Here is Paper 2 of 3 in the series The New and Old Science Behind My Work and it is worth repeating what I teach about.

 Resilience is what I really teach about (since 1988) although I have called it by different names – Inner Strength and Mental Toughness being two. Today’s word is Resilience.

My Definition    
My definition is this: “Resilience (Inner Strength or Mental Toughness) is that deep quality of our mind and spirit that enables us to create opportunities in life or rise above adversity. I'm saying you don't have to go through adversity to rise above it – you can just tap “Resilience”. It is an inherent part of our creation (or existence) as beings and it allows us to rise above adversity if and when it strikes.”

Why Is The Subconscious Mind Important?
The subconscious mind contains all our memory, our habits and beliefs, personality and self-image. Perhaps you want to change a habit, such as smoking, or always reacting angrily when someone “pushes your buttons”. Maybe you wish to have better recall in exams. Or you might be challenged by low self-esteem. Whatever you want to change, it is essential to change it in the subconscious mind.

It Doesn’t Matter if you Don’t Believe – just Pretend
The subconscious mind does not know the difference between imagination and reality. Never under-estimate the power of pretence – fake it till you make it! This is why we can trick the mind when we are working with it, deliberately implanting new habits of say “I can easily walk long distances into caves” when in reality we have claustrophobia. Using the methods I teach, which include guided imagery, visualisation, positive self-talk and active meditation– all done in the relaxed state when you are dealing direct with the subconscious mind, then the new habit will prevail – and this can happen in a very short time (say a month).An elderly gentleman who found it extremely difficult to walk to the bathroom first thing in the morning (because of arthritis), lay in bed a little longer and meditated on visualising himself walking easily to the bathroom – then he got up and did just that – tricking the mind – every morning! 

We have 4 different brain wave states that we can deliberately work with
Delta     – 0.5 to 4 cycles/sec - the deep sleep state – no dreams 
Theta     – 4 to 7 cycles/sec - the meditation or the dream state, the deep relaxed state
Alpha     – 7 to 13 cycles/sec - the relaxed, focused and day-dreaming state
Beta       – 13 to 25 cycles/sec - the wide awake, doing, alert state that you can think of 9 things at one time. It is the stressed state and the state that you can absorb stress

The Reticular Activating Filter 
It is like a net that sits between the conscious and the subconscious mind which opens and closes depending on which state we are in. In the Beta state the Filter is closed so that communication is only with the conscious mind. In the Alpha and Theta state the Filter is partly open so that communication is with subconscious mind directed by the conscious mind. In the Delta state the filter is wide open and the subconscious mind is the boss (the conscious mind is not directing thoughts). The subconscious mind does not wish to deal with anything new so no mind work is done in this state.

CALM Techniques Teach Useful Methods of Working in Alpha and Theta
Why do want to work in the Alpha and Theta brain wave state. The answer is because we are then working with the subconscious mind which has in it all our Memory, Habits, Personality and Self-image. If we want to get a new habit or let go a habit or increase self-image we need to do this in the subconscious mind.
Peaceful Place is a technique to get into the Alpha Brain Wave state very quickly. Stress goes and we are dealing with the subconscious mind. Goals are done in this state.
Active Meditation is the second technique. With this technique we go to the Theta Brain Wave state and communicate with our conscious mind direct with the subconscious. We are actively doing something with our conscious mind inside the subconscious mind so that we can form new habits faster.
Music is important.The Peaceful Place music is at 60 beats per minute. The meditation music is slightly slower. The science is that the heart beat gets in time with the music which means that with music alone we can go to the Alpha Brain Wave state and therefore release stress and communicate with the subconscious mind. The other thing to note is that playing Baroque music at 60 beats per minute is particularly beneficial for studying in that what we are learning is going into Memory (the subconscious mind) because the Reticular Activating Filter is partly open.  Also remember – relax (go to Alpha with Peaceful Place) to recall.

