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Neural Networks
December 05 , 2004 by George GillasDr. Emmett Miller describes the connection of thoughts, image, and emotion in his book Deep Healing as thoughts being a short sequence of neurons firing in a given order, images occur when the thoughts are coordinated among a network of neurons and emotions evolve from an image that is held in the mind over time.
The human brain contains approximately 100 billion neurons. Your brain has more possible neural connections than stars in the universe! Neurons in your cerebellum can have 1 million connections each.
The average person has over 90,000 thoughts each day, each thought utilizing hundreds of thousands of neurons. Your brain is alive and ever changing with neurons constantly disengaging and engaging in new neural networks.
“Neurons that fire together wire together” says Dr. Joe Dispenza (of the movie What the Bleep Do We Know). We develop neural networks two ways.
The Law of Association
When we learn something new, we utilize what we already know to understand what we do not know. Our brain reaches for the familiar. We use metaphors, analogies, and stories to make the unfamiliar familiar and the unknown known. Using the Law of Association your brain fires new neural connections to create understanding. Neurons that did not previously connect now do and a new neural network forms. Re-read this paragraph and build a new neural net now!
Law of Repetition
If we do the same thing repeatedly, it becomes familiar, unconscious, and effortless. When you learn something new and continue to “play the tape” in your mind, you are actually creating a neural network based on the Law of Repetition. Consider how many times you have “mentally rehearsed” a newly learned task in order to picture yourself doing it easily.
You are creating new neural networks now if you are thinking about things you already know and/or are repeating the information (even re-reading it) in order to understand it better. When we build neural networks, a substance called Neural Growth Factor (NGF) actually “hard wires” the neurons together. If an old neural network is not fired, it may lose the NGF holding it together. In addition, when we consciously change a neural network through Time Line Therapy™, hypnosis or another intervention we break down the existing NGF and re-wire the network to new ways of thinking. By “testing” and future pacing after each intervention, we create new neural networks and literally re-wire your brain.
Imagined vs. Real
Have you ever told a story so many times you are not 100% certain it actually happened that way? Have you heard stories of POWs who kept their sanity by playing mental rounds of golf every day in captivity only to come home and play as if they never stopped? Have you watched athletes “performing” their routine with their eyes closed prior to competing?
If we create a vivid enough picture in our mind our brain cannot tell if the picture is real or imagined. We can create neural networks by imagining something with enough intensity and focus that to our brain it seems real. More on how to do this in a moment.
The Reticular Activating System (RAS)
The RAS is the attention center of your brain. The RAS is a complex system of neurons that act as a point of convergence of the external world and your internal world. It is the part of your brain where the world outside of you and your thoughts meet.
It has been estimated that our brains receive 200 million bits of information per second from the world outside. We can process only a small portion of those, some 2000 bps. The rest are “screened out” by your unconscious mind through the processes of deletion, distortion, and generalization.
Here is an example of the RAS at work. Last time you purchased a car you may have suddenly “noticed” there were many other cars of the exact same make, model, and color on the road. How did they suddenly appear? The reality is they have been there all along. When you decided on your purchase, you formed a neural network for your car. Your RAS now recognizes something that was previously unknown and unfamiliar as known and familiar. In other words, your mind is now noticing a different group of 2000 bits of information per second than before you bought the car. So your observation is that you “see” the cars just like yours everywhere.
Consider the Implication
If your brain can make an unknown car familiar enough to see where before you did not, could you create a reality in your mind and stimulate the RAS for more profound things like health, prosperity, peace, joy, love, etc?
The mechanics are the same whether we are talking about a new car or an ideal relationship. First, we let go of the negative emotions and limiting decisions, then we focus on what we want, then we take action towards the goal. This works regardless of the desired goal. Your brain, your unconscious mind does not discriminate.
How Do I Do This?
Create a picture or symbol of your goal, your desired outcome. You can create one now or you can use the picture you created during your session.
Get into a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Go into a meditation and wait for stillness of your mind.
Close your eyes, allow yourself to see and experience the vision of your goal as clearly, and vividly as you can imagine it. Simply enjoy the outcome. Allow your brain to build the neural network of this outcome. Hold this image until you can feel the feelings of actually being there.
Ask your mind to store all the positive lessons, direct, and guide you on your daily activities to move you towards your goal.
Go about your day and notice what you notice. Each time you do notice, thank your unconscious mind for the guidance.
More profound changes occur when you work with a practitioner who is skilled in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) techniques, specifically Time Line Therapy™. A well-trained hypnotherapist can also assist you in making permanent changes in how you think. All is available – we simply need to know where to look.
George Gillas provides public and corporate workshops and seminars across the Valley while maintaining an active private hypnotherapy and NLP practice in Scottsdale. He also teaches business, public speaking, and hypnotherapy classes at SWIHA.
Janus Therapies - www.janustherapies.com
3080 N. Civic Center Plaza, Suite 3
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
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