being present

We are often at are most effective when we are conscious and present to the environment around us. The number 1 thing that prevents us being present, is the 'voice in our head'. the internal dialogue, or the story we tell ourselves can obscure the present moment. the easiest way to combat this is to silence the chatter. And the easiest way to start that process is by focusing on your breath.

Where is your focus.

Where is your focus. In the past, in the present, or in the future?
If you were driving how would you split your time between looking in the rear view mirror, trying to see your final destination, and focusing on what is in front of you?

life should be like that too. Most of your focus should be on what lies ahead. Have your ultimate destination in mind, and occasional check for dangers in the rear view mirror - but STAY PRESENT!

R.A.S.

In technical terms, what we pay attention to is largely influenced by the R.A.S. (the Reticular Activating System). It all sounds a bit scientific, but the R.A.S. is based at the stem of the brain, and controls the overall degree of central nervous system activity, including wakefulness, attentiveness, and sleep.

Perceptual Filters

There is a famous phrase in NLP - 'the map is not the territory'. In other words, reality isn't necessarily what we perceive as reality, we only have our interpretation of reality.

So what creates our interpretation? What the psychologists call 'perceptual filters'. Effectively we see what we focus on most. For a perfect example of this, watch the following youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pK0BQ9CUHk

What causes our conditioning?

There are 3 things that most heavily affect our conditioning
1) What we see and hear - our visual and verbal instructions
2) Who we model and copy
3) Significant emotional events in our life

The Manifestation Process

Hi. I'm Ian. A qualified and practising Hypnotherapist. This blog is designed specifically for people who want to better understand the mind.

So let's start with a simple principle. it's called the manifestation process. It basically tells us that the results that show up in our life .... rich/ poor .... fat/ slim .... happy/ sad ... are determined by the actions we take. The actions we take are affected by the interplay between our thoughts and feelings. And our thoughts and feelings arise through our conditioning (what some call our programming).

So put the other way around. Our conditioning affects our thoughts and feelings, which affects our behaviour, which affects how we end up.

BUT ... that doesn't mean we are doomed by our conditioning