”Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself – How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One” by Dr. Joe Dispenza
This is one of the best chosen book titles I ever came across. The book is a total gem for those interested in growth and real change in any area of their life, including health & wellbeing. It’s an awesome manual to yourself, in fact. Of course, as with any recipe, it is no good without application. It requires – dare I say it? – discipline. Daily discipline. And once you embark on it, it’s the most wonderful process in the making. It is exciting and fun, and it becomes easier and easier with every time you practice, just like training a muscle. You do indeed create your life! You’re in the driver’s seat, entirely. And if that’s not great news, I do not know what is! You absolutely have the power to change your life in any way you desire, and this book shows you how. It teaches how you create your life every day, with volition or without, on a nerve cell/ brain structure and thought/ quantum level. It is very well written in that it makes you want to turn the pages, eagerly awaiting the mechanism Dr. Joe Dispenza proposes to actively create your life, instead of mostly running in automatic-reactive-survival mode. Lasting change is not only possible, it is fun to set in motion. Dispenza’s main message is: why wait to change your life until crisis hits? Why not create out of joy instead? We all can. A crisis can be a great catalyst – yet we’re free to choose change now. If this is you, gift yourself this book (and apply it!).
Interacting with the quantum field
The scientifically minded among you will appreciate the presentation of this book: Joe Dispenza draws from various studies to illustrate brain mechanics and how to apply them in our favour. Nobody is doomed by their genetic makeup or hard wired to live a specific way for the rest of their lives. YOU mold the clay that is the quantum field, and you do so by aligning your thoughts, feelings and actions (refer to the Holistic Health Global website for more information on the quantum field, or ‘the field’ for short). Says Dr. Joe:
“You […] broadcast a distinct energy pattern or signature. In fact, everything material is always emitting specific patterns of energy. And this energy carries information. Your fluctuating states of mind consciously or unconsciously change that signature on a moment-to-moment basis […]. “
In essence, we influence the quantum field through our Being-states (and not only through what we want).
Vision & creative mode
A brain region called the frontal lobe plays a key role in envisioning the life you desire. Ask yourself: Who do you I see myself as? How do I show up every day? What would I choose as my predominant Being-state (and how much am I living it on a daily basis)? What’s the greatest ideal of myself? Who do I want to be? What would I have to think & feel in order to express that? The clearer you see this, the faster you can change into it. The universal quantum law applies to finances as much as happiness, health and relationships. No exception.
If you can hold a vision regardless of what’s going on around you, you are in creative mode, i.e. you refuse to respond to any triggers in your environment, and you KNOW with 100% certainty that your vision must come, as it already happened in the quantum field. This is exactly what we admire in great leaders: Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, etc. Their vision made a difference. They refused to give in to circumstance, did not blame their spouse nor the weather – they did not suffer from ‘excusitis’. Holding a vision is a means to achieving a Being-state which transcends circumstance.
Mechanics of change & the art of ‘becoming familiar with’
Repetition is the mother of all skill – and it is what wires brain cells together to create new neurological pathways. Contrary to the paradigm I grew up in which said that brain cells cannot regenerate nor change, we know today that this is false. The brain is highly adaptive (neuroplasticity), and changes occur all the time. The moment you learn something new, your brain makes new connections. A long standing habit can be seen as a broad, very well trodden path, a super-highway where neurons fire when a habitual thought or behaviour triggers them. A new thought or behaviour (i.e. nerve cell circuit) becomes established through use. The more you practice a new thought or behaviour, the better you get at it, just like training a muscle. Paying attention to where you want to go is key. Become aware of how automated (in terms of thoughts, feelings, and actions) your life really is. Keep what you like, and change the rest. Not all automated brain circuits are negative. Some of them are exactly what you want. Others are not. By withdrawing your attention (i.e. quitting to walk the established path) and thinking about how you would rather be (breaking into new territory and establishing a new path), you dissolve those old highways, bit by bit (they disconnect when focus is withdrawn). Self-love is when you respond differently to what you’ve practiced all your life. And yes, you can. This book shows you how.
