"Retrain
Your Brain in Just One Day"
Extravagant
claim, you say? I readily agree that there is no magic bullet when it
comes to the incredibly complex task of rewiring the circuitry of the
brain, for the simple fact that its current configuration is the
by-product of years (and more likely, decades) of deep-rooted
conditioning, much of which needs to be undone to give us the freedom
to soar, instead of just staggering along through a life of quiet
desperation. The conditioning of our childhood and early adult life
may well have played a valuable role in our development, but outlived
its usefulness as we grew older and underwent some drastic changes in
our life-experiences.
This book will point you in the direction of changing your mind, and thus your life, but here's the rub: nothing and no-one but yourself can walk the path to a new you. The ball is in your court. You are, and must remain, the only agent of lasting change in your life. Neither Buddha, nor Jesus, nor any other enlightened being can alleviate you from the necessity of taking responsibility for yourself and your present difficulties, as you perceive them. Not even God Himself will take this responsibility away, because that would be to deprive you of the free will to make your own choices and experience their effects. This is not about guilt or shame; this is about empowerment. You are not a victim of the world you see about you; that may have been a part you played, but it is not who you intrinsically are. Nor are you the victim of your brain's wiring, and this you will prove to yourself as you witness—one by one—old, mental and physical habit patterns that are productive of suffering falling away, and this not because of any magic (although it very well may seem like it to others), but because of your diligent application of these tried and true brain-training techniques that will be laid out in the pages which follow.
I
cannot promise that these practices will instantaneously dissolve
long-standing negative habits and addictions, although they may. I
cannot guarantee that you'll be living the life of your dreams one
year from now, although you might. But I can say this, if you stick
with this program, you will be well on your way to becoming the
embodiment of your highest self by the end of the first month of your
practice. And what's more, by the end of just the first day, you will
have already laid the groundwork for a new way to think, feel and
perceive; a new way to live! Do not underestimate the power of what
can be accomplished in one day. What you get out of the techniques I
am going to share with you is directly proportional to what you put
into them in the way of time, mindfulness, and enthusiasm. Be willing
to suspend your disbelief with me as we embark upon an incredible
adventure together—one that takes place on the inside, but will
undoubtedly be evidenced by seemingly incredible changes on the
outside. Step by step, new thought by new thought, we will be
retraining our brains to think along lines that serves, rather than
hinders us, in all that which we desire to be, do, and have.
Oblige
me for a moment: what if it is true that the reasons you haven't
followed through on your New Year's resolutions is not because of a
lack of willpower? That the reason you haven't yet shed old addictive
patterns, despite your best intentions, is not because of a lack of
moral fiber? That the reason you haven't taken active and consistent
steps to the prompt completion of an assignment or accomplishment of
a dream is not because of a lack of time, resources, or support from
others?
What
if the answer to these questions is much simpler and these obstacles
to living the life you want so much more easily correctable than you
could have possibly imagined before this moment? Because right now, I
am asking you to imagine this: what if the solution to these and
every other seeming problem you may be encountering has an answer
that is only an enthusiastically supportive thought away? It may need
to be reestablished many times, because of the sheer force of your
past conditioning, but from the very first new thought you
consciously place in your mind, you have begun to retrain your brain,
and every successive thought in this new and positive direction only
reinforces that first one, and the neural connections that support
it.
It is
the thesis of this book that the implementation of new thoughts that
go against the grain of the old, while not resisting the
energetically established resistances from past thoughts, is the way
out of the frustrating experience of feeling helplessly unable to
change longstanding habits and addictions. It is also the way in to
your own heart-mind, where those old roadblocks of resistant thoughts
will quickly melt away before your inner vision and intention.
The
rewiring of our brain is an occurrence happening all the time, the
question is whether we want to do this volitionally, or just let it
happen by default?
Experience
itself is constantly reconfiguring the neural networks of our brains
in some subtle, some not so subtle ways, but if we want to make swift
progress to a life beyond our wildest dreams, we must boldly take the
reins of our own conscious evolution, and with the amazing force of
intention, steer this great vehicle of life that we have been given
in a way that is productive of power, peace, and purity, rather than
of suffering. This is self-directed neuroplasticity. To highlight the
difference between these two approaches, imagine a lump of play-do
taken out of its container in a spaceship, and allowed to float
around in the cabin. Without doing anything, it will shape itself in
small ways as it bumps into random objects in the cabin, and upon
re-entry into the earth's gravitational field, will be shaped far
more dramatically as it slams into various items. This is like
allowing the brain's neural networks to be shaped by the experiences
of life, what we might call circumstance-directed neuroplasticity.
