The mind is like an iceberg. Approximately 5-10 percent of it is composed of our conscious, and 90-95 percent of it is composed of our subconscious. Our every day decisions are made on a conscious level. Our subconscious mind, however, stores the beliefs, values and habits that inspire our conscious actions and thoughts. As we go through experiences in life, our subconscious mind acts as a sponge; absorbing in information, and storing it in various components of itself. Through the accumulation of experiences, the subconscious become embedded with habits and beliefs. These experiences ultimately dictate who we become as we mature through life. Those of us who do not practice mindfulness, meditations, or other forms of self realization, will go about our lives, continuing to engage in daily events with our conscious efforts, while failing to understand the true nature of our decisions. Our thoughts are also directly responsible for our physical and mental well being. Let us imagine for a moment. Every time we are unhappy, it is due to a conscious thought; for a thought contains either neutral, unhappy, or happy content. Without a thought, there is nothing. Now, thoughts occur from both our conscious mind (which is what is on the surface) and on the subconscious mind (which explains why we revert back to negative thinking). In order to reverse negative thinking, we must understand that the path to follow is the path that guides you back into controlling your subconscious mind, to reverse the pattern of negativity. One further aspect that is highly considered by our subconscious, but often overlooked by our conscious, is the power of words and the lasting effects of thoughts. In regards to experiencing an ailment; how many us have been guilty of stating my prior to the condition, ailment, or situation that they feel plagued by? For example, if one is feeling anxious, or suffers from a chronic state of anxiety, it is common for them to state my anxiety. Those who study the subconscious mind are aware of the power of giving ownership. When you make such a statement, you are giving ownership to a condition. You are, in a sense, integrating it as being a part of who you are, when in reality, it doesnt always have to be integrated as a part of you. Anxiety, depression, among other states of mind are a series of emotions that serve as unwanted house guests that occupy our mind. We must develop the blueprints to removing them; just as a pest exterminator would develop blueprints to eliminating unwanted pests of the house. We, however, are our own pest exterminator. Imagine our mind/body relationship in a similar concept as the PC/operating system relationship. The operating system is the mind of the PC. Without the operating system, the PC wouldnt function. Our mind is our operating system. When we allow negativity, such as anger, sorrow, fear, hatred, agony and misery within our senses and to our mind, we are essentially allowing them to become malicious occupants of our mind. In a sense, they become a virus, and attach themselves in the subconscious portion of our mind, and generate feelings of depression, anxiety, among other mood conditions. In the same sense that our PC cannot operate properly with a virus, neither can we with an ailment of these negative aspects. Now, many people may go on to say that we should just focus on being happy. Well, that sounds good in theory, and surely, that is what we want, right? A PC whose operating system is infected still wants to operate optimally, but just has a difficult time doing so, because of the virus. In a similar concept, we may feel a desire to want to become happy, but we revert back to the cycle of negativity. This is because our want for happiness is only on a conscious level, where as our subconscious level is being impaired by the virus. It is up to us, and only us, to be able to follow the blueprints to remove the virus. Others may show us guidance and give us the know how, but ultimately, it is up to US to do the work. As soon as we eliminate the virus, it is imperative to effectively set up our own firewall and anti virus protection, because prevention is an important element of happiness. Consider the arts of mindfulness, meditations and hypnosis as submarines that are capable of penetrating the outer shell of the iceberg to explore the inner depths. By re-training our mind, we can re-shape our biology. It was Dr. Bruce Lipton who stated The moment you change your perception, is the moment you rewrite the chemistry of your body. Skilled and experienced meditators have been shown to achieve much higher activation in the rostral ACC and dorsomedial PFC during a mindful breathing task, compared to others. This direct influence results in an alteration of neurotransmitters, which directly affects our state of mind and our physical health. The application of these practices has not only been demonstrated to relieve current states of depression, anxiety, and other conditions of the mind, but has also demonstrated to prevent further lapses into this state in the future. Additionally, the mind influences many functions of the human body, including the immune system. To simplify it, consider the following questions: Have you ever experienced butterflies in your stomach prior to a significant event? Perhaps youve experienced blushing in the face post an embarrassment situation? Surely, you might have suffered a headache from mental stress? These are all small scale examples of the physiological