#24 Mirror Neurons
In this episode, Arnold Beekes explains mirror neurons — brain cells that fire both when you take an action and when you simply watch someone else take that same action — and why understanding this changes how you should think about your own mental practices. Because the brain doesn't fully distinguish between lived, observed, and imagined experience, holding an image of yourself as healthy or capable can genuinely trigger the same neural response as actually living it. But Arnold is careful to flag what most self-help advice leaves out: it's not enough to just picture or say something, you have to feel it too. He uses affirmations as the clearest example — saying "I have a two million euro house" while feeling like you can barely afford a rented room creates a contradiction between feeling and imagination that cancels the affirmation out entirely, which is exactly why so much of that advice fails to work. He illustrates the same mechanism with two contrasting examples: watching a war movie can generate real sadness or anger even though you were never in a war, while watching a beautiful nature video can genuinely lift your mood the same way actually being in a rainforest would — meaning you don't need an expensive safari to get some of its emotional benefit, just conscious, positive use of your own mirror neurons. The episode closes with a striking piece of everyday beauty: new science on how whale populations play a far larger role in ocean carbon cycling than previously understood, with their waste fertilizing phytoplankton blooms that absorb carbon dioxide, and their carcasses sustaining deep-sea ecosystems for decades after death.
🔗 About Your Host (Arnold Beekes)
🌐 Website: https://bio.link/beekes
💪 Brain Gym: https://braingym.fitness
🧠 Brain Athletes: https://brainathletes.club
🚀 Innovation Athletes: https://innovationathletes.club
🎓 Join our Skool brain-fitness community: https://www.skool.com/brain-fitness-7070
Roy Coughlan · The Podfather Network — Editor & Promoter
Website: https://roycoughlan.com/
Virtual Assistants: https://va.world/
Private Networking Group: Learn about a Private Networking Group in 50 US States & 49+ Countries with 700+ Members https://connectedleaders.academy
Brain Upgrade: https://brainupgrade.org/
The Authority Alliance: A Foundation of Experts — community for entrepreneurs, coaches, and thought leaders to connect, collaborate, and grow their authority together: https://theauthorityalliance.com/
#BetweenTheEars #BrainUpgrade #MirrorNeurons #Neuroscience #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #ArnoldBeekes #Visualization #EverydayBeauty
Welcome, I'm Arnold Beekes and I enable you to have a better life between the ears, because your inner state creates your outer reality. Today's topic is about mirror neurons. What are mirror neurons and why is it relevant to know that you also have them in your brain? Mirror neurons are brain cells that activate both when you do an action and when you watch someone else do the same action.
So these cells get activated not only by being active yourself but even by watching someone else who's active. Why is that so important and why is it important that you use those mirror neurons consciously? Well, if the brain doesn't know the difference between lived, observed and imagined experiences, then our ability to hold images of ourselves in our minds as healthy beings or as brain athletes, that triggers our mirror neurons to respond in kind. So it doesn't mean that you really have to do already things for your brain to kind of materialize what your brain is seeing.
No, you can live it, you can observe it and you can imagine it. Then your brain responds in the same way. But it's not only the observing and imagining part what you have to add to that.
That's what a lot of people forget to mention. But what is really crucial is that you accompany it with feeling that observation, with feeling your imagination. I assume a lot of you know about affirmations and for instance you have an affirmation like I have a 2 million euro or dollar house.
You feel like a loser and you feel like well I'm happy if I can just rent a room in a student place. Then your feeling and what you observe or what you say to yourself is not supporting each other. Actually it's contradicting each other.
And that's why a lot of affirmations and a lot of self-help shit is not helping. Because what is missing is the feeling. And that is when you live or observe something and if it creates the same experience then it has an impact.
Think for instance about the impact of watching a war movie. In a lot of times there's a lot of violence and it's not nice and you see what people do to each other and the casualties and the famine and people hungry and everything happening. You don't need to be in a war.
Just by watching that war movie it creates a feeling inside of you and you're feeling like sadness or maybe anger or whatever. That is exactly that. So your mirrors respond to that as if you were in that war yourself.
But on the positive side and that's why I'm sharing that with you is what I shared in an earlier podcast about if you watch a video of beautiful nature. So if you watch a beautiful nature video you are using your mirror neurons because if you watch it you get the feeling like oh I wish I was there in the rainforest and see these beautiful birds and and trees and and grasslands and squirrels and and whatever. That's why that experience has a positive influence on your mood because it's your mirror neurons who make you who give you that feeling and you're like wow it's like I feel I'm really there and you don't need to be there you can just watch that thing.
That's a typical example of your mirror neurons at work. So please be aware that you can use them for positive things like I just said. Watch nature videos, beautiful nature because it makes you feel that nature and then your mood gets positively influenced.
You don't need to be there. And again the flip side is also there if you watch violence or or corrupt people or or toxic people or whatever and it creates a feeling inside of you then your mood will be impacted the way you feel the way you do will be impacted. So mirror neurons are really really can be helpful but they can also be detrimental.
So use them carefully and then it's an incredible thing because you you don't need to go to a safari in south africa you can just watch a youtube video of the beautiful nature and have the same impact and keep your money in your pocket. I'm sharing all of this because my mission is to enable you to have better brains and better innovation for better living. And I invite you to go to my website which is called bio.link slash bakers and bakers is my last name b e e k e s so bio.link slash bakers to find out about my sites like brain fitness brain athletes and innovation athletes and you can also find about our brain health community on the school group.
So please go there if this between the ears podcast is helping you and giving you a different perspective and maybe even hopefully that you say hey I want to use my brain to build a better world together everyday beauty. We conclude each session with some examples of everyday beauty because beauty and especially moral beauty so kindness courage and compassion has a very positive influence on your inner state. Actually I just read about whales who are rebuilding the ocean.
As whales population recover scientists have discovered they play a far larger role in ocean carbon cycling than previously understood with whales feces fertilizing phytoplankton blooms that absorbs carbon dioxide and will carcasses even sustaining deep sea ecosystems for decades after death. So these wheels have a very very important and positive impact on our world and remember beneath your uniqueness be a better maker for yourself for others for the world.