The other option, is to take that lump of play-do and fashion it into
whatever object our imagination can dream up. This is analogous to
self-directed neuroplasticity.
The
fool accepts his current circumstances as his lot in life, the
student of learning seeks to improve his condition, struggles with
his various difficulties and tries to wrestle them into submission by
force of will-power. But the wise, the ones who have learned the
great and open secret, do only this: they directly take control of
their life experiences, by—somewhat ironically—surrendering, to
all that it is and to all that it was, so that they may begin to
proactively create what it will be in the future.
This
is a simple path of releasing what does not serve, based on our own
experiences, and inviting into our lives, through our consciousness,
what does. Through the God-given power of our own thinking, we have
the ability to make the future now. Let's do it!
Chapter
1
What
you resist, persists.
What
you release, will cease.
These
practices are as much of an art as a science, so I will ask you to be
open-minded and flexible as you undertake them. Although they are a
ritual of sorts, they should not become ritualistic. Your creativity
will serve you better than anything else. Trust your intuition to
guide you in making minor changes to the practices, as in this way
you will make them your own, so to speak, and this will increase your
devotion to them, and thus, their efficacy.
To
begin with, have a seat in preferably loose-fitting clothing, in a
relatively quiet place, if possible. I place a small pillow
underneath my buttocks (this helps me to keep my back straight), put
one leg's foot over the other leg thigh, alternating to the other
foot and thigh if one of my legs begins to fall asleep. I ensure that
my back is straight, gently rest my hands on my thighs, one on top of
the other, with palms up. I encourage you to experiment to find a
position that feels right to you. You may find sitting cross-legged,
or in a chair with your hands on your thighs to be more comfortable.
When
you are settled in a position which allows you to be relatively
unconcerned with your body, take a deep breath, and silently announce
your intention to your mind – that you are here in this place and
time to release whatever it is that is holding you back from your
full potential, or something along those lines. Our goal is to make
friends of our minds, gently and lovingly instructing them every step
of the way as a parent would a child.
The
method is to start a twenty minute timer, although if you are new to
meditation, you may want to begin with ten minute intervals
initially.
Then
sit quietly for just a moment, and allow a current difficulty you
have been struggling with but are ready to have removed from your
experience come to mind. Next, begin with these words, "I
release the need to..." and complete the statement by describing
with great specificity the difficulty or habit (I purposely avoid the
term addiction here, because it has a tendency to lock us in to
thinking that is "just who we are" whereas a habit is
simply a repeated behavior that can be changed.) Let us use alcohol,
for example, which may or may not be something you need to
relinquish. In this hypothetical example, we might say mentally, "I
release the need to drink alcohol." (I would discourage terms
like alcoholism for the reason mentioned above.) repeat the statement
again, and as you get better at the technique you may want to include
additional statements as you progress such as, "I release the
need to drink alcohol, whether beer, wine or spirits." (You also
may want to include "or purchase it from" locations where
you previously purchased alcohol, such as a gas station, or grocery
store, and may find benefit in imagining yourself actually in the
situations that would be a trigger for you. This does activate the
triggering response, in effect priming it for rewiring. Ideally, an
objective, detached state should be cultivated as much as possible,
which helps to depotentiate the triggering circumstance. This builds
the internal muscles that will serve you when you do find yourself in
an actual triggering situation. Many athletes get an edge on their
competitors by imagining their perfect performance before their
competition for the same reason. Now remove the loophole that exists
here by amplifying it to the extreme. End with: "...even one
swill, or drop." So let's put it together.
"I
release the need to drink alcohol...even one drop. I release the need
to purchase any amount of alcohol—whether beer, wine, or spirits—at
the gas station or grocery store." Let this sink into the
subconscious. You may want to imagine social circumstances that are
triggering, like a restaurant, or your friend's house on game day,
and repeat firmly, but gently, this direction to your mind. You have
let it tell you what to do for so long, now it's time to instruct it
in the attitudes and behaviors that you would like to manifest. Be
very honest in this, because problems often hide in the darkness of
our own ignore-ance.
Let's
assume you are just starting out. Your practice will be much simpler.
It is important to not "bite off more than you can chew".
