mirror mirror
YAWN…
Did you just yawn too? That’s because of this cool neuron in your brain called a mirror neuron!
Look at how pretty mirror neurons are:
blue background, with white neurons
These mirror neurons help keep you alive.
Hardwired to mimic those around us, mirror neurons help us register very quickly what someone else is feeling or doing. If you see everyone else running, you instinctively start running, even before you realize what or where the danger is, and that helps you stay safe.
Mirror neurons were discovered by accident.
The researcher went for a break mid-research, leaving the money attached to the equipment that monitored brain activity. The researcher came back eating an ice cream, and the area in the monkey’s brain that controls tongue movement lit up. Essentially, the monkey watched the researcher lick the ice cream and its brain started to mirror the movement, so this mirroring occurs at a neuron level in the brain!
Mirror neurons are trying to help keep you safe, but can get confused.
Remember that mirror neurons are meant for fast nonverbal communication to help you read your environment to determine “safe/not safe” as quickly as possible, and inevitably there will be some errors. Take the mirroring of someone else’s yawn, for example. You aren’t tired, but seeing someone else yawn, triggers your yawn. The fast, non-verbal communication signaled a cue to rest. But if you aren’t tired, then the message is an error. So, how do you know when the mirror neurons are confused?
Notice when you are starting to mirror someone else, and check in with your own nervous system.
You can think to yourself: “I saw them yawn, that made me yawn. Let me check, am I tired? Nope? Ok, that was my mirror neurons trying to help me and getting confused.” Then reset and move on with your day.
You might find that there are patterns to when your mirror neurons kick in more strongly.
Maybe it’s when you are talking to someone new and you start mirroring their speech patterns or postures, when someone else is in pain or having a big feeling and you start to feel pain or that feeling in your body, or maybe it happens more when you are tired. It’s all just data to notice.
Depending on your neurobiology, you are born with more or less mirror neurons.
There isn’t a lot of research in this area, but it makes sense to me that how many mirror neurons you have would be different from how many mirror neurons I have, and no matter how many you have, there will be strengths and limitations, like any part of your anatomy. Just acknowledging that you might have a different hardwiring than someone else can shift how hard you judge yourself for moving through the world the way that looks different than those around you.
Remember that your mirror neurons are here to help you, so you can use that to your advantage!
There are lots of ways you can “hijack the biology” to use your mirror neurons to your advantage, but here are two simple ways.
If you are trying to establish a connection with someone else, mirror their posture in a subtle but intentional way. This will sync your mirror neurons up, and you instantly become safer to that person. When we feel safe, we are then open to social connection. This is particularly helpful if you are trying to support someone emotionally.
If you are someone that struggles to stay focused, you can use your mirror neurons with a technique called body doubling. Body Doubling is when you intentionally partner with someone else that is focused on their work to help remind your brain that it’s time to focus and work. This is why working in a library or coffee shop helps keep you focused, you are mirroring all the other people around you that are focused. For some, a public place is enough, for others, they need a one on one or small group working buddy to body double.
Each part of your anatomy is supporting you. Including all those mirror neurons in your brain.
All the mirroring hugs-
jen mpt cst