https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3591183
Alpha.Barood
Link Copied
REPROGRAMING OUR BRAIN - HEALING OURSELVES FROM THE INSIDE OUT
- 1938
- 63
-
- Last Comment
What is it that makes you, YOU?
Is it your name? Is it your relationships with your family and friends? Is it your choices of food, your taste in clothing, or the things you like to do in your free time? Is it the type of job you do? Is it your beliefs, whether religious, political, social, or cultural? Is it your height, gender, weight, body size and shape?
Whilst some or all of these facts will represent how you see yourself in the world, and how many others will see you as well, but they do not fundamentally represent Who You Are at the deepest level.
What if you were told that all the above was just information “programmed” into your cellular memory banks?
So many people are caught up in misbeliefs such as, “I can’t help it, it’s my personality” or “it’s not my fault, it’s in my genes”, or “that’s just the way it is in my family”, and so forth.
This simply isn’t true, unless you call faulty perception “truth”. Everyone can change their programmed responses.
We routinely programme our subconscious mind to carry out repetitive tasks. If we learn a task sufficiently well, such as brushing our teeth or tying our shoelaces, it becomes a programmed habit, and we do it without even thinking about it.
We also programme ourselves in other ways, often without even realising it. For example, we may continue to buy the same brand of laundry liquid that our parents used to buy when we were growing up because there is an “inherited programme” of “safety and comfort” associated with that memory.
Many people are so completely identified with their personality and their life story that they don’t understand they can, in fact, change both.
We can all do this… but how?!
How do we change, not just on the surface, but deep from within? How do we access our healing potential to radically heal and transform our lives from the inside out?
I believe that the key is to understand, and embrace, Who We Really Are. We must embrace our divine nature – that which lies hidden behind the personality self.
We were all born into this worldly existence, and we will all die and leave it, sooner or later – this much we do know.
If we will stop and deeply consider this fact, it begs the question of why such a passage exists? And, herein lies one of the keys to the remembrance of our true nature. We are each an extension of a greater, compassionate Non-Physical Energy. We came from that Source and will return to that Source when we die (Dissipate Identifying Energies).
If we can hold this inner awareness and understanding throughout our human lives, then our lives will be so much richer for it. We will see differently, we will think differently, and we will ACT differently.
“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.” Australian Aboriginal Proverb
If we take a droplet of water from the ocean, that droplet will have exactly the same properties as its source. There is no difference in quality, only in quantity. In like measure, we are made of the same substance as the Source from which we came, which some of us have called “God”. Humanity is the “sum” of God, and we are all the sons and daughters of God.
We have inadvertently allowed ourselves to become separated from our own truth and this has lead to an inner and outer struggle of immense proportions. We are spiritually and emotionally bankrupt, which is reflected in the chaos and turmoil of our modern day lives.
We have been told at least two great lies – that we are separate from each other, and that we cannot heal ourselves. These lies have lead to feelings of disempowerment and disillusionment on a massive scale.
You are invited to move into awareness again, and self-realisation at the highest level. As we each come to remember our Non-Physical essence, our world will come back into balance and wholeness.
Life isn’t about avoiding difficult moments, is it?
I believe that it isn’t. Rather, life propels us forward through contrasting, or unwanted, situations. Yet, we must want to use our difficulties to transform ourselves into something grander, something greater. It does not happen by default.
No one will ever have all the answers to life’s mysteries. Yet, that is not an excuse of a lack of inquiry into the unseen causes of our human lives.
There is a reason why you are currently in the job you are in, living in the house or apartment that you’re in, alone and happy, or lonely and unhappy, in a happy relationship, or in an unhappy relationship, why you have “the family from hell” or the most loving, caring family.
For every effect in our lives, there is a thought pattern that precedes and maintains it. If you really want to change your life, you have to take ownership. You have to stop blaming others for whatever is “wrong”.
You have to learn to bless everything and show gratitude for what you do have. This is no easy task, given our modern day propensity to blame anything and everything under the sun, except ourselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Emília M. Ludovino, is an international Social & Emotional Intelligence Trainer, NLP Master Practitioner, Reiki Master/Teacher a lifetime practitioner of Mindfulness & Meditation. Founder of the Ki Flow – Emotional Intelligence Training. She has been working as an Emotional Intelligence Trainer and Coach, at UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research) and as an independent Trainer & Coach, worldwide, for Law Firms, Law Enforcement, Private Banking, NGOs, Hospitals, Schools, Entrepreneurs, etc. Previously, she worked as an International Lawyer for worldwide NGOs, European and African Governments and multinational companies.
