By Don Carter MSW, LCSW
The podcast currently has 7 episodes available.
In this video, I'll be using a story to explain the process of neurological change. There are biological changes that take place in the brain and central nervous system when we make a major life change. It's highly recommended that if you have not already done so, watch the videos on neuroplasticity neural networks and mental filters. If you get nothing more from those videos, there are four principles to keep in mind about neurological change. Number one, neurons that fire together, wire together. Number two, use it or lose it. And number three and four, in order to encode a neural network in the brain, it takes intensity and repetition. I call this one Zebras and Giraffes.
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I'd like to elaborate a little bit on that formula that I brought up in the Flashlight of Awareness, Part 1 and Part 2. The one that says there's no such thing as negative, only the absence of positive. I want to explore that a little further in order to make it clear how we can be the authors of our own pain.
Pattern Matching is a primary cognitive process used to make sense of the world, learn from experience, create positive and negative habits, and develop addictions or other chronic conditions.
When we are in growth mode we are information processors and meaning-makers. We strive to understand and making meaning of the events and situations we experience. We proactively think, consider, evaluate, contemplate options, and study.
This is how we learn. With repetition, we are embedding new neural networks into the neural matrix of our brain.
But when triggered into survival mode, we become automated and reactive - and that is as it should be. We have databases of information encoded in neural networks of past experience. The thinking brain is not involved because taking time to evaluate our options can get us injured or killed.
For example, when we trip and almost fall, we instinctively react in some way attempting to catch ourselves or break our fall. When the car in front of us slams on the brakes, we react by slamming on our own brakes - even before we have time to consider what just happened. This is our brain acting to save our lives.
Imagine a little over 100,000 years ago a lone hunter was making his way across the wetlands looking for food. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the skies were blue with white, puffy clouds and a gentle breeze was blowing.
The hunter noticed that off to the left, out of the corner of his eye, a bush moved… The next thing he knew he is being spider-palmed by a saber-toothed tiger!
For the sake of our story, somehow he managed to get away.
About 30 days later the same hunter was out in the wetlands again looking for food. But this time he brought several of his friends with him… They made sure to go 30 miles in the opposite direction of where the tiger was last time.
As the hunting party walked along it was a beautiful day… the sun was shining… the skies were blue with white, puffy clouds… and a gentle breeze was blowing. Then, off to the left, a bush moved… The hunter’s friends turned around just in time to see him kicking up dust about a hundred yards away… he was running hard in the opposite direction.
In just one very intense experience, the encounter with the tiger had been “burned into his neurology” as a warning system to avoid getting eaten. All the elements were there – the blue skies… the white puffy clouds… the gentle breeze… the beautiful day… the wetlands… the moving bush. All of these elements joined together in the proper sequence signaled the imminent probability of being eaten by the tiger.
His “Don’t Get Eaten” Survival System instantly and subconsciously received the fear signal (aka, trigger) resulting in a powerful need to find safety – right NOW! This is an example of reward-based pattern matching, also known as habit development. The survival-oriented region of the brain builds network databases to get more of what feels good, and get away from what feels bad.
A neural network is a cluster of neurons connected together to form a “database” of encoded information such as thoughts, feelings, beliefs, programmed reactions, emotions, and even physiological data. Neural networks are the actual biological location of change. Change does not take place without re-wiring of existing neural connections or creating entirely new connections. We call these biological changes “learning something new” and it matters not if it is good or bad learning. Sooner or later new learning moves from inside physical changes (neuronal connections) to outside physical changes (actual behavior). This is why we can literally “become” what we think about most of the time… If we frequently ruminate about depressive or obsessive thoughts, we are building a neurological database for depression or obsession and can experience everything that goes with it!
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Neural networks are the actual biological location of change. Change does not take place without re-configuring existing neural connections or creating entirely new connections. The Internet-of-the-Mind is a metaphor for the “software” of our brain – neural networks…embedded in networks…embedded in networks… and so on. Just as software programs on a computer can be upgraded, so too can these internal networks of the subconscious mind.
As you explore these posts, podcasts, and videos you will learn how at the core of almost every human success or problem lies the neural networks of our subconscious mind. Armed with this information you can make lasting changes in any and every area of your life. Perhaps the information here will also demystify and explain why the so-called “Law of Attraction” works so well. The secret is in the power of the subconscious mind.
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Your brain is the most sophisticated super-computer in existence. Want proof? How about the fact that it learned to speak your native language between the ages of 3 and 5 years old without any formal education? Learn More
You can find more information like this on our website at SerenityCreationsOnline.com
Learn More Thanks for your interest in the amazing brain! This is the first episode of our Internet of the Mind Podcast.
You can find more information like this on our website at SerenityCreationsOnline.com
The podcast currently has 7 episodes available.