The mind is everything What you think, You become Buddha
Neuroscience Fundamentals Success Mindset In this lesson we are exploring the KEY foundation principles, tools & strategies to taking back the reigns of our brain potential We will be exploring: how the brain is driving our pain, physical and emotional the most powerful perspective to embrace for personal power and freedom our 2 minds instantly diminishing our pain with a powerful Neuroscience technique Brain Basics When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. This area of the brain functions like a command centre, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy to fight or flee. The hypothalamus is a bit like a command centre. This area of the brain communicates with the rest of the body through the autonomic nervous system, which controls such involuntary body functions as breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat, and the dilation or constriction of key blood vessels and small airways in the lungs called bronchioles. The autonomic nervous system has two components, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system functions like a gas pedal in a car. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, providing the body with a burst of energy so that it can respond to perceived dangers. The 2
parasympathetic nervous system acts like a brake. It promotes the "rest and digest" response that calms the body down after the danger has passed. What we need to understand is that the stress that triggers our sympathetic nervous system is the DAILY stuff more so than the infrequent BIG stresses in life. It s the daily irritations, annoyances, frustrations, upsets, hurts, disappointments, judgements, criticism, negative self talk that are imagined BUT having a real result. This result is keeping us stuck in our reactions, staying in sympathetic nervous system dominance which impacts our gut function and ecology, our immune health, our brain health and capacity and is ultimately driving our disease, keeping us AWAY from what we want and teaching our children HOW to be in this world. Our brain is our greatest ALLY for the best life possible or our greatest ENEMY Taking FULL Responsibility In order to achieve complete and full self-esteem, we have to take complete responsibility for our lives, for both our internal and external experiences. Often we fall into the trap of blaming other people for how we feel and what happens to us. We become distracted by looking for the solutions to our problems outside of ourselves. The truth is that we need to look inside ourselves to see how we are creating what we are experiencing through our thoughts, images and behaviours. Taking the position that we are responsible for our responses to the world gives us immense power. We may not like it at first but there is a real gift AND freedom in viewing life through this lens. It means we can change, we don t need to be defined by past reactions that serve only to perpetuate our pain. 3
We can write a new story which, with practice, brings immense peace and resolution. Let me introduce you to a simple equation that describes this concept: E + R = O This equation can be broken down into: I. E stands for all the events of our life II. R stands for our response to those events III. O stands for the outcomes we experience YOU are creating your experiences, your success, the quality of your relationships, and your health by your thoughts and beliefs (beliefs are no more than thoughts you have conditioned yourself to think over and over), the visual images you focus on (internally and externally), the resulting emotions they create, and your actions and you have total control over ALL three of these. Until we gain this awareness and become conscious we are simply living our automatic program designed purely for our survival Personal responsibility is the key attitude for personal empowerment. It is to your full advantage to assume full responsibility for the circumstances of your life as well as your reactions to these circumstances. Without self-judgment or self-blame, you can focus your attention on understanding yourself and your range of choices that may be possible in any given circumstance. With this high level of personal awareness you can make educated, intentional choices. When your choices don t result in you getting things the way you thought you wanted them, you can look to understand what happened and what action you can take next time, rather than looking for someone or some circumstance to blame. 4
There are many factors that can contribute to the outcome but if they were the deciding factor, nobody would ever succeed. For every reason why something is not possible; there are hundreds of other people who have faced the same circumstances and succeeded. You can instead simply change your responses (R) to the events (E) until you get the outcomes (O) you want. You can change your thinking, change your communication, change the pictures you hold in your head and you can change your behaviour. You can break out of your conditioned responses to circumstances, increase your awareness and change your behaviour. All this leads to a new outcome and you CAN do it! There are only 3 responses (R s) you have any control over: Your behaviour (including what you say and how you say it) Your thoughts (self-talk) and beliefs (both conscious and unconscious) Your visual imagery (including your images of the future) When someone says something or does something to you that hurts, look inside and see what it is you are telling yourself about you. Anytime someone says something to you and you feel hurt, it s because at some level you have a doubt about yourself in that area. And that doubt existed long before that person opened their mouth. I encourage you to hold the attitude that nobody else can make you feel anything, and you can t make other people feel certain ways. You can t hurt other people s feelings. People hurt their own feelings by how they interpret or react to what is said. Your thoughts, words and reactions provide AWESOME clues that will lead to your emotional freedom! For example, complaining means you have a reference point for something you prefer that you are not willing to risk creating. BUT you could choose to change that! Think of gravity, you don t hear people complaining about that! Complaining is only possible if there is the chance of changing it! 5