#cultural programming, #dissipating identifying energies, #healing ourselves from the inside out, #inherited patterns, #nature of reality, #society’s beliefs and expectations,
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3591185
Violence is a Preventable Brain Disorder
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3591200
@Alpha.Barood wrote:
Violence is a Preventable Brain Disorder
http://upliftconnect.com/violence-preventable-b...
…the realization that we can change the whole story right now. We don’t need to try to fight the old story. We simply need to walk outside the old story and build a new story. People will leave the old story when they see a new story working. Every individual who changes their own story, is changing the vibrational environment within which we live. We can have the spontaneous remission of the planet’s ills and we can change the environment by just changing who we are.
what a nice quote
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3592392
The One Skill All Successful People Possess
What is the one skill all successful people possess? It certainly isn’t the ability to invent things, or communication skills or technical skills. Successful people come in all shapes and sizes.
Some of them are highly technical and some aren’t. Some of them have a knack for business and other successful people don’t. That’s okay! They can always hire people who know more about business than they do.
The one skill all successful people possess is the ability to learn from their mistakes. It is not really an ability — it is a willingness. People who achieve their dreams make way more mistakes than most people do, because they try way more things than most people do. They are always experimenting. They are always moving forward.
If something they try doesn’t work out for them, they say “Oh well — great learning!” and they try something else.
People who are not successful either don’t try new things, or they try them but they get frustrated and stop trying when their early efforts don’t work out. They blame other people for slowing them down. Other people cannot slow you down unless you let them.
Everybody has had a difficult boss at some point. People who look at roadblocks as opportunities find a way to overcome the obstacle called “My Difficult Boss.”
Everybody has been treated badly at work at some point. Successful people work around the problem or veer off in another direction on their path. They feel the same pain and frustration anyone would feel in their situation, but they take stock and then say “Okay, now that I know what I’m up against — what am I going to do about it?”
They don’t stay stuck in a bad situation and complain about it, as though complaining about a bad situation were a solution to it. It’s not!
We can decide to let career headaches and hurdles limit us, or we can ask “How do I get over this wall — or bust through it or tunnel under it? I know there’s a way!”
Successful people get knocked down and they get up again and try something different. They don’t judge themselves when they fail. It’s not even failure — it’s just free learning!
f you call yourself a loser, get down on yourself or decide that the world is against you, how can you ever succeed? The number one person who has to believe in you is you! No one else will believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself.
If you want to be successful, first give yourself permission to make a big dream. Create a vision for yourself. That’s a hard step for many people. They don’t believe they have the right to live the life or have the career they want. They don’t even dare to imagine what that life and career might look like!
The second step is to start to put a plan together. If the plan is going to take twenty years to accomplish, that’s fine. Some plans take much longer than that.
If you want to define your own life and career, you have to stay open to learning — especially learning about yourself. You have to look in the mirror all the time and ask “How could I have handled that situation better?” When you do that, you won’t stop having problems or running into roadblocks. Instead, you’ll vault over each new roadblock more quickly than you vaulted over the last one!
They say that the reward for solving a big problem is another, even bigger problem. When you can shift your view from “Problems are bad — I hate them!” to “Problems are amazing — they teach me so much!” your success will be all but assured. All it takes is a shift in perspective. Can you make that shift right now?
Liz Ryan is the CEO and founder of Human Workplace. Follow her on Twitter and read the rest of her Forbes.com columns here.
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3594730
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3594855
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3594859
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3594865
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3595199
BLACK ROBBERS (A True Story)
For anyone who didn’t see the episode of David Letterman’s show where this story was told, read this:
(And remember it’s a true story…)
On a recent weekend in Atlantic City, a woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine.
She took a break from the slots for dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room. But first she wanted to stash the quarters in her room.
’I’ll be right back and we’ll go to eat’ she told her husband and carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator.
As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard.
Both were black. One of them was very tall and had an intimidating figure.
The woman froze. Her first thought was: ‘These two are going to rob me.’
Her next thought was: ’Don’t be a bigot, they look like perfectly nice gentlemen.’ But racial stereotypes are powerful, and fear immobilized her.
Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors as they closed.
A second passed, and then another second, and then another. Her fear increased!
The elevator didn’t move.
Panic consumed her
‘My God’ she thought, I’m trapped and about to be robbed!
Her heart plummeted.
Perspiration poured from every pore.
Then one of the men said, ‘Hit the floor.’
Instinct told her to do what they told her.
The bucket of quarters flew upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator floor. A shower of coins rained down on her.
‘Take my money and spare me’, she prayed.
More seconds passed.
She heard one of the men say politely, ’Ma’am, if you’ll just tell us what floor you’re going to, we’ll push the button.’
The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out. He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh.
The woman lifted her head and looked up at the two men.
They reached down to help her up.
Confused, she struggled to her feet. ‘When I told my friend here to hit the floor,’ said the average sized one, I meant that he should hit the elevator button for our floor. I didn’t mean for you to hit the floor, ma’am.’