connection between our mind and body that we experience on a regular basis. Study after study has demonstrated the affects of our thoughts, and the physical manifestation that occurs as a result. In regards to our physical health; it has been shown that positive thought, such as happiness, hopefulness, optimism, gratitude, thankfulness, among others appear to reduce the risk or limit the severity of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension, colds and upper-respiratory infections,. On the other end of the spectrum, depression -- the extreme opposite of happiness -- can worsen heart disease, diabetes and a host of other illnesses. In regards to mental health, the same can be applied. Additionally, when we learn to connect and associate with our subconscious mind, we can begin to trace back to the root origin of our crippling ailments, and begin to apply many of these practices (meditation, self hypnosis, mindfulness, the awareness of the present, among other practices) to begin to rid ourselves of the plagues that have cast a barrier in front of our happiness. This is a technique that I have used, along with others who have overcome their own adversity. Of course, there are more than thoughts that come in to play in terms of illness. We live in an age of toxicity, where were faced with a multitude of various toxins on a regular basis; ranging from our food and water supply to environmental sources. Many of us are nutritionally depleted, and nutritional deficiencies are another great cause of both physical illnesses and mental abnormalities. We are beings that thrive off of holistic fuel. We should take every necessary step to enable good health. In order to live a sustainable, healthy lifestyle, we must not only practice healthy eating habits to ensure our body is properly fueled with the right nutrition, but to also get back to the nature of our happiness by focusing on wholesome thoughts and engaging in healthy, productive behavior. Back in the 1950s, there was a physician who also specialized in hypnotherapy. A gentleman had visited this doctor for what they thought was a bad case of warts. The doctor (Dr. Albert Mason) had experience using hypnosis to treat warts in the past. After several hypnotic sessions, the patient was virtually free of all warts. His skin cleared up, and now appeared to be skin of an ordinary person. Afterwards, it was reported that the patient never had warts in the first place. He had an incredibly rare skin condition called congenital ichthyosiform erythrodermia, which is virtually considered incurable. When Dr. Mason became aware of this, he attempted to replicate his results with other patients suffering from the same condition. To his surprise, he wasnt able to replicate the results. He faulted his own lack of confidence in himself in future cases, explaining that on a subconscious level, he had doubted his own abilities; unlike the first time when he truly believed he was treating a bad case of warts. This is an incredibly powerful example of what our minds and beliefs are capable of. It can reverse ailments, remove anxiety and depression, and block chronic pain. To take a closer look at the physiological relationship between our mind and our body, lets examine some excerpts from a few studies that have been conducted on this very topic. Sources for this topic are listed below. Reviews of MBSR studies suggest that it decreases depression, anxiety and psychologic distress in people with chronic somatic diseases2 and that it reduces stress, ruminative thinking and trait anxiety in healthy people.3 Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is similar to MBSR and is designed to change some of the cognitions that are associated with depression ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3044190/ Buddhist walking meditation was effective in reducing depression, improving functional fitness and vascular reactivity, and appears to confer greater overall improvements than the traditional walking program ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24372522/ By random assignment, one group of individuals began a mind-training practice that increased their positive emotions and, in turn, their personal resources and well-being. Just as the broaden-and-build theory predicts, then, when people open their hearts to positive emotions, they seed their own growth in ways that transform them for the better. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3156028/ MBSR is beneficial for general psychological health and stress management in those with medical and psychiatric illness as well as in healthy individuals. Finally, MBSR and Zen meditation have a role in pain management. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22805898/ On to a physical level: Hitherto, both the autonomic nervous system and innate immune system were regarded as systems that cannot be voluntarily influenced. The present study demonstrates that, through practicing techniques learned in a short-term training program, the sympathetic nervous system and immune system can indeed be voluntarily influenced,” writes the scientific journal PNAS, where the study was published. themindunleashed.org/2014/07/science-behind-consciously-controlling-your-immune-system-mind-body-connection.html ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034215/ m.youtube/watch?v=nRsNh0eB-Io
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 18:15:37 +0000
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