In order to truly change, we must think greater than we feel. Remember your vision. If you have none for your life, develop one! Now. Not tomorrow…and it’s not about painting some grand picture of your life straight away (but feel free if this feels good to you now). Instead, you can pick out single aspects and start with those. Know what you want, and then assume the corresponding Being-state. This is completely scaleable, i.e. you can expand your vision as you go. But start having one! Having no vision is like going to the airport saying: ‘I want a ticket’, or saying to a waiter: ‘I want food’. You won’t go anywhere fast and nothing can come to you if you don’t specify what you would like, and expect it to come. Vagueness equals standstill. In other words, in the context of creating, it’s a no-no, and you must know your target. =)
If you truly can do this (thinking greater than you feel), you have mastered your life. That’s how big this short sentence really is. To envision means to see something into existence. It means to create something with volition and expecting to see it, without having any idea of the ‘how’. That step is up to the field and not your job. Your job is to hold the vision and feel its fulfillment. Your job is to become familiar with the feeling-states of your desires. See it and rehearse it over and over, daily. This process rewires your brain (creating new and wanted super-highways, replacing the automatic old ones). By the way: the Buddhist definition of meditation is ‘to become familiar with’. Meditate on desired feeling-states. Familiarize yourself to the n-th degree with them. Live as if. Until it is second nature. Or first. =)
Why we get stuck in repetitive patterns & how to overcome them
Mind is what the brain does. Psychologists tell us that c. 95% of our mind is subconscious. Yet it runs us, 24/7, 365. And that’s good! Because if we had to do it all consciously, good luck surviving even a single second, trying to orchestrate our some 50 trillion cells that constitute the body. Not to mention regulating heart beat, digestion, detox, breathing….our innate intelligence takes care of it all and frees us up to create consciously. A marvelous set-up. And some unconscious patterns do not serve us. It is those Dr. Joe’s process is changing for good. First step: make them known; second step: undo old patterns and replace them with what you prefer; third step: practice the new state. =) There’s more structure to it, yet this is the essence of the process.
We have many unconscious patterns that we did not choose ourselves, i.e. they arose from our environment (parents, peers, culture, etc) at a young age and were accepted as true. If unchanged, they still operate. That is how people become stuck in repetitive patterns without knowing why.
Experiences and events in life produce emotions, which eventually dictate how we behave, unless we intervene. When you think negatively, you feel bad. Feeling bad gives rise to more negative thoughts, which result in feeling worse…do you see the cycle? Most of us are trapped in it, without ever questioning it, living a very reactive life with little room for creating the life we truly desire. Most people do not know how to do this, and that it’s even possible. And it is. Again Joe Dispenza has some great answers.
Our brain cannot distinguish between something we imagine, and something that is really happening. As far as the brain is concerned, it’s one and the same. So there’s little physiological difference between remembering a negative situation and actively being involved in one. In other words: every time you beat the drum of how bad it is (in response to an observation or a memory), you activate and reinforce those thought and feeling patterns. Eventually, they become automatic, and we forget why we emotionally react as we do – we just react. The perfect stuck state. And it leads to an identity we think is us. But is it? Of course not. A question worth exploring is: What have I memorized emotionally that I live by that I think is me?
In this automated state, the body becomes the mind: it knows exactly how to respond to a situation and just does it. A good example is driving a car. When you first learned it, you concentrated a great deal (making new neural pathways). And before too long, you habitually arrive at work, with the car seemingly driving by itself. Your body knows very well what to do. And yes, you take in traffic, etc. and respond accordingly. But it’s all well practiced and smooth, and you don’t think about it. When the body becomes the mind, we live in reactive, unaware mode. This is good for some situations, and not so good for others.
The power that you have is one of focus. You can change from a reactive state to a creative one by disconnecting the dots that produce a specific reaction. You do so by focusing on what you prefer instead. When thought becomes the experience, you’re there. When your vision is so compelling and so real you forget everything else, and it feels as if five minutes elapsed instead of three hours, then you’re a creative powerhouse. We all have been in those situations. Whether it’s playing music, reading a great book, participating in an engrossing conversation – time just flew and we could have continued forever. Harness those situations by tagging them with a little intention for you life. The feeling state is perfect – add some directive thought and watch what happens. Mind and body must be aligned, i.e. thoughts & feelings must be congruent to effect real change.