He spoke genially. He bit his lip. It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing.
The woman thought: ‘My God, what a spectacle I’ve made of myself.’
She was too humiliated to speak..
The three of them gathered up the strewn quarters and refilled her bucket.
When the elevator arrived at her floor they then insisted on walking her to her room.
She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid she might not make it down the corridor.
At her door they bid her a good evening..
As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with laughter as they walked back to the elevator.
The woman brushed herself off. She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her
husband.
The next morning flowers were delivered to her room; a dozen roses.
Attached to EACH rose was a crisp one hundred-dollar bill.
The card said: ‘Thanks for the best laugh we’ve had in years.
It was signed: Eddie Murphy & Michael Jordan
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3596754
IF FITNESS IS AN APPROACH TO TRAINING THE BODY, THEN MEDITATION IS AN APPROACH TO TRAINING THE MIND
A method to bring the active mind to stillness and tranquility, meditation helps to eliminate conscious thought, offering the meditator a unique concentration. During meditation, attention is focused on eliminating the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. The practice comes with a myriad of well-known health benefits including better focus, decreased anxiety, and emotional well-being, among others.
“Knowledge is good, education and understanding is relevant, but rituals make it real.” -Peter Sage
Even with the incredible benefits, and although many try meditation at some point in their lives, only a small percentage actually stick with it for the long-term. This is likely due to the fact most beginners give up after struggling with a few key issues.
“The outer world is simply a reflection of our inner world.” -Peter Sage
Enjoy these 10 practical recommendations to help beginners get past the initial hurdles and integrate meditation over the long term:
1. SET ASIDE TIME EACH DAY.
The only way to get to the the next level in meditation is by setting aside specific time each day to practice.
2. FOCUS ON BREATHING.
Breathing deep slows the heart rate, relaxes the muscles, and helps to focus and calm a busy mind.
3. LET IT GO.
It is common for beginners to have a hard time quieting thoughts like: “what am I doing?” or “why can’t I just quiet my mind?!” When this happens, as it inevitably will, try to really focus in on your breath and let the frustrated feelings just fall away.
4. CHOOSE A ROOM.
Make sure that the room you choose to meditate in is not an office, your bedroom, or an area that you regularly exercise in. It should be the same room each day and needs to be an area where you can relax with “no-strings-attached.”
5. MAKE A COMMITMENT.
Meditation is a lifestyle not a trend or fad, so in order for you to get the optimal results, you need to follow through and make it a habit. Don’t get overly critical about your progress either, just do the best you can every day, and let it go!
6. DO NOT DISTURB.
It is critical that you remain undisturbed while in meditation. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes that beginners make is not taking steps to insure a peaceful environment. If you are constantly having to worry about whether your cell will ring, the dog will bark or the kids will wake up, you’re not going to reach that state of deep relaxation.
7. DON’T STRESS.
Try not to stress no matter what happens during your meditation. Inevitably, something will probably go wrong and catch you off guard. The only way to deal with it and stay on track is to let it go. Do not dwell on stress. One way to deal with stress in meditation is to focus on gratitude instead. Instead of stewing over what is bothering you, get to a positive mind by transitioning to feelings of gratitude.
8. FIND A PARTNER.
Meditating with a partner or family member can have huge benefits, not the least of which is accountability. When you have a partner to meditate with you have someone with whom to discuss new strategies and struggles with. It’s always easier with a friend!
9. RISE AND…ZEN.
Without a doubt, early morning is the ideal time to practice meditation. The morning hours tend to be quieter, your mind is not filled with a million things, and there’s far less chance you will be interrupted. Start to make a habit of getting up an hour or half an hour earlier to meditate, you won’t regret it.
10. STAY ON TRACK.
Meditation can seem like hard work, and you may feel like you’re just getting too busy and overwhelmed with daily life to continue. But it is precisely at this time that you will need meditation most. Re-invigorate yourself by reconnecting with the reasons that you started practicing in the first place.
Meditation is an a hugely beneficial practice, but it can be trying in the beginning. Use the tips described above to get the most out of your meditation!
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3596847
What make you,, bhai did u read it ,, healing is possible ,, but is one ready to giveup desires??
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3597005
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3598805
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3599085
BLACK ROBBERS (A True Story)
For anyone who didn’t see the episode of David Letterman’s show where this story was told, read this:
(And remember it’s a true story…)
On a recent weekend in Atlantic City, a woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine.
She took a break from the slots for dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room. But first she wanted to stash the quarters in her room.
’I’ll be right back and we’ll go to eat’ she told her husband and carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator.
As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard.
Both were black. One of them was very tall and had an intimidating figure.