Encouraging Positivity
Professor Roger Sperry received the Nobel Prize for identifying the functions of the Left (analytical) Brain and the Right (creative) Brain in 1982 - and he is a well respected scientist.  Several years earlier he proved that negative thoughts attract negative thoughts - that leads to negative action - and that in turn leads to negative reaction.  Thank goodness for the corollary - positive thoughts attract positive thoughts which lead to positive action and to positive reaction. More research has shown that we speak to ourselves more than 50,000 times per day – and who is listening? We are of course! A great key is to really listen to our own self-talk. Does a positive thought cancel out a negative thought? How do we know for sure … however I have heard that we need ten positive thoughts to "cancel out" one negative thought.
Many people hold on to blame because of things that may have happened in their childhood - but this is not a way forward and does not work if somebody wants to move on in life. Acceptance is a key. What's happened, has happened and nothing in the world can change that - it's now a question of what we do with what has happened that is important. It is our attitude and willingness to move on that will free us to relinquish blame and take on new more positive, useful habits. Hanging on to blaming (say) our parents for the way we are now just doesn't work. Why affect the remainder of our life by thinking this way? Remember that most of our parents did the best that they could at the time, with the tools and knowledge they had at the time.

Change – the only constant!
The only two "constants" are taxation and change itself, but the rate of change and quick ejection from our Comfort Zones can be painful.  Why is this so? Because the job of the subconscious mind (the deeper inner mind) is to keep you where you are now - with all the habits (good and bad - the subconscious mind doesn't care) that it’s got right now. The deeper inner subconscious mind wants to stay with what it already has and does not want something it doesn't already have. So most of us like to remain inside our Comfort Zone.
It’s the job of the conscious mind to handle change. The best way is to expand the Comfort Zone (CZ), the subconscious mind. Imagine your CZ is a circle around you. If you step outside the circle you are out of your CZ and will experience stress. Expand the circle (your CZ) using your mind and then step into the expanded part – it is now your CZ. This way you don’t use that stressful component – will power.  Your mind is like a plant - it can grow; and it is also like rubber - it can stretch. 
So how do we handle change? The first step is to embrace it by saying "What is there in this change that will positively influence my life?"? (Ask a positive question and you get positive answers). Now relax (this gets you to the Alpha Brainwave State – use the Peaceful Place technique to get there fast) then visualise the changes as having already happened and that you are handling life well. If the change is really serious use Goals and Active Meditation to expand your CZ. Ensure you ask yourself the question "What is there in this change that will positively influence my life?", and see what comes up for you. It will be Positive.
Self-Sabotage More examples at this link We know that the subconscious mind's job is to keep you where you are now (and now there is scientific proof of it) ... in other words keep you in your Comfort Zone. The subconscious mind wants what it's got and it does not want what it has not got! In other words it keeps doing all the things that are habits (whether you consciously want the habit or not) and it doesn't want any new habit. I am sure that we have all heard of Sabotaging Self Talk but are we aware of sabotage with images and feelings within Peaceful Place (and probably with Smells, Taste and Sounds).
As an example Greg called me and said “I can't get to my Peaceful Place anymore because when I sit on the beach and look out to the sea there is a big brick wall built right along the beach which prevents me from seeing the sailing boat with two red sails. What do I do?”
My response was “Recognise that what the subconscious mind is doing here is keeping you where you are now, which of course is its job. In other words, what it's attempting to do is to sabotage you from being able to get to your Peaceful Place because it doesn't want the new habit of being able to relax and release stress in less than 30 seconds. The next time you go to your Peaceful Place, go down to the brick wall and punch a hole in the wall, and put a window in it. Then come back to your spot on the beach, look through the window. When you have done that call me back and tell me what happens.”
I received a call back saying that as soon as he looked through the window, he saw the boat with the two red sails, and then the brick wall disappeared. Everything was fine from then on. Why did that happen?
The lesson for all is to recognise Self Sabotage and then we can do something about it.

Encouragement that I was “On Course” from the writings of Dr Doidge 

"The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. 
Read my Mind Matters News (MMN) “The Remarkable Brain Part 1”
The Plasticity of Our Brain
This book explains how we can change our brain’s structure and functions using thoughts and activities. From the Publisher: We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed. 
The book speaks about the plasticity of our brain and the fact that we can indeed "change our brain".  The thoughts that we allow to remain in our brain have a tremendous impact.  Our thoughts can change the structure and function of our brain - even into old age.  And here is where meditation can be practised and be of enormous benefit and also help to stem a flow of damaging negative thoughts. 
Read a remarkable story that you too can do from Bill Robertson

Read my MMN “The Remarkable Brain Part 2”
Culture and Effect on Children
Dr Doidge shows how whole cultures can be shaped in a certain way by giving the example of how in North Korea children are forced to go to school at the age of 2 and are constantly indoctrinated and totally immersed into the cult or adoration for dictator Kim Jong Il and his father Kim Il Sung.  They can only see their parents on weekends.  They are taught systematically to hate the "enemy". The media too of course is responsible for shaping people's thoughts and therefore their brains.  This is one of the reasons why I always advise to beware of what we read and watch on TV.  A recent study in USA of 2600 toddlers has shown that early exposure to TV is directly linked to attention problems in later life.

