As we navigate the beginning pages of the first chapter of a new year, it’s a natural point of reflection as we look back at the year that we’re filing away in our personal histories.
And it’s during this reflection stage that we also often tend to categorize the previous year’s chapters and storylines as “good” or “bad.”
In 2019, my wish for you is to avoid these binary labels, and instead look at all of your multi-faceted and wide-ranging experiences as opportunities for learning, personal growth, and genetic evolution.
With this approach to our annual reflection, not only are we able to have greater appreciation for the present and what it holds (since we know we can reflect on it positively regardless of what the future brings forth), but we can also glean a renewed hope through the power of using our brains to attract and manifest our desires in the year ahead (and beyond).
This idea of using your mind to attract what you desire or to reach your goals isn’t a “woo woo,” wouldn't-that-be-great-if-that-were-true sentiment, it’s science. Actually, it’s called neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience.
So, how does this translate to manifesting your dreams and achieving your goals?
If you’ve ever had a repeated positive or negative thought that came to fruition, you’ve seen neuroplasticity in action proving the statement that “neurons that fire together wire together” to be true.
Some may chalk up the alignment between thought and circumstance to a coincidence, but what the findings on neuroplasticity tell us is that every thought we have increases the probability of having the thought again, which then paves the way to the observer effect of “what we think, we become.”
The brain molds and reorganizes its components to make our thoughts more deeply ingrained, which gives the words we think and speak incredible power in changing the outcome of a situation based on the energy put into the emotions of those words.
Essentially, we evoke our thoughts into existence, whether they’re positive or negative because, at the root of all our thoughts, emotions and behaviors is the simultaneously simple and highly complex communication between neurons.
In addition to the words that compose our thoughts and language, neuroscientists also have found that our focused attention is critical to neuroplasticity.
Thus, between our thoughts and focused attention, we are capable of manifesting our desires, whether that be personally or professionally, through the brain power that’s fueled by a positive mindset.
In an article on BusinessDay titled, Brain waves: how science backs up positive thinking, states “exercising positive thought, ingrained as deliberately cultivated patterns, becomes a deeper groove than subconscious habits.”
Here a couple of key practices in exercising and cultivating a positive mindset:
One of the most impactful and natural ways you can begin retraining the brain to create higher vibrations (brain waves) is by becoming aware of your thoughts and your breath.
Through the practice of meditation and breathwork, our brains produce more gamma waves, which is indicative of massive, far-flung assemblies of neurons firing with a high degree of temporal precision.
With this in-sync firing of neurons, the far-flung networks are spurred to work together resulting in more integrated and coherent cognitive and emotional processes, which then causes subdivisions of the nervous systems (including the skin) to function optimally without a conscious effort.
Beginning a Breathwork and Meditation Practice
First, choose a quiet place where you will be undisturbed and take a comfortable seat with your hands on your knees or in your lap.
Consider a dedication to your practice or mantra, such as an affirmation, to help embody your desired outcome. For example, “I appreciate abundance in my life, and I allow myself to expand in love and gratitude in every moment.”
Then close your eyes and bring your attention to the breath - in through the nose, out through the nose. (It may be helpful for you to count your breath making your exhale double the length of your inhale to calm the nervous system.)
Inhale to a count of three, receiving the fresh oxygen that our mother Earth provides us, then exhale to a count of six giving carbon dioxide back to the plants on this Earth in reciprocity. Thoughts may come and go during this process, and that’s ok. When that happens, it is helpful to return to your breath.
Breathing is so universally conscious that we often forget to appreciate the plant life on Earth that provides this life force.
By taking the time and making the conscious intention to come back to your breath and feel intimate gratitude and connection with the rest of the planet, there is an inevitable boost of brain waves with positive thoughts.
And with the processes of neuroplasticity in play, the thought patterns, when repeated (25 minutes a day is recommended), become increasingly integrated into your being, and the outcomes of the occur in everyday life.
With your brain waves vibrating high, you become magnetic to infinite positive possibilities.
“Remember, living your truth by pursuing your passion is the highest energetic offering that one can give to the world.” – Kaelin Jutras