The woman froze. Her first thought was: ‘These two are going to rob me.’
Her next thought was: ’Don’t be a bigot, they look like perfectly nice gentlemen.’ But racial stereotypes are powerful, and fear immobilized her.
Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors as they closed.
A second passed, and then another second, and then another. Her fear increased!
The elevator didn’t move.
Panic consumed her
‘My God’ she thought, I’m trapped and about to be robbed!
Her heart plummeted.
Perspiration poured from every pore.
Then one of the men said, ‘Hit the floor.’
Instinct told her to do what they told her.
The bucket of quarters flew upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator floor. A shower of coins rained down on her.
‘Take my money and spare me’, she prayed.
More seconds passed.
She heard one of the men say politely, ’Ma’am, if you’ll just tell us what floor you’re going to, we’ll push the button.’
The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out. He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh.
The woman lifted her head and looked up at the two men.
They reached down to help her up.
Confused, she struggled to her feet. ‘When I told my friend here to hit the floor,’ said the average sized one, I meant that he should hit the elevator button for our floor. I didn’t mean for you to hit the floor, ma’am.’
He spoke genially. He bit his lip. It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing.
The woman thought: ‘My God, what a spectacle I’ve made of myself.’
She was too humiliated to speak..
The three of them gathered up the strewn quarters and refilled her bucket.
When the elevator arrived at her floor they then insisted on walking her to her room.
She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid she might not make it down the corridor.
At her door they bid her a good evening..
As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with laughter as they walked back to the elevator.
The woman brushed herself off. She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her
husband.
The next morning flowers were delivered to her room; a dozen roses.
Attached to EACH rose was a crisp one hundred-dollar bill.
The card said: ‘Thanks for the best laugh we’ve had in years.
It was signed: Eddie Murphy & Michael Jordan
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3600809
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3600895
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3606365
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3623723
घर चाहे कैसा भी हो,
उसके एक कोने में,
खुलकर हंसने की जगह रखना,
सूरज कितना भी दूर हो, उसको घर आने का रास्ता देना,
कभी कभी छत पर चढ़कर
तारे अवश्य गिनना,
हो सके तो हाथ बढ़ा कर,
चाँद को छूने की कोशिश करना,
अगर हो लोगों से मिलना जुलना तो,
घर के पास पड़ोस ज़रूर रखना,
भीगने देना बारिश में,
उछल कूद भी करने देना,
हो सके तो बच्चों को,
एक कागज़ की किश्ती चलाने देना,
कभी हो फुरसत,आसमान भी साफ हो,तो एक पतंग आसमान में चढ़ाना,
हो सके तो एक छोटा सा पेंच भी लड़ाना,
घर के सामने रखना एक पेड़,
उस पर बैठे पक्षियों की बातें अवश्य सुनना,
घर के एक कोने में खुलकर हँसने की जगह रखना.
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3627678
A certain gentleman walked into a hotel and after perusing through the menu ordered for some food.
After about 20 mins another group of gentlemen walked in and ordered for theirs.
To his dismay, he noticed them get served first.
He watched as they began to eat and laugh heartily.
He even overheard one of them brag about how he knew everyone at that hotel and how things moved fast for him here.
He felt he was being mocked.
He contemplated leaving. But he had waited so long.
Unable to take it anymore, he called the waiter and spoke sadly of how unfair things were.
The waiter calmly told him, “Yours is a special order Sir, being prepared by the chief chef himself.
Their orders were prepared hurriedly by interns because the top chefs are busy with yours.
That’s why they came first. Please have some juice as you wait”.
Unknown to him the owner of the hotel { who happened to be an old long lost friend of his } had seen him coming and wanted to surprise him and had made changes to his simple meal to make it an exotic meal.
He calmed down and waited.
Shortly after his meal was served by 6 waiters and he was waited on hand and foot and being made very comfortable.
The gentlemen at the other table were shocked.
They couldn’t stop staring. Suddenly they were the ones murmuring, asking why they didn’t get that kind of service and meal.
So it is with life !
Some people are ahead of you and eating now, laughing at you about how they know people and how they’re blessed with money and how they’re enjoying life because of it.
You have been waiting long wondering why its taking soo long to get your breakthrough, enduring mockery and humiliation. Maybe you have contemplated the unthinkable, gone through depression or suffered severe mental anxiety.
Do not worry !
The owner of the world has seen you. And doesn’t want to give you simple meals like those laughing at you.
You’ve been waiting for long because yours is a special meal and takes time.
And only chief chef makes those !
Take heart today.
Wait for your meal and relax. When it comes, the laughing party will be silenced for good.
🙏🙏🙏
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3627722
@Alpha.Barood wrote:
A certain gentleman walked into a hotel and after perusing through the menu ordered for some food.
