Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life

The Grand Canyon
I am writing this section from the bottom of the Grand 
Canyon. A mindful attitude plays a large role in how to 
be present down here. When my camera fell and broke 
within the fi rst hour of the hike, I was disappointed and 
frustrated. I was looking forward to taking photos of my 
wife and myself in this amazing place. 
I made a deal with myself to transform the thoughts 
of the broken camera into a constant reminder to focus 
on the grandeur of the place, despite this being my twenty -
seventh hike to the bottom, to try to absorb it with greater 
poignancy and depth than on my fi rst time. Had I been 
oriented toward taking photos, I would have put most of 
my energy into anticipating how to compose the pictures 
so that we might experience the pictures later with greater 
awe. Instead, I transformed the disappointment into an 
opportunity to enhance my reverence for that which is 
greater than my insignifi cant plans. I have that sense of 
awe now. 
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Certainly this is an easy place to bathe in the wonder 
of the natural world. Hiking down two and a half billion 
years in geological time is far more than a reminder that 
we humans aren ’ t even a blip on time ’ s radar screen. As 
I look around me at rainbow - colored rocks that change 
shades throughout the day and the vast distances etched 
with thousands of cliff faces, I realize that this could never 
be captured by a camera. The picture-taking would be a 
nuisance and a petty distraction. The experience is far 
more powerful because I am focused on the present. 
The Grand Canyon serves as a dramatic example of the 
transcending perspective. You can use it as a metaphor 
for how not to take petty problems seriously. Hiking the 
canyon provides a splash of cold water on the face, wak-
ing up to what the world has been and is now.
Focused Attention 
The PFC differentiates our species from others. It is the most 
recent evolutionary advance of the brain and was the last to myelin-
ate (the process of coating the axons to facilitate more effi cient 
fi ring of the neurons) while you were growing up. In fact, the PFC 
is not fi nished myelinating until your mid - twenties. That means 
that it was not until you were in your twenties that many of the 
skills that your PFC provides were developed. These skills include 
the ability to maintain sustained attention and make complex deci-
sions. Unfortunately, there are far too many adults who have not 
completely developed these skills or have lost them due to lack of 
use. Angela was one of those who let her attentional skills atrophy, 
but she worked to recover them through the FEED method. 
Throughout this book I have described how activating the PFC 
helps neuroplasticity to occur. The fi rst two steps of FEED activate 
the PFC, especially the DLPFC, which is the executive control 
center, or the brain ’ s brain. The DLPFC processes working memory. 
Damage to or a lack of training of it results in problems in attention 
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194 Rew i r e
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and working memory. Since attention starts the neuroplastic process 
rolling, attentional problems shut it down. 
How you focus your attention plays a critical role in how you 
deal with stress. Scattered attention impairs your ability to let go 
of stress, because even though your attention is scattered, it is nar-
rowly focused, for you are able to fi xate only on the stressful parts 
of your experience. When your attentional spotlight is widened, you 
can more easily let go of stress. You can put in perspective many 
more aspects of any situation and not get locked into one part that 
ties you down to superfi cial and anxiety - provoking levels of atten-
tion. A narrow focus amplifi es the stress level of each experience, 
but a widened focus turns down the stress level because you ’ re 
better able to put each situation into a broader perspective. One 
anxiety - provoking detail is less important than the bigger picture. 
It ’ s like transforming yourself into a nonstick frying pan. You can still 
fry an egg, but the egg won ’ t stick to the pan. 
By widening your attentional focus, you can become an observer. 
This is because you ’ re watching all aspects of every experience and 
considering how they interrelate. It ’ s a macro perspective rather 
than a micro perspective. 
Biofeedback expert Les Fehmi of Princeton University has sug-
gested that by practicing what he calls