If you are beginning, after repeating once or twice the statement
beginning "I release the need to (engage in such and such--note
that it does not have to be a behavior; it could be the need to
always be right, or what have you)" take a deep breath and as
you exhale, let your shoulders slump forward slightly (if you are
deeply in the meditative state, it may be almost imperceptible) but
let your muscles relax on the exhale (while still maintaining
relatively good posture) and actually simulate the psychic release
that you would achieve physically. This sends a message to the
subconscious to unburden itself; to surrender. Start simple, it will
not be more effective if you start with the complexity mentioned
above. Rather, you should build up to that state by gradually adding
to the practice. After you say "release" internally, bring
yourself back up to your meditation posture.
In
the beginning stage, simply do this, then move on to the next
difficulty or habit, and repeat the procedure. When you have finished
all that you can think of (3 to 5 is ideal), cycle back to the
beginning and repeat for the duration of the 10 or 20 minute period.
When
this has become comfortable to you, and before you add the
complexities mentioned earlier, begin to incorporate the "I used
to...but now" procedure, which is particular powerful in the
rewiring process. For instance after you say "release"...engage
in self-talk in the following manner: "I used to think I needed
alcohol to loosen up, to increase my confidence, to relieve stress,
to let my creative juices flow, etc...but now I can see that I never
really needed alcohol to do achieve any of those results. I simply
used it as an excuse to do them. I can achieve all of these positive
effects naturally. Despite these positive aspects, I can also clearly
see the trouble, embarrassment, and financial drain that alcohol
brought to me." Again, radical honesty is crucial here, which
may be temporarily uncomfortable, but as you continue, these feelings
will diminish, until you can look straight at anything from the past
without an internal cringe.
Conclude
this part of the practice with a statement with as much positive
feeling as you can muster (don't worry if you have to fake this a
little at first) such as, "I am so happy to be free from the desire and compulsion to drink alcohol! I celebrate my new life as a non-drinker!" This will help to release good-feeling
chemicals such as dopamine. Rewards are always better than punishment
when it comes to changing the brain. And then move on to the next
problem.
Play
with these techniques, mix and match them, and find a routine that
works for you. Keep in mind flexibility, creativity, are key in this
technique.
Towards
the end of the ten or twenty minutes, try incorporating a few
positive affirmations, beginning with "I now make allowance for
the possibility that I can kick this drinking habit for good."
Or "I can do this." Or "I am now choosing to take my
life back into my own hands." Or "I now embrace the notion
that I am a non-drinker." Now is a good word because it gives a
clear signal to your mind that you are reprogramming your brain in
this moment. Also, the releasing you have done previously may allow
for a little bit more positivity to well up. That positive emotion
will really add power to the positive affirmations towards the end of
the exercise. If there is any time left, you may want to just sit in
the silence and enjoy the feeling of being so relaxed, which the
releasing should begin to bring you almost immediately. If you are
not experiencing it, stick with it! The natural bliss of your being
will come to your aid to assist you when you have released
sufficiently.
Ideally
this practice should be conducted twice a day at least, with better
results the more you do it. but one word of caution: don't push
yourself too hard. You can expect a degree of mastery after about a
week. Take it easy, gently. Think of it like a hot tub: enter into it
nice and slow so that your system can acclimate to a different
extreme. There will be much cause for distraction, both internally
and externally, but they are part of the practice, too. Don't fight
yourself, surrender to the process, and the whole thing will be much
easier as you give yourself to it and creatively make it your own.
Eventually, it will become something that you look forward to doing,
as it feels so good to release what doesn't! And that's why we're
here: to rewire our brain to feel good, to think positively, to be
free.
At
times, you may find that your brain is quite tired and will start
spinning fantasies or many dreams out of the practice. That is
perfectly alright, and your subconscious can be assisting you here as
well. If you cannot complete the practice because of a deep fatigue
and you need to go back to sleep, by all means do so.
If
you are able to engage in light or moderate exercise (talk to your
doctor if you are not sure), a 30-45 minute workout, such as jogging
can greatly assist in the rewiring of the brain, and consolidating
the gains you have made in practice. Here again, if you are just
starting out, be gentle with yourself and gradually increase the
distance and/or the times between stopping to walk. Listen to your
body, and learn to respect the messages it is given you. Ideally, we
want to toe the edge of our comfort zone and just take a step or two
past it. If you are jogging, you may want to try different routes
from time to time, as this will also be conducive to the rewiring of
your brain.
