Memories, Habits, Fantasies, Fears, Hopes, Skills

Everything that makes us up; the "you and the "me- our thoughts, our dreams, our memories,
our hopes, our secret fantasies, our fears, our skills, our habits, our pains and our joys - is
etched in the living lattice work of 1 billion brain cells! "f you learn even one bit of information
today, tiny brain cells will make new connections between them, and who "you" are will be
altered!
#he images that we create in our mind as we process different streams of consciousness leave
footprints in the vast endless fields of neurological landscape, which contribute to the identity
called "you! $or the "you" as a sentient being is immersed and truly e%ists in the interconnected
electrical web of cellular brain tissue! &ow our nerve cells are specifically arranged by what we
learn, what we remember, what we e%perience, what we feel, what we envision, as well as what
we think about ourselves defines us individually and it is reflected in our internal
neurological wiring! 'e are a work in progress!
&ere is what " mean! (ccording to the working model of neuroscience, mind is the brain in
action! )ind is the brain at work! "t is the product of brain activity when it is animated with life!
'ith 1 billion nerve cells seamlessly wired together, it becomes apparent that we can
produce many different levels of mind!
$or e%ample, the mind we use to treat patients is different than the state of mind we use to drive
our car! 'e make the brain work differently when we brush our teeth compared to when we play
the violin! E*ually, we make a different mind when we play the victim in contrast to when we
demonstrate joy! (ll of this is so because we can, *uite simply, force gangs of nerve cells to fire
in uni*ue ways!
+ot more than thirty or forty years ago, there was a unanimous belief in biology that the brain
was hardwired, meaning that we are born with a certain amount of neurological connections
and the finality in life was that we were going to turn out like our parents! "t was an accepted
perception that this delicate organ was unable to upscale its hardware! ,ut with the advent of
the latest technologies in functional imagery it is apparent that it is very possible to make the
brain work differently! "n fact, the research out of the -niversity of 'isconsin has proven
something as simple as attention or focused concentration is a skill just like golf or tennis! "n
other words, the more you practice being conscious or mindful the better you get at it!
"n addition, functional imagery has clearly proven that we can also change the brain just
by thinking differently! $or e%ample, people that never played the piano were divided into
groups! ./0 #he first group physically played one-handed finger e%ercises like scales and cords,
and as a result of the new activity, their brains changed! #he before and after results of the
functional brain scans showed new areas of the brain activated! "n essence, not only did they
make a new mind, literally new brain circuits flourished!
&owever, when a second group was asked to mentally rehearse the same scales and cords in
their mind for the same amount of time, they grew the same amount of brain connections as the
group who physically demonstrated the activity! 1imply put, when we are truly focused and
attentive, the brain does not know the difference between what is happening in our minds eye
and what is happening in the e%ternal world!
2ther research has proven similar results not only in the brain but in the body as well! #hese
tests have shown that there is veritable a mind-body connection---in fact, the mind changed the
body! "n one study, subjects who were asked to do a finger e%ercise against the resistance of a
spring over the course of four weeks for an hour a day showed a 3 percent increase in
muscle strength! .30 +othing special here! &owever, the second group never lifted a finger!
#hey mentally practiced the same activity for the same length of time and demonstrated a //
percent increase in muscle strength without any physical activity!
#his research is significant because it clearly showed that the body as well as the brain changed
before the e%perience of really pulling the spring! "n other words, without touching the spring or
physically doing the e%ercise, the body was stronger to reflect a mental effort not a physical
effort! #hese two studies show that physical changes can occur by our thoughts, our intentions,
and our meditations!
1o, when you take the time out of your busy schedule and begin to intentionally dream a new
reality, plan a new life, set a new practice goal, or design a new event for you to e%perience in
your future, just remember that your brain is rewiring itself to your desires and your body is
being reconditioned in order to prepare itself for that new event! #herefore, if you would mentally
rehearse daily what it would be like to e%perience any event .just like the piano players0, there
would be internal changes taking place as if you were already beginning to e%perience your
dream!
,y applying this understanding to the *uantum model, which states that our subjective mind has
an effect or control over our objective world .consciousness creates reality0, we can begin
to e%plore the idea that if our brain and our bodies are evidencing physical changes to look like
the e%perience has already happened as a result of our mental efforts well before the physical
manifestation has occurred, then theoretically the e%perience will find us4
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As seen in Science to Sage E-Magazine
Dream a New Reality