The Brain:

A Record of the Past or

the Map to the Future?

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 100

billion brain cells.

If you learn even one bit of information today, tiny brain cells will make new

connections between them, and who "you" are will be altered. The 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."

For the "you" as a sentient being is immersed and truly exists in the

interconnected electrical web of cellular brain tissue. How our nerve cells are

specifically arranged by what we learn, what we remember, what we

experience, 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. We are a work in progress.

 The brain is the organ of change.

The concept in neuroscience called

neuroplasticity demonstrates that the brain
alters itself every time we learn something
new. It also changes when we have a novel
experience. (This idea begs the question,
How many new things have I learned recently
that I can remember and how many new
experiences have I had lately?) Our gray
matter is also rearranged during the times we
choose to modify our behavior in order to do a
better job in life. In other words, when we
really change our mind, the brain changes
and when we change the brain, the mind
changes.

Break the Habit of Being Yourself.

Here is what I mean. According to the working model of
neuroscience, mind is the brain in action. Mind is the brain at
work. It is the product of brain activity when it is animated
with life. With 100 billion nerve cells seamlessly wired
together, it becomes apparent that we can produce many
different levels of mind. Virtually, we can make the brain work
differently because we can influence the brain to fire in
different sequences, different patterns, and in different
combinations in order to produce many diverse states of mind.

For example, the mind we use to treat patients is different than

the state of mind we use to drive our car. We make the brain
work differently when we brush our teeth compared to when we
play the violin. Equally, we make a different mind when we play
the victim in contrast to when we demonstrate joy. All of this is
so because we can, quite simply, force gangs of nerve cells to
fire in unique ways.

Not 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. It was an accepted perception that this delicate organ
was unable to upscale its hardware. But with the advent of the
latest technologies in functional imagery it is apparent that it is
very possible to make the brain work differently. In fact, the
research out of the University of Wisconsin has proven
something as simple as attention or focused concentration is a

skill just like golf or tennis. In other words, the more

you practice being conscious or mindful the
better you get at it.
In addition, functional imagery
has clearly proven that we can also
change the brain just by thinking
differently. For example, people that never played
the piano were divided into groups. (2) The first group
physically played one-handed finger exercises like
scales and cords, and as a result of the new activity,
their brains changed. The before and after results of
the functional brain scans showed new areas of the
brain activated. In essence, not only did they make a
new mind, literally new brain circuits flourished.

However, 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. Simply 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 external world.

Other research has proven similar results not only in the

brain but in the body as well. These tests have shown
that there is veritable a mind-body connection---in fact,
the mind changed the body. In one study, subjects who
were asked to do a finger exercise against the
resistance of a spring over the course of four weeks for
an hour a day showed a 30 percent increase in muscle
strength. (3) Nothing special here. However, the second
group never lifted a finger. They mentally practiced the
same activity for the same length of time and
demonstrated a 22 percent increase in muscle strength
without any physical activity.
 dream a new reality
This research is significant because it clearly showed that the
body as well as the brain changed before the experience of
really pulling the spring. In other words, without touching the
spring or physically doing the exercise, the body was stronger

to reflect a mental effort not a physical effort. These two

studies show that physical changes can occur
by our thoughts, our intentions, and our
meditations.

So, 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 experience 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.
Therefore, if you would mentally rehearse daily what it would
be like to experience any event (just like the piano players),
there would be internal changes taking place as if you were
already beginning to experience your dream.

By applying this understanding to the quantum model, which

states that our subjective mind has an effect or control over our
objective world (consciousness creates reality), we can begin to
explore the idea that if our brain and our bodies are evidencing
physical changes to look like the experience has already
happened as a result of our mental efforts well before the
physical manifestation has occurred, then theoretically the
experience will find us!

By Dr. Joe Dispenza

As seen in Science to Sage E-Magazine