Music and the "Plastic Brain"
Music is something else which can change our brain structure, and brain imaging has shown that musicians have certain areas of their brains which differ from non-musicians. Our current information age is producing a generation of computer users, TV watchers and is also changing the shape of this generation's brain.
The idea of the "plastic brain" is not something new ... although it is something on which there has been most research in recent years. Our ancient ancestor's brain was just as "plastic" as the modern brain - it too was able to change its structure and function to adapt to the demands and changes of its day.

Mentally Challenging is Good
Here are more words direct from Norman Doidge We now know that exercise and mental activity in animals generate and sustain more brain cells, and we have many studies confirming that humans who lead mentally active lives have better brain function.  The more education we have, the more socially and physically active we are, and the more we participate in mentally stimulating activities, the less likely we are to get Alzheimer's disease or dementia.
     Not all activities are equal in this regard. Those that involve genuine concentration - studying a musical instrument, playing board games, reading, and dancing - are associated with a lower risk for dementia. Dancing, which requires learning new moves, is both physically and mentally challenging and requires much concentration. Less intense activities, such as bowling, babysitting, and golfing, are not associated with a reduced incidence of Alzheimer's. 

Mind and Matter

Read my MMN Mind and Matter - Mind Matters
New Neural Pathways
An example of beneficial neural pathways are how people can visualise (over and over in their Peaceful Place, using emotion) the achievements of say a fantastic dive sequence, or a complicated move on the parallel bars, or shooting a basket, or place-kicking a goal, or complicated dance steps ... and then do all of these automatically. 
Have you heard the expression "nerve cells (in the brain) that fire together wire together", and hence the continual firing together forms a neural pathway. The more this pathway is used, the stronger and more established it becomes. Actions become automatic because the "body" basically takes over. When it is automatic the memory of it moves into the seat of the subconscious - the cerebellum, which is in the mid brain or the Limbic System, that is a new habit is formed. The Cerebellum houses all our automatic actions - it is the keeper of what the body learns from the mind and is directly connected to all the circuits that fire in the Neo Cortex. (From Evolve Your Brain by Dr Joe Dispenza)

There is a corollary to Wire Together, Fire Together
It is absolutely fantastic that science has shown that "there is an important corollary to the 'fire together, wire together' mantra. Let’s say we have a fear of claustrophobia which we want to be rid of and instead go into caves. So we constantly visualize (as in the paragraph above – New Neural Pathways) of going calmly into a cave. When we have done this repeatedly then what we have done is to interrupt the thought process of having claustrophobia taking hold in our mind and body, that is these nerve cells no longer fire together and therefore will no longer wire together, that is, the old habit drops away. The good news is that those nerve cells don't want to remain inactive. Instead, they seek out new connections and they use recycled neural growth factor to attach themselves to new neurons." Page 396 of "Evolve Your Brain". This whole process of cells dropping away (that is the old habit going away) is called pruning, and yes, science has filmed it. I have seen a video demonstrating "pruning" which to my untrained eye was a little hard to follow.

Changing an Implicit Memory
When memories move to the subconscious mind, science is calling this "implicit" memory. Other memories or actions when they are not automatic is called explicit. In the process of forming a new habit we are going from explicit to implicit memory. Changing an implicit memory to get a better habit (smoking to non-smoking) is a challenge because the familiar, or the Comfort Zone, is so seductive. The subconscious mind (the Comfort Zone) wants what it's got - and not what it's not got. So "pruning" has to take place.

