(Understanding How Your Brain Operates)
Beverly Nadler, CH, CMT ©2013
In order to live effectively in our physical world, we need to know the Universal Laws that govern our lives and how to intelligently use our mind to live in harmony with them.
My books, “Vibrational Harmony” and “Loving the Game of Life,” explain, in detail, how the mind (conscious, subconscious and Superconscious) functions.
Just as important as understanding your mind, is having knowledge about the physical organ through which your mind operates – your brain.
What Makes the Human Brain Different
Among all earthly inhabitants, only human beings have the unique ability to be superior to instinctual inclinations and to transcend conditioned states of mind. While the structure of the human brain is similar to those of more primitive species, human brains have an unusually large area associated with language and consciousness – the front lobes.
What does this mean? It means that unlike primitive species humans can transcend conditioned states of mind (that is, rise above them) and ignore instinctual inclinations in favor of rational, intelligent decisions and behaviors. To do this, we need to use this large frontal lobe area of our brain. That’s where creativity, imagination and change can take place. Otherwise, like our animal friends, we simply carry out the influences of our genetics and environment.
What we call “the mind” is non-physical. However, our thoughts, feelings, emotions, perceptions, beliefs, ideas, attitudes – all of which we think of as our mind — are processed by and operate through our physical brain.
When you consciously want something and set goals, only about 2-3% of your brain is involved in this. If the other 97-98% is not in agreement with what you want, you are not getting it. No matter how much you want it, unless and until the 97-98% is in vibrational harmony with what you want, your goal eludes you.
To get what you want, you must not only want it and take appropriate action, you must also REPROGRAM your brain. In my seminars and books, I always said, “reprogram your subconscious mind.” I still say that, but now I want you to be aware of your brain’s involvement.
When we consider what we want to change in our life, we might think something like this, “Oh, I can just change that by changing my thought about it.” We may want to change our health, weight, finances, business, relationships, smoking, gambling, alcoholism, other addictions and negative habits, etc. Occasionally we are fortunate, and just changing our thoughts does work.
But more often, especially with deep-rooted issues, changes do not happen when we only change our conscious thoughts. So we do visualizations and other forms of mental imagery, repeat affirmations, meditate and pray, use “tapping” and other energy psychology techniques, hypnosis, listen to CDs, watch DVDs, take teleseminars and live seminars, and anything else we can think of.
And yet, much to our frustration, we often find that no matter what we do, “it” either doesn’t work at all, or change is very slow and miniscule. Even worse, if we do make the changes we want, we frequently go back to our old patterns. Why?
Brain Chemistry and Neural Pathways
Here’s why. We are not just dealing with the non-physical entity we call “the mind.” We are dealing with our very physical neurology and brain chemistry. We are dealing with links and connections — with communication links. This is “wiring” in our brain, and the chemical reactions that take place as a result of the wiring.
The brain creates cells; the cells join together as patterns or programs and create communication links. An example of a communication link is, “Oh, I’m stressed, so I need chocolate,” or, “I’m having coffee now, so I must also have my cigarette.”
Other communication links include the following: Every time you see a certain person you don’t like, you have an uncomfortable feeling. Every time you get a credit card bill, you feel anxiety. Every time you hear a particular emotional song, you feel sad because of the memory the song stimulates in you.
Candace Pert, Ph.D., calls these “molecules of emotion.” They are small molecules in the brain and nervous system whose function is to transmit nerve signals (impulses) from one nerve cell (neuron) to another. You’re familiar with some of them – dopamine, endorphins (brain’s opium), serotonin, gaba. Every thought, every feeling, every action that we, as humans, experience require the interaction of these and/or other neurotransmitters.
The common belief is that the neurotransmitters CAUSE our thoughts, feelings and actions. But it’s actually the other way around. As Dr. Pert explains in her book, “Molecules of Emotion” – our emotional reactions and responses cause the chemical reactions. Then the chemical reactions become a habit for us. We literally become addicted to the chemicals in our brain. This is brain chemistry in action, and unless you take control of your brain, it is controlling you, and not in a good way.
These communication links create neural pathways. The more you repeat the same behaviors, negative thoughts and emotional reactions, the more deeply imbedded the pathways become. These pathways keep your habitual behaviors going — as well as your automatic ways of thinking, attitudes and emotional reactions — and make them stronger and stronger, even when you want to stop.
To find out more about the brain, and how to make changes you want, read Part 2.