After about 20 mins another group of gentlemen walked in and ordered for theirs.
To his dismay, he noticed them get served first.
He watched as they began to eat and laugh heartily.
He even overheard one of them brag about how he knew everyone at that hotel and how things moved fast for him here.He felt he was being mocked.
He contemplated leaving. But he had waited so long.
Unable to take it anymore, he called the waiter and spoke sadly of how unfair things were.The waiter calmly told him, “Yours is a special order Sir, being prepared by the chief chef himself.
Their orders were prepared hurriedly by interns because the top chefs are busy with yours.
That’s why they came first. Please have some juice as you wait”.Unknown to him the owner of the hotel { who happened to be an old long lost friend of his } had seen him coming and wanted to surprise him and had made changes to his simple meal to make it an exotic meal.
He calmed down and waited.
Shortly after his meal was served by 6 waiters and he was waited on hand and foot and being made very comfortable.
The gentlemen at the other table were shocked.
They couldn’t stop staring. Suddenly they were the ones murmuring, asking why they didn’t get that kind of service and meal.So it is with life !
Some people are ahead of you and eating now, laughing at you about how they know people and how they’re blessed with money and how they’re enjoying life because of it.
You have been waiting long wondering why its taking soo long to get your breakthrough, enduring mockery and humiliation. Maybe you have contemplated the unthinkable, gone through depression or suffered severe mental anxiety.
Do not worry !
The owner of the world has seen you. And doesn’t want to give you simple meals like those laughing at you.
You’ve been waiting for long because yours is a special meal and takes time.
And only chief chef makes those !Take heart today.
Wait for your meal and relax. When it comes, the laughing party will be silenced for good.🙏🙏🙏
Very nice Sir 
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3628911
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3628912
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3634117
The world in our brain, beyond the conscious
The world in our brain, beyond the conscious
The importance of the non-conscious in decision making is by far the most significant discovery about human behaviour
It is so easy to believe that the earth is flat and that the sun is revolving around the earth because that is what our eyes see. Similarly, it is so easy to believe that we are always conscious of what we are doing and what is happening around us.
Organized religions and our legal system have reinforced the belief that we are all aware of our actions, have willed them, and so, are responsible for them.
According to Harvard University professor Daniel M. Wegner, when we have thoughts that occur just before an action, and when these thoughts are consistent with the action, and when other potential causes of the action are not present, we believe that we have willed our action. If I thought of reading today’s newspaper, picked it up and started reading it, it is a clear example of how my consciousness is in charge of my life and guiding all my actions.
The initial attempts to put forward an alternative theory of human behaviour did not meet with much success. Sigmund Freud, in 1915, put forward the theory that most of human behaviour occurs below consciousness.
However, his explanation of the subconscious being a storehouse of childhood experiences, mostly of a sexual nature, could not stand the test of scientific scrutiny.
The claim by James Vicary, in 1957, that he increased the sale of popcorn and Coca-Cola by subliminally flashing “Drink Coke” and “Eat Popcorn”, created quite a stir among those interested in finding more effective ways to persuade human behaviour. But his later admission of his experiments being unreliable made any discussion about non-conscious behaviour a taboo.
But the new millennium saw several scientific studies that proved that human behaviour extends far beyond conscious processes. Picking up the newspaper was not a simple conscious act after all; many non-conscious aspects lie beneath. The fingers we used to pick the newspaper up, the delicate pressure exerted to hold the paper, the angle at which the newspaper was held, the awareness of the language of the newspaper—most of these were not consciously thought through.
Mounting evidence from medical sciences proves that there is a world in our brains beyond the conscious. The famous neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran’s explanation of the unusual medical cases of an amputee suddenly feeling intense pain in his phantom limb, and of a blind patient who cannot see a pen that is held before her but manages to reach out and grab it, is rooted in the intricacies of non-conscious brain processes.
The famous experiment by Benjamin Libet in the 1980s proved that the non-conscious brain decides about 0.3 seconds before a person is conscious of his own decision/action—something that Libet could pinpoint using an electroencephalogram (EEG).
This revelation generated lots of discussions not just about the preponderance of the non-consciousness in our decision-making process, but more so about the holy cow of consciousness theory—free will.
The limits of human consciousness are clearly evident in sports arenas. Sport psychologists have discovered that the minimum time our conscious brain requires just to react to a stimuli, hear the sound of a starting gun and start sprinting, for instance, is 0.1 second. Any athlete who reacts before 0.1 seconds is therefore disqualified.
But the time a player gets, in games likes cricket, baseball and tennis, to decide which shot to play, is less than 0.02 seconds—the vast gulf between 0.1 and 0.02 indicates that such decisions are taken non-consciously.
