Change Your Brain Every Day - Tips to Have a Better Brain and Better Grades with Alize Castellanos

Episode Date: August 8, 2019

Class in is session! In this fourth and final episode with Alize Castellanos, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen wrap up their two-week long series on changing your brain and changing your grades. Dr. Amen, Tana, and Alize tackle such subjects as morning routines, communication styles, and how to remember that your teacher is a person, too, and treat them accordingly.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. In our podcast, we provide you with the tools you need to become a warrior for the health of your brain and body. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we have been transforming lives for 30 years using tools like brain spec imaging to personalize treatment to your brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceuticals to support the health of your brain and body. To learn more, go to brainmd.com. Welcome back. We have just enjoyed our time with Alizé so much. Change your brain, change your grades. Out September 17th. Get it anywhere where great books are sold or enter our raffle go to brain warriors way podcast leave us a comment a question a review and in the subject line put um change your brain

change your grades raffle and we're going to raffle off a free book so we're going to wrap this up and give people really practical tips on as you approach learning and you approach school, just talk about some of the most important things you've learned. And Tana also was an awesome student who graduated from Loma Linda. And I'll throw in a couple as well. So what comes to mind when I said, you know, what are just some of the most important things you do to have a better brain and better grades? Definitely balance, keeping that balance during, I mean, like studying, it can take a lot of your time up during the school year. Definitely taking breaks in between and whether that be taking a walk, doing this, doing that, that's so important to prevent burnout just to start off with. But

the approach to school and studying, I feel like that's very important. The approach you take to studying really determines your whole experience with studying. And for me, I've taken the approach where like I enjoy it. Like I've already decided it. I've already decided that this is a positive thing, and I can see past it, and it's one of the things that we talk about in the book is the big picture and seeing past what you're learning if you don't like it and seeing the significance of it and the importance.

So definitely keeping the big picture in mind, that's always helped me because I'm like, why am I doing this? This is so excessive, but if you really see the I'm like, why am I doing this? Like this is so excessive. But if you really see the importance of it, it helps a lot having that perspective. And looking at it from someone who's 65 and two weeks, so much of what I learned would have been relevant if I would have kept it in my head. It's like I had that sort of bitterness. It's like, wow, I'm never going to use this.

And like when I decided to be a psychiatrist, it's like, well, why do I need to learn about the gut? Why do I need to learn about the heart? And now that's like all I talk about. It's like, and I love what you said, enjoy the process. The process is so important. It's just the journey is so important. And so many kids don't realize that. One of the tips that I would have, at least that really helped me, and I loved college, loved it. Didn't like high school so much because I was under a lot of stress too, but I loved college. And leaving study groups. So having, being a part of a study group, but teaching.

So in school we had a saying in nursing school, see one, do one, teach one, because it's when you teach. So I also would do tutoring in study groups. That's when you know you know it. And to teach it, you have to really know it. So that would really help me. There's a whole chapter in the book about that, chapter 10, two heads are better than none, and actually how to study with a partner. And if you are able to lead the study group, because I did that as well, then what you're doing is you're not only helping them, you're solidifying the information in your head. And so good for them, good for me. That is the win-win.

Yep. Yes. Something else? In the mornings, so this might not work for everybody, but for me, I have a playlist of songs that the words are really, really encouraging and it gets me going and everything. Just having a playlist in the morning I feel like is really important because that's how you're starting out your day

and making the mornings a very positive experience because in the beginning of the year, it was a rushed morning. I was like, come on, let's go, like woke up late up late this and that but i feel like the mornings are such an important part of your day they are like they set the tone basically for your whole whole day and of course that can be changed but like practically like that's really it's a really well and as a parent when you first came you had trouble sleeping yes yes and that's such a huge issue and as a parent i want to touch on that because that is really important. So because of now people know that I have a lot of stress in our family.

So lots of drama in the family overall. I had a rule in my house because I thought it was so important for my daughter. I thought it was so important for Chloe to have mornings be stress-free, unlike my mornings growing up, unlike your mornings growing up, that I had a rule. Don't call me before nine unless you're bleeding out. No one was allowed to call the house before 9 o'clock in the morning because that was a time that I set up for her to be a positive experience before school was a good experience. And I would do rituals with her to make it a good experience

because it matters. It matters sending kids off how you send them off. Including having breakfast. Yeah, together. So kids who have protein in the morning, they do better in school. I'd make her breakfast every day. So you have to balance your blood sugar by what you eat. So nutrition is important.

