Mindfulness and Your Brain
There are a lot of new terminologies used these days as we look for ways to create peace, happiness and abundance in our lives 
and Mindfulness is one of them, or being Mindful. What does it really mean to be mindful?
Basically, being mindful is about being present and noticing reality as it is in each moment as it unfolds. It’s about tuning into reality as it is. It is actually a natural state of being.
Unfortunately for most humans, we are rarely in the present moment. Most of us are caught in the concepts of the past or what we want for the future. We are texting on the phone while eating breakfast. Or reading while eating, not paying attention to your food or perhaps who you are talking with. Later in the day, you may have a difficult time remembering what you ate for breakfast! We are literally daydreaming…Oh sure, you can say that you tasted it, but did you really? Or having a conversation with someone while looking
at your phone. Or perhaps thinking about what you are going to say when others are talking. You’re simply not paying attention. This behavior is actually a state of mindlessness. It has often been referred to as the “monkey mind”. If you google Monkey Mind you will find that it comes from Chinese Xinyuan and Sino-Japanese; a Buddhist term meaning “unsettled; restless; capricious; whimsical; fanciful; inconstant; confused; indecisive; uncontrollable”. Our minds seem to continuously run non-stop all on its own!
NeuroScience and Brain Patterns
Our reality is perceived through a filter that allows us to see only what we have been conditioned to see. If you allow yourself to observe your mind and become a witness to what is happening, you will discover that your mind is running continuous reactive loops over and over. We have become trapped by the neurology of our own brains without even knowing it!
Every brain has an incredible unique pattern of neurons and connections. Some are learned over time and some are
genetic. Every single one of us is wired differently. This neural-architecture of our brains tells us who and how we are going to act and react in the world. Every single thought we have is the result of a network of hundreds of billions of brain cells called Neurons. Neurons are a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell.
Unlike other cells in our bodies, neurons do not touch each other but are separated by microscopic spaces called Synapses. A Synapse is a junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter. The neurotransmitter is a chemical substance that is released at the end of a nerve fiber by the arrival of a nerve impulse and, by diffusing across the synapse or junction, causes the transfer of the impulse 
to another nerve fiber, a muscle fiber, or some other structure. This is how ” Neural Loops” are created, and is why you do or think the same thing over and over, even if it does not feel good.
These neurons communicate across these synapses through the chemical transfers that blast from one cell to another with a bolt of electricity and do this throughout our brain like a crazy pinball machine.
Each Neuron sends and receives information to an astonishing 50,000 other neurons that are in a rapid-fire production. When you add it all up it amounts to 100 BILLION Neurons X 50,000 connections. WOW! That is a staggering figure, and there are more connections in a single human
brain than stars in our galaxy. What is the result??? A complex neural force of networks that form our personality, our identity, and our habits, with every single brain being unique unto itself.
All of these trillions of networks work together to create our creativity, new ideas of how we want to be and live our lives. They also serve us by keeping us alive and safe as they can recognize the patterns of our every changing environment.
How Did We Get STUCK??
Sometimes we simply get stuck in old routines and patterns. We create behavioral loops (habit centers) and these are what keep us in a place of Mindlessness. We are basically on auto-piolet. We have taken in the beliefs
handed down to us by our parents, teachers, religious persons, husband”s and wive’s perspectives, friends, movies and others. For most of us, our parents have done the best they can to raise us, and they want us to be like them. So they pass down to us their frame of references. They may pass down love, trust, and compassion, but they can also pass down fear, mistrust, and racism, or lack of abundance and other issues. Most patterns are created by age 7.
In some cases, we have had past experiences that we continue to create over and over. It is what we have “let in” that has created the neural pathways and loops. Some of these patterns serve us well, and some not so well.
Past Present and Future
We are viewing the world through the created filters instead of seeing things as they really are. As we age, our actions
and reactions become conditioned through our hopes, motivations, love, hate, desires and our fears as well as guilt, greed, frustrations and our intentions. We are analyzing our experiences before we even experience them and we filter before we see. Our perceptions operate much like a defense mechanism trapping us in patterns of behavior that have less to do with what is presently happening in reality and more to do with our past experiences or future expectations. If you look deeply within and observe, you will discover your mind is most likely living in the past or the future, and not in the present moment. One very simple example I can share with you about myself is I have found myself driving to a new location for a meeting, but while thinking about what I was going to say at the meeting, I drive on the same route that I take over and over instead of making the turn I need to make because I am not being completely present. I am sure you can come up with many examples for yourself.
Creating New Neural Pathways by Being Mindful
As long as we continue to perceive reality as we have been conditioned to perceive it we will create a life in endless reactive loops of conditioned responses. Luckily for us, what the brain has learned it can unlearn! (whew!) What has been created can be uncreated.
Practicing being mindful, or being present changes the relationship with the habit center so that is no longer
in control simply by noticing the looping that happens in any moment that sends us into that state of suffering (the reactive looping). Suffering can be mental, physical and emotional. Being mindful helps all of these aspects of the self shift. Meditation also can assist in bringing you to a mindful place. There are many forms of meditation. Try a walking meditation and practice being present with each step!
Practicing mindfulness changes the brain physiology and creates changes in the nervous system. The good news is practicing only 10 minutes or more a day can grow new neural structure. Anything in the brain that is changing and is retained is through some sort of neural plasticity. We can form new neurons and new connections developing new circuits. This does not rewire major pathways but changing the more subtle connectivity of the pathways that exist. The neurons that fire together are wired together throughout the entire nervous system for what we are focusing on. There is a lot of room for change in the habit loops.
Mindfulness and Compassion
Practicing mindfulness is something we can do for ourselves. When we practice mindfulness it advances the evolutionary
process of our brains. Mindfulness teaches us to DO instead of just try or think about it. In being mindful we can take our time to respond instead of reacting which aids us in making wiser choices. Being mindful creates more compassion for ourselves and others in our lives and on this planet. Practicing mindfulness creates a new consciousness way of living and brings more love into our hearts and into our lives for us and all that surrounds us in each and every present moment.
To discover more about mindfulness VS mindlessness check out what these people have to say: Jun Po Dennis Kelly, Elena Antonova, PH.D. Neuroscientist, Ellen Langer Professor of Psychology Harvard, Joseph Ledoux Professor of Neural Science NYU, Dan Millman; Author Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Jeffery M. Schwartz, M.D. UCLA, Elisha Goldstein, PH.D., Joesph Parent PH.D. and many more!
Practice Mindfulness for a better life. If you need assistance in uncreating old patterns that no longer
serve you I am honored to assist in this process and facilitate the creating of new neural pathways that will bring more Love, Joy, and Happiness in YOU. A new energy consciousness is here and available to you. And as a suggestion, please remember to be kind to yourself. The two most important things are the words you tell yourself and the pictures you send yourself. Your mind is always listening for your instruction.
As Within, So Without.
Please contact me at Cat@NewEnergyConsciousness.com for more information or to make an appointment.
Blessings of Love.
Mindfulness creates new neural pathways that can lead to more happiness and joy!
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