These experiments show that the non-conscious is five to 10 times faster in taking decisions when compared to our conscious. It is this superior speed of the non-conscious that makes a person freeze in his tracks to avoid stepping on a snake. The conscious processes step in a second or two later to confirm that it was a twig and not a snake. The super-fast non-conscious, that might go wrong a few times, is evolutionarily more useful for survival than the slow, conscious brain.
The famous invisible gorilla experiment demonstrated that those counting the number of passes a basketball team is making miss the gorilla that’s dancing in front of their eyes. It is proof that the conscious brain can focus on only one activity at a time.
Neuroscience experts have started putting numbers to the capacity of our brain processes. It is now estimated that our sensory system can handle 11 million bits per second. The most optimistic number of bits that the consciousness can process is a mere 50 bits per second. Given the superior speed and the overwhelming capacity advantage, it’s a no-brainer (no pun intended) that a vast majority of our decisions are taken by the non-conscious.
The importance of the non-conscious in decision making is by far the most significant discovery about human behaviour. Policymakers and corporate strategists can only ignore this factor at their own peril. The scientific data that demonstrates the huge significance of the brain’s non-conscious processes is overwhelming.
But will it change our blind faith in the consciousness? After all, a very large percentage of people, even in developed countries, still believe that it all began with Adam and Eve a few thousands of years ago.
Biju Dominic is the chief executive officer of Final Mile Consulting, a behaviour architecture firm.
Biju Dominic
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3636997
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3636999
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3643071
STRATEGY
http://www.businessinsider.com/a-neuroscience-r...
A neuroscience researcher reveals 4 rituals that will make you happier
Barking Up The Wrong Tree
Eric Barker, Barking Up The Wrong Tree
happy woman
Use science to increase your happiness.Flickr/Scarleth Marie
You get all kinds of happiness advice on the internet from people who don’t know what they’re talking about. Don’t trust them.
Actually, don’t trust me either. Trust neuroscientists. They study that gray blob in your head all day and have learned a lot about what truly will make you happy.
UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb has some insights that can create an upward spiral of happiness in your life.
Here’s what you and I can learn from the people who really have answers:
1. The most important question to ask when you feel down
Sometimes it doesn’t feel like your brain wants you to be happy. You may feel guilty or shameful. Why?
Believe it or not, guilt and shame activate the brain’s reward center.
Via The Upward Spiral:
Despite their differences, pride, shame, and guilt all activate similar neural circuits, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and the nucleus accumbens. Interestingly, pride is the most powerful of these emotions at triggering activity in these regions – except in the nucleus accumbens, where guilt and shame win out. This explains why it can be so appealing to heap guilt and shame on ourselves – they’re activating the brain’s reward center.
And you worry a lot, too. Why? In the short term, worrying makes your brain feel a little better – at least you’re doing something about your problems.
Via The Upward Spiral:
In fact, worrying can help calm the limbic system by increasing activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and decreasing activity in the amygdala. That might seem counterintuitive, but it just goes to show that if you’re feeling anxiety, doing something about it – even worrying – is better than doing nothing.
But guilt, shame, and worry are horrible, long-term solutions. So what do neuroscientists say you should do? Ask yourself this question:
What am I grateful for?
Yeah, gratitude is awesome … but does it really affect your brain at the biological level? Yup.
You know what the antidepressant Wellbutrin does? Boosts the neurotransmitter dopamine. So does gratitude.
Via The Upward Spiral:
The benefits of gratitude start with the dopamine system, because feeling grateful activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine. Additionally, gratitude toward others increases activity in social dopamine circuits, which makes social interactions more enjoyable …
Know what Prozac does? Boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin. So does gratitude.
Via The Upward Spiral:
One powerful effect of gratitude is that it can boost serotonin. Trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.
I know, sometimes life lands a really mean punch in the gut and it feels like there’s nothing to be grateful for. Guess what?
Doesn’t matter. You don’t have to find anything. It’s the searching that counts.
Via The Upward Spiral:
It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful.
And gratitude doesn’t just make your brain happy – it can also create a positive feedback loop in your relationships. So express that gratitude to the people you care about.
For more on how gratitude can make you happier and more successful, click here.
But what happens when bad feelings completely overtake you? When you’re really in the dumps and don’t even know how to deal with it? There’s an easy answer …
unhappy sad frustrated person
Point out the things that upset you.ibm4381/Flickr
2. Label negative feelings
You feel awful. OK, give that awfulness a name. Sad? Anxious? Angry?
Boom. It’s that simple. Sound stupid? Your noggin disagrees.
Via The Upward Spiral:
one fMRI study, appropriately titled “Putting Feelings into Words” participants viewed pictures of people with emotional facial expressions. Predictably, each participant’s amygdala activated to the emotions in the picture. But when they were asked to name the emotion, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activated and reduced the emotional amygdala reactivity. In other words, consciously recognizing the emotions reduced their impact.Suppressing emotions doesn’t work and can backfire on you.