I love the playlist idea because you're choosing how to direct your mind. You're not a victim of the thoughts that just come into your head. And often they're not positive. I mean, we evolved in an environment that was dangerous for humans. We evolved. So when we wake up, we're often focused on, well, what's the thing that's going to eat me today. And even though those things are long gone, our brain automatically goes to the negative, but by choosing to help it go to the positive.

And you and I talk about when your feet hit the floor, go, today is going to be a great day. And when you go to bed at night, what went well today. And I, amazing. I'll go to bed and might not be in a great mood. But as soon as I say a prayer and do what went well today, I just remember all the cool things that happened. Like doing this podcast today with you, that's going to be one of the three things I'm going to think about today. Yep. Absolutely. I'm going to think about today. So you can actually direct your mind. How cool is that, that you can direct your mind? The other thing I did, I came prepared to class. I actually would

read ahead of time. I'd often outline the chapter we were going to talk about because it's no more studying. It's actually less because if you come prepared, then the lecture reinforces it. And then I'll have my notes that I've honed during the lecture and I'm feeling good about it. I know one thing I did, and most teachers liked this. Every once in a while, they'll look at a teacher who's rigid and won't let you do it. So I would go, because I was trying to graduate early, so I was taking extra classes. It was hard, right? I had a lot of work. So I would go in in advance, and I would, we had a paper due in every class, usually more than one paper due in every class, a research paper. So I would go in before the quarter started, and I would get all of the

information I needed to write the papers. I'd get everything I needed to know to do. And I'd have all my papers written before the quarter started. So I would do that during the break. And so that would give me that head start. It would give me that advantage because I had a heavy load. I was trying to graduate faster than I was on a fast pace, fast track. And but I had one professor that just was rigid.

He's like, nope nope you have to do the same way everyone else is doing i'm like why why if i'm smart enough to come get an advantage why aren't you gonna let me do it but he wouldn't so but the most of them liked it most of them you know were like oh that's a good idea if you're willing to get ahead then do it so well and one of the things you do that i've noticed is you work on having a good relationship with your reasonable teachers yeah you do now not all teachers are reasonable no no no and so so to all of you unreasonable teachers pay attention but but that was one of the things i was gifted at not being the teacher's pet because i know i wasn't but having a good relationship with them and one one of the fun things for me, actually a couple of my teachers that I had 40 years ago or longer

have come to see me because they don't want their brains to go. And it's just so fun. I remember, and I tell this story in the book, that I wrote this paper and I'd always get A's in this philosophy class, but I never thought he was reading them. I'd just A, no comment. And so- I bugged you. And my next paper, I wrote on the fourth page on the bottom, if you're still reading this, I'll buy you a milkshake. And in margin, he said, make it chocolate. And that was it.

That's so funny. And actually, I am still friends with Dr. Dempster. That's so funny. More than 40 years later. And being playful, respectful, but playful with teachers is so important because they're people too. And so having empathy for them, not just thinking about you. You know, one trick, one really good trick is something called matching and mirroring. So, because sometimes it's hard to understand how to communicate with, with, especially people like teachers, cause you're a kid and they're not, they're adults. One thing

you do is you match energy, you match communication style. And I would do that sometimes with my professors. And that's why the one that I ended up, that ended up writing me a letter of recommendation and thought I should go to medical school was, he was my anatomy and physiology professor. He was argumentative. And so I was more intense with him. I was more argumentative with him, but we got along so well. I would never normally do that with some of my female professors that were much more, you know, proper. Yeah, no, I would never normally do that with some of my female professors that were much more, you know. Proper. Yeah, no, I would never do that. So knowing your audience is really important, right?

Knowing who you're talking to. Which means you have to take care of your brain because being able to read other people is a brain function. And if your brain's not right, you'll never be right. Well, we hope you pick up a copy of Change Your Brain, Change Your Grades. Go to brainwarriorswaypodcast.com and leave us a comment, a review, a question. And in the subject line, put Change Your Brain, Change Your Grades raffle. We're going to give away one after every podcast. Alize, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you so much for having me.

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