicy: the way you think about aging directly influences how your brain ages.

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Your Brain on Growth

Dr. Michael Merzenich, a pioneer in neuroplasticity research, showed that when older adults engage in challenging mental activities, their brains demonstrate the same capacity for change as younger brains.

• London taxi drivers in their 60s developed larger hippocampi (the brain’s memory center) from navigating complex routes.
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• Musicians who keep playing into their 80s maintain sharper auditory processing and memory.
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The key? Your brain needs three things to keep building new neural pathways:

1. Novelty – Learn something genuinely new, not just a variation of what you know. Adopting a beginners mind to try something brand new helps grow new neuropathways.
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2. Challenge – Stretch yourself just beyond your current comfort zone, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed.
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3. Consistency – Reinforce those new connections through regular practice. Here’s a good post on new habits ​https://centerforconsciouswellness.com/new-habits-disrupt-the-status-quo-by-doing-this/​
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The Mindset–Biology Connection

Here’s where mindset enters the story.

Yale researcher Dr. Becca Levy discovered that people with positive beliefs about aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer than those with negative beliefs. And it wasn’t just about lifespan, it affected brain performance, too.

When you think, “My memory is failing because I’m getting older,” your brain actually performs worse on memory tasks. Not from lack of ability, but because stress responses block cognitive function.

When you shift to curiosity and growth,“I’m still learning and adapting” your brain literally strengthens the pathways that support learning.

Here’s a simple side-by-side reframe:

Old Script. “I’m too old to learn that.”

New Script. “My brain grows when I’m challenged.”

Old Script. “My memory is terrible.”

New Script. “I’m practicing strengthening my memory.”

Old Script. “It’s all downhill from here.”

New Script. “These are my vital years, I’m just getting started.”

Your brain is always listening. What you tell it matters.

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The Stress Connection

Chronic stress, often fueled by negative aging beliefs, floods the brain with cortisol, which damages the hippocampus (memory center) and shrinks areas tied to emotional balance.

But there’s good news. Practices that reduce stress and support positive mindsets boost BDNF- brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Think of BDNF as fertilizer for your brain it helps neurons grow and connect.

Ways to naturally boost BDNF include:

• Meditation or mindfulness
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• Learning new skills
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• Physical movement (especially getting your heart rate elevated)
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• Meaningful social connections
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• Positive self-talk
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Practical Neuroplasticity: Your Weekly Challenge

Want to give your brain a workout this week? Try one of these:

• Start to Learn Something New: A language, an instrument, a dance, pottery anything unfamiliar.
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• Disrupt Your Defaults: Take a new route to work, use your non-dominant hand, change your morning routine, or wear different outfit.
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• Stir Movement with Mind: Try tai chi, dancing, or juggling, activities that sync memory, focus, and physical coordination.
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• Intentional Self-Talk: Replace “I’m too old” with “I’m challenging my brain to expand.”
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The Use-It-or-Lose-It Myth

It’s not really “use it or lose it.”

Focusing on following curiosity, encouraging yourself to grow and learn new things creates new neuropathways. Doing the same crossword level or reading the same genre maintains pathways. But to build new ones, you need the sweet spot of just enough challenge to stretch you, without overwhelm( that causes a whole different cascade of stress and fight/flight/freeze).

Neuroplasticity never sleeps. Throughout your life, your brain is highly adaptable.

Feed your brain with curiosity, challenge, and positive expectations and it will keep wiring itself for resilience and vitality.

Feed it resignation and repetition, and it will accommodate that too.

The choice is yours. You can start rewiring today, no matter how many decades you’ve lived.

What will you learn this week that genuinely challenges you?

Hit reply and tell me, I’d love to hear.

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And that client who told me she was “too old” to learn pottery. Today she sells her work at art fairs. A nice supplement to her retirement funds. She rewrote her script and so can you.

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Be Inspired,

Cathy

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P.S. I've been working on a course on Mind-Body Medicine to support longevity for women to start in the fall (click here if you want to be on the early notification list).

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References

• Merzenich, M. (2013). Soft-Wired.
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• Maguire, E. A. et al. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. PNAS.
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• Levy, B. R. et al. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. JPSP.
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• Lupien, S. J. et al. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nat Rev Neurosci.
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• Erickson, K. I. et al. (2011). Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. PNAS.