Via Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long:
Gross found that people who tried to suppress a negative emotional experience failed to do so. While they thought they looked fine outwardly, inwardly their limbic system was just as aroused as without suppression, and in some cases, even more aroused. Kevin Ochsner, at Columbia, repeated these findings using an fMRI. Trying not to feel something doesn’t work, and in some cases even backfires.
But labeling, on the other hand, makes a big difference.
Via Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long:
To reduce arousal, you need to use just a few words to describe an emotion, and ideally use symbolic language, which means using indirect metaphors, metrics, and simplifications of your experience. This requires you to activate your prefrontal cortex, which reduces the arousal in the limbic system. Here’s the bottom line: describe an emotion in just a word or two, and it helps reduce the emotion.
Ancient methods were way ahead of us on this one. Meditation has employed this for centuries. Labeling is a fundamental tool of mindfulness.
In fact, labeling affects the brain so powerfully it works with other people, too. Labeling emotions is one of the primary tools used by FBI hostage negotiators.
To learn more of the secrets of FBI hostage negotiators, click here.
Okay, hopefully you’re not reading this and labeling your current emotional state as bored. Maybe you’re not feeling awful but you probably have things going on in your life that are causing you some stress. Here’s a simple way to beat them.
thinking
Make decisions to do things you enjoy.Francisco Osorio/Flickr
3. Make that decision
Ever make a decision and then your brain finally feels at rest? That’s no random occurrence.
Brain science shows that making decisions reduces worry and anxiety – as well as helping you solve problems.
Via The Upward Spiral:
Making decisions includes creating intentions and setting goals – all three are part of the same neural circuitry and engage the prefrontal cortex in a positive way, reducing worry and anxiety. Making decisions also helps overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls you toward negative impulses and routines. Finally, making decisions changes your perception of the world – finding solutions to your problems and calming the limbic system.
But deciding can be hard. I agree. So what kind of decisions should you make? Neuroscience has an answer.
Make a “good enough” decision. Don’t sweat making the absolute 100% best decision. We all know being a perfectionist can be stressful. And brain studies back this up.
Trying to be perfect overwhelms your brain with emotions and makes you feel out of control.
Via The Upward Spiral:
Trying for the best, instead of good enough, brings too much emotional ventromedial prefrontal activity into the decision-making process. In contrast, recognizing that good enough is good enough activates more dorsolateral prefrontal areas, which helps you feel more in control …
As Swarthmore professor Barry Schwartz said in my interview with him: “Good enough is almost always good enough.”
So when you make a decision, your brain feels you have control. And, as I’ve talked about before, a feeling of control reduces stress. But here’s what’s really fascinating: Deciding also boosts pleasure.
Via The Upward Spiral:
Actively choosing caused changes in attention circuits and in how the participants felt about the action, and it increased rewarding dopamine activity.
Want proof? No problem. Let’s talk about cocaine.
You give two rats injections of cocaine. Rat A had to pull a lever first. Rat B didn’t have to do anything. Any difference? Yup: Rat A gets a bigger boost of dopamine.
Via The Upward Spiral:
So they both got the same injections of cocaine at the same time, but rat A had to actively press the lever, and rat B didn’t have to do anything. And you guessed it – rat A released more dopamine in its nucleus accumbens.
So what’s the lesson here? Next time you buy cocaine … whoops, wrong lesson. Point is, when you make a decision on a goal and then achieve it, you feel better than when good stuff just happens by chance.
And this answers the eternal mystery of why dragging your butt to the gym can be so hard.
If you go because you feel you have to or you should, well, it’s not really a voluntary decision. Your brain doesn’t get the pleasure boost. It just feels stress. And that’s no way to build a good exercise habit.
Via The Upward Spiral:
Interestingly, if they are forced to exercise, they don’t get the same benefits, because without choice, the exercise itself is a source of stress.
So make more decisions. Neuroscience researcher Alex Korb sums it up nicely:
We don’t just choose the things we like; we also like the things we choose.
To learn what neuroscientists say is the best way to use caffeine, click here.
OK, you’re being grateful, labeling negative emotions and making more decisions. Great, but this is feeling kinda lonely for a happiness prescription. Let’s get some other people in here.
What’s something you can do with others that neuroscience says is a path to mucho happiness? And something that’s stupidly simple so you don’t get lazy and skip it? Brain docs have an answer for you.
happy laughing friends
Have fun with friends.Business Insider
4. Touch people
No, not indiscriminately; that can get you in a lot of trouble.
But we need to feel love and acceptance from others. When we don’t it’s painful. And I don’t mean “awkward” or “disappointing.” I mean actually painful.