To sum it up: what you think and feel today determines how you live tomorrow. Your thoughts and feelings are that important and potent. So why wait learning how to think/ feel right? Learn how to dance with your thoughts. It’s fun.
I find Dr. Joe Dispenza’s book one of the best I ever read. It contributes to people’s lives in a brilliantly meaningful, empowering, and uplifting way. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do or more, and I invite you to experiment with influencing the quantum field to your liking. Have FUN! And let me know your outcomes.
You can purchase the book on Amazon or Trademe. And for those who prefer it in a nutshell, or who would like a preview/ synopsis of this book, you can listen to Dr. Joe delivering a lecture based on its ideas. Happy listening! (50 min audio on YouTube)
About the author
Katrin Geist is a successful Holistic Health Coach & Reconnective Healing Practitioner with postgraduate training and continuing education in the fields of biology, personal transformation, neuroscience, cellular biology and biophysics. She has held international Reconnective Healing clinics in several countries and currently works from her New Zealand office in Dunedin.
Katrin’s science background enables her to communicate scientific subjects in an easily understandable, down to earth way, so that everyone can benefit from information otherwise often confined to technical experts. Katrin frequently offers educational talks on healthy living subjects around New Zealand. To book or invite her for a seminar or lecture, please email her.
Katrin holds a MSc in biology from Berlin University (FU), and a BA with emphasis in ecology from the University of Montana, USA.
A keen interest in personal growth, Eastern philosophy, and life coaching brought her to Dr. Eric Pearl and The Reconnection. With a ‘left-brain’ background in science and education, interacting with the frequencies was startling. Despite no previous experience, it was immediate. It was tangible. It was completely puzzling, yet left its irreversible mark, so much so, that a change in career seemed the natural consequence. After almost a decade in the biological sciences, Katrin now works as Holistic Health Coach and Reconnective Healing Practitioner.™ She feels privileged to serve in this capacity and invites you to experience something different!
Katrin offers The Reconnection and Reconnective Healing, including distance and animal healing.
Contact:
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About Dr. Joe Dispenza
Dr. Joe Dispenza is a successful chiropractor with postgraduate training and continuing education in neuroscience, biochemistry, brain function and chemistry, memory formation, and aging and longevity. Having lectured on six continents, he travels around the globe teaching people his views on brain function and how they can be practically applied in daily life to effect true change. Dr. Joe also featured in the award-winning film ‘What the bleep to we know!?’. When not traveling and writing, he is busy seeing patients at his chiropractic clinic near Olympia, Washington.
References
All by Dr. Joe Dispenza:
Breaking the habit of being yourself – How to lose your mind and create a new one. 2012. Hay House, Inc.
Evolve your brain – The science of changing your mind. 2007. Health Corporations, Inc.
You are the placebo – Making your mind matter. 2014. Hay House, Inc.
Katrin’s science background enables her to communicate scientific subjects in an easily understandable, down to earth way, so that everyone can benefit from information otherwise often confined to technical experts. Katrin frequently offers educational talks on healthy living subjects around New Zealand. To book or invite her for a seminar or lecture, please email her.
Katrin holds a MSc in biology from Berlin University (FU), and a BA with emphasis in ecology from the University of Montana, USA.
A keen interest in personal growth, Eastern philosophy, and life coaching brought her to Dr. Eric Pearl and The Reconnection. With a ‘left-brain’ background in science and education, interacting with the frequencies was startling. Despite no previous experience, it was immediate. It was tangible. It was completely puzzling, yet left its irreversible mark, so much so, that a change in career seemed the natural consequence. After almost a decade in the biological sciences, Katrin now works as Holistic Health Coach and Reconnective Healing Practitioner.™ She feels privileged to serve in this capacity and invites you to experience something different!
Katrin offers The Reconnection and Reconnective Healing, including distance and animal healing.