I Have two Ways to Establish a New Habit (a new memory)

That is to either form or change a new Implicit Memory - pruning away the old implicit memory and have the new habit housed in your cerebellum. The two ways are:
Goals
1. Write your goal in positive, personal and present tense language
2. Write the reasons for your goals (WIIFMs)
3. Relax in your Peaceful Place and visualising the success of the goal
4. Do the above using emotion (after building your emotional anchor)
Meditation
Deep Active Meditation for 30 consecutive days on the appropriate meditation Subject. My relevant Peaceful Place (PP) meditations to form a new habit after 30 days are:
PP2 – Guided Imagery (Building Peaceful Place and Emotional Anchor)
PP3 – Pain Release
PP4 – Healing
PP6 – Forgiveness
PP7 – Tapping Your Creativity
PP8 – Weight Release
PP9 – Letting Go Anger
PP10 – Self Worth and Confidence
PP11 – Achieving in Exams and Effective Study
PP12 – Making Sleep Easy and Useful
PP13 – Inner Peace and Harmony
PP14 – Improving Relationships 
PP15 – Overcoming Fear
PP16 – Acceptance and Letting Go
PP17 – Unconditional Love
PP18 – Overcoming Worry and Anxiousness
PP19 – Moving Through Depression
PP20 – Preparing For a Peaceful Birth
PP21 – Quit Smoking
Pack – The Wealth Pack

See my Meditations for more information.

From An International Rebirth Part 1

Read my MMN: Habits and Behaviours and our Genes
Our Behaviours Are Affected by Our Genes
The jury is no longer out.  We can change our behaviour and habits and this can cause a corresponding change in our genes.  We can change our genes!
Let's take it further.  Consistently repeated experiences write the genetic code of any species.  Science has now proven that the strongest experiences (new memories) change genes and these are passed on and become the starting point for new generations to follow.  The body encodes what it has learned from the environment!

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI)
Together with this phenomenon sweeping the world has come the delving into the science of the brain and mind - the field of neuroscience - at ever deeper levels. Much of the proof has been forthcoming from photographing the process inside the brain with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) – a truly fantastic advancement!

Changes in Language and Expression
Are there any changes? Yes, in the language and expression.  As the field of neuro-science proves or discovers some new component of brain/mind science so there are new words.  Take for instance the word "psycho-neuro-immunology" (the ability, when in the Theta brainwave state, using visualisation and guided imagery, to enhance our immune system, particularly with an increase in the fighting T4 cells).  The use of this word was first coined in 1996 and Andrew, my son, was using it to save his leg from amputation back in 1982.  This is all covered by the new words – Brain Plasticity. I have been teaching these meditations since 1989 which are used to develop new habits done in the relaxed Theta State.

Can you Rewire your Brain?
You definitely can rewire your brain (the meditations above are examples) and reprogram your thinking. It is your brain that causes you to think and feel and take action (or not take action) based on your beliefs and habits in your brain. It makes sure that you are 100% of what is inside your brain and that this matches what is outside you, ie. your results in the world.

From An International Rebirth Part 2 

Read my MMN: Brain Plasticity
Brain Plasticity
It is the new word! Science has now proven that we do create new brain cells.  Neuroplasticity is the ability to rewire and create new neural circuits at any age - for example a stroke survivor whose right side of the brain has been damaged, now using the left side of the brain to control the left side of the body (formerly managed by the right side of the brain). "Our ability to be neuroplastic is equivalent to our ability to change our mind, to change ourselves, and to change our perception of the world around us, that is, our reality" (from "Evolve Your Brain" page 10). This is promoted by Assaraf as the discovery of the decade.

Conscious, Subconscious, Unconscious and Super-Conscious
People talk about these words without defining their meaning and therefore, without a definition of their meaning, you get estimations of the conscious mind as being 2% or sometimes 12% of the mind.  I like to take out all our automatic bodily functions - such as the heart beating - and put them in the unconscious mind.  The subconscious mind then becomes primarily the mind that we have developed since just before birth dealing with all our memory, habits, personality and self-image.  Sometimes with genetic coding, we could be influenced by a gene encoded say with worthlessness.  This would come from the unconscious to the subconscious and then to the conscious mind where feelings, behaviours and actions would manifest.  Real and lasting change takes place on the inside first, that is, in the subconscious mind.
I have seen the word Super-Conscious used for subconscious.  I much prefer Dr Michael Newton’s definition of Super-Conscious in his books Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls which is that part that can remember one’s time as a Soul between lives. (If you intend to read them then read Journey of Souls first.)

So Sandy, know that this is the second of 3 papers about my work which when you put into practice will significatly contribute to your well being.

All the best

 

Sandy MacGregor

"Your gift from God is your potential – Your gift to God is to use it."