Saturday 17 August 2013

How To Control Your Mind At Will? Highlights and Exercises.

One of the books (3 books to be exact) that I'm simultaneously reading nowadays is "How to control your mind at will". It's a kind of psychologically-based book that describes in a simple way how the brain functions from the "energy" point of view and states that there is the conscious and unconscious states of the mind and the linkage between them is the cerebral control, and that's what marks normal people from those suffering from lack of cerebral control, i.e., when the unconscious mind take over, the person has lost their cerebral control over their minds. It also shows how the latter are affected in their lives by this lack of control which are translated into fears, anxiety, phobias, insomnia and can sometimes affect them physically with organic pain attacks - or even chronic ones - that do not have any apparent physical cause.

I don't consider it something to go by blindly; after all, none has scientific prove of it, just theories and all depends on the brains; however, it mentions that people with uncontrolled brains or passive ones, need to have their own religious beliefs in order to get better and one of the factors or losing control over the mind is actually losing those beliefs and faith, which kind of make sense.

Anyway, here's a summary of what I've read in that book that I see a bit valuable. I copy/paste the important parts, but with some minor alterations to avoid those awkward starts or ends.





How to control your brain at will
Normal cerebral control depends on three factors - awareness, concentration and willpower - being present. Patients have to be sufficiently conscious, concentrated, and able to exercise willpower, in order to modify an abnormal vibration.

Treatment: controlling actions
A controlled action must be “conscious,” which means that patients must be absolutely present and concentrated on what they are doing. This should exclude all distractions from interfering. That is the first point.

The second important point is the following: during a conscious act, the brain must be uniquely receptive; its function is to record precisely what is taking place; the brain must “feel” the action and not think it. This distinction between feeling and thinking clearly distinguishes a controlled, conscious act from a non-controlled one. Thinking an act means emitting energy, while feeling it means receiving energy.
Patients must get into the habit of looking clearly at what they’re seeing, of listening to what they hear, and of feeling what they do. True awareness excludes all uncertainty: you know that the drawer is locked, or that your wallet really contains the coin.

When re-educating the mind to be more conscious, it is useless to try and work with complicated actions; the best actions are those which are carried out most frequently, and on a day to day basis. By using such actions, patients can stop their thought process for an instant and become totally conscious of what they are doing, which calms the mind and allows it to rest.

Walking merits special attention because it allows for the frequent application of conscious activity, despite the complexity of the movement involved. First instruct patients to perceive the sensation of their foot touching the ground, then the movement of the leg, and finally that of the entire body.Breathing is also involved, and should be adapted to the movement. Also don’t forget that vision and hearing are a part of walking as well. Conscious walking can make patients less tired, and dispel dizziness in some cases. It has been successfully used in the treatment of agoraphobia.

To summarize, controlled movement results in:
1. Patients being fully conscious of the action they are performing;
2. Clarity of thoughts associated with the action;
3. The feeling that the act is desired or voluntary. In addition, patients are obliged to concentrate on the present moment, which relaxes the brain and allows it to rest.

Concentration
We will now outline the exercises we use to help patients acquire the ability to concentrate. These exercises should be done for an average of ten minutes, every two hours.
Exercise No. 1: At first, trying to concentrate on an idea is too difficult. So the first exercise consists of mentally following a curved line, for example a figure eight or the geometric sign of infinity. It is hard to imagine that such a simple exercise can present any problems, yet many patients are incapable of doing it correctly. If the exercise is carried out properly, a double regular wave pattern will be felt through hand contact; if done incorrectly, you will feel interruptions in the wave pattern, almost always occurring as the patient reaches the outer edges of the curves. Patients will become aware of this themselves with a little effort.
Exercise No. 2: Ask your patient to follow the swinging pendulum of a metronome, while mentally repeating the ticking sound. Start with 10 to 15 repetitions, and then progressively increase the duration of the exercise.
Exercise No. 3: Train your patients to try and retain the impressions they perceive when touching an object for a certain time. In these three exercise, we are trying to help patients develop mental concentration related to sight, hearing and touch.
Exercise No. 4: Concentration on a point in the body: in this exercise, patients are asked to mentally determine the exact sensations they are experiencing, first in their right hand, then the left hand, then the right foot, left foot, and so on. When this becomes fairly easy, move on to the elbows, knees, ears, various fingers, etc. What happens is that in order to specify the various sensations coming from different parts of the body, patients are forced to concentrate on those points. The advantage of this exercise is that the patients themselves know if they are concentrating correctly or not. After a few days, concentrating on a given part of the