Neuroscientists did a study where people played a ball-tossing video game. The other players tossed the ball to you and you tossed it back to them. Actually, there were no other players; that was all done by the computer program.
But the subjects were told the characters were controlled by real people. So what happened when the “other players” stopped playing nice and didn’t share the ball?
Subjects’ brains responded the same way as if they experienced physical pain. Rejection doesn’t just hurt like a broken heart; your brain feels it like a broken leg.
Via The Upward Spiral:
In fact, as demonstrated in an fMRI experiment, social exclusion activates the same circuitry as physical pain … at one point they stopped sharing, only throwing back and forth to each other, ignoring the participant. This small change was enough to elicit feelings of social exclusion, and it activated the anterior cingulate and insula, just like physical pain would.
Relationships are important to your brain’s feeling of happiness. Want to take that to the next level? Touch people.
Via The Upward Spiral:
One of the primary ways to release oxytocin is through touching. Obviously, it’s not always appropriate to touch most people, but small touches like handshakes and pats on the back are usually okay. For people you’re close with, make more of an effort to touch more often.
Touching is incredibly powerful. We just don’t give it enough credit. It makes you more persuasive, increases team performance, improves your flirting … heck, it even boosts math skills.
Touching someone you love actually reduces pain. In fact, when studies were done on married couples, the stronger the marriage, the more powerful the effect.
Via The Upward Spiral:
In addition, holding hands with someone can help comfort you and your brain through painful situations. One fMRI study scanned married women as they were warned that they were about to get a small electric shock. While anticipating the painful shocks, the brain showed a predictable pattern of response in pain and worrying circuits, with activation in the insula, anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. During a separate scan, the women either held their husbands’ hands or the hand of the experimenter. When a subject held her husband’s hand, the threat of shock had a smaller effect. The brain showed reduced activation in both the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – that is, less activity in the pain and worrying circuits. In addition, the stronger the marriage, the lower the discomfort-related insula activity.
So hug someone today. And do not accept little, quick hugs. No, no, no. Tell them your neuroscientist recommended long hugs.
Via The Upward Spiral:
A hug, especially a long one, releases a neurotransmitter and hormone oxytocin, which reduces the reactivity of the amygdala.
Research shows getting five hugs a day for four weeks increases happiness big time.
Don’t have anyone to hug right now? No? (I’m sorry to hear that. I would give you a hug right now if I could.) But there’s an answer: Neuroscience says you should go get a massage.
Via The Upward Spiral:
The results are fairly clear that massage boosts your serotonin by as much as 30 percent. Massage also decreases stress hormones and raises dopamine levels, which helps you create new good habits … Massage reduces pain because the oxytocin system activates painkilling endorphins. Massage also improves sleep and reduces fatigue by increasing serotonin and dopamine and decreasing the stress hormone cortisol.
So spend time with other people and give some hugs. Sorry, texting is not enough.
When you put people in a stressful situation and then let them visit loved ones or talk to them on the phone, they felt better. What about when they just texted? Their bodies responded the same as if they had no support at all.
Via The Upward Spiral:
text-message group had cortisol and oxytocin levels similar to the no-contact group.Author’s note: I totally approve of texting if you make a hug appointment.
To learn what neuroscience says is the best way to get smarter and happier, click here.
OK, I don’t want to strain your brain with too much info. Let’s round it up and learn the quickest and easiest way to start that upward spiral of neuroscience-inspired happiness.
Sum up
Here’s what brain research says will make you happy:
Ask “What am I grateful for?” No answers? Doesn’t matter. Just searching helps.
Label those negative emotions. Give it a name and your brain isn’t so bothered by it.
Decide. Go for “good enough” instead of ‘best decision ever made on Earth."
Hugs, hugs, hugs. Don’t text – touch.
So what’s the simple way to start that upward spiral of happiness?
Just send someone a thank-you email. If you feel awkward about it, you can send them this post to tell them why.
This really can start an upward spiral of happiness in your life. UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb explains:
Everything is interconnected. Gratitude improves sleep. Sleep reduces pain. Reduced pain improves your mood. Improved mood reduces anxiety, which improves focus and planning. Focus and planning help with decision making. Decision making further reduces anxiety and improves enjoyment. Enjoyment gives you more to be grateful for, which keeps that loop of the upward spiral going. Enjoyment also makes it more likely you’ll exercise and be social, which, in turn, will make you happier.
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3643588
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3643590
https://www.desidime.com/discussions/reprograming-our-brain-healing-ourselves-from-the-inside-out?page=1#post_3645463
http://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/why-cheaters-c...
How Could 5,000 Employees Cheat? The Science Behind the Wells Fargo Scandal
Click here to reply
Reply