Let s look at the power of negative thoughts. When we think or say positive thoughts to ourselves, we tend to feel stronger. This is explained in terms of energy in Quantum Science. Einstein said: Everything is energy and that s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is NOT philosophy, THIS is physics! This being the case, it makes sense to notice our internal dialogue and begin to increase our positive self-talk. I d like to take this a step further and demonstrate how this works in terms of the pictures we imagine in our minds, both our thoughts and images have the same results, either to empower or disempower us. Whenever you are in a state where you hate something, you weaken yourself. If you are feeling and saying to yourself, I love, you strengthen yourself. So when you are doing your something you may not entirely love (filling out tax forms, paying your bills, etc.) and you are thinking, I hate, you are really weakening your ability to be effective in that area. If you say, I love, even though it might not feel true at the time, you are not only strengthening your ability to do that task, but also drawing from your subconscious mind the resources necessary to be more effective. When you say you hate another person (or anything at all), you also weaken yourself. When you say, I love or I like, you strengthen yourself. You see, the essence of who you are is love. When you deny that essence, even a little, you tend to weaken your body, which will affect your thinking, too. We can very clearly see the impact of negative thinking and language on the body through muscle testing, such as kinesiology. 6
Working through a difficult situation Exercise: 1. What is a difficult or troubling situation in your life? 2. How are you creating it or allowing it to happen? 3. What are you pretending not to know? 4. What is the payoff for keeping it like it is? 5. Is this a pattern for me? 6. What is the cost for not changing it? 7. What would you rather be experiencing? 8. What actions will you take and what requests will you make to get it? 9. By when will you take this action? 10. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest), will you follow through on this action? The last choice you always have is your attitude. You always have a choice about your attitude. If you choose A over B, you may not have great options to choose from, but you still have a choice. Make the best choice you CAN make at the time. Own your choices, you can always make new ones but remember you choose your attitude! Stay in your job or change your mind about your job, leave your marriage or change your mind about your marriage. The choice is yours! Exercise: Let s work through a REAL scenario. Describe a situation below where you feel discomfort with your partner or child and answer the following: Situation: Describe what was happening: What was your reaction: 7
Why do you think you reacted in this way: What was the other person s reaction: Why do you think they reacted in this way: What was the outcome: Has this situation happened before with that person: Has this situation happened before when YOU were your child: What could you do differently: Becoming an Observer We have 2 minds In Zen they refer to this as the Thinking Mind and the Observing Mind. The two minds. Most of our psychological and emotional stress happens because our Thinking Mind and Observing Mind are fused and we don t recognize the difference. Emotions are not a choice. Behaviour is. 8
Exercises: Begin to be aware of when you feel upset, observe the story you tell yourself in that moment, then question yourself; is that really true. Begin to disidentify with the thought stating I am having a thought that Rather than I am angry, or annoyed or Thank your mind! This is a powerful pshychotherapy practice allowing acknowledgement of self. Say thank you mind for keeping me safe, I ll take it from here Name it to tame it: a technique discovered at UCLA which takes the activity in the brain from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex ( The Land of Choice, Creativity, Calm and Change ): Step 1 pause, notice how you are feeling without resistance Step 2 take 2 mindful breaths (being aware of the feeling of breath going in and filling your lungs and abdominal cavity then being breathed out your mouth) Step 3 name the feeling without judgement and say it 3 times aloud or in your head This practice is sneakily simple BUT effective and produces immediate results. The key is to notice when you are feeling ANY kind of emotional discomfort, ANYTHING at all This will indicate when your program has been triggered so you can begin to practice any of these strategies to bring you back to the present moment where you can instil a NEW program and step into your space of calm (parasympathetic nervous system). Separating your Observing Mind from your Thinking Mind is a habit that takes practice. But once you begin to do it, you ll feel yourself becoming less and less of a slave to your thoughts and your emotions. You ll take more control of your internal daily life and feel better about it. 9
The CRAP Analysis Now here s an interesting conversation! As it turns out, the human brain, as complex as it is, is a truly remarkable organ and the more research that is done, the more we realise we can harness its potential to serve our highest good with some specific practices. As it turns out, our brain can be very committed to holding on to our beliefs and thoughts, that s what it s meant to do I hear you say! Well yes it is but we now know that our beliefs shape our experience in life so if your thoughts are dodgy, what kind of outcomes do you think are on the cards? Neuroscientists have discovered that a very simple process that has come to be known as the CRAP Analysis serves to relieve the brain of its job of holding information that doesn t serve us. Through this process, we identify the CRAP so to speak then write it down and engage in a focusing exercise to release its potential to impact our experience. Just by acknowledging our CRAP it loosens its hold on us. The brain basically goes, phew, you got that now, I can get rid of it! Neuroscientists have discovered that this tricks the brain and we can embrace this tool to begin the unburdening of our barriers to ultimate happiness and success. So here s how it works. Essentially, you are getting really clear (again) about the things that have prevented you achieving what you want in the past, whether it is supreme health, deeper connection, business success or something else. You are going to address these four aspects and write down anything that comes to mind under those areas. Grab some paper and do this exercise without judging yourself, without second guessing anything that comes up, simply write it 10
ALL down. Take the perspective of curiosity rather than using this as another reason to beat yourself up! C onflicts R esistances A nxieties P roblems After you have addressed these four areas, take the time to really focus on each individual one, start by taking some deep breaths and get relaxed. Then read each one, aloud if possible, at least a couple of times and the result will be profound This process creates disassociation from them, you can now move on and replace this space with far more empowering thoughts and beliefs. This will be explored even more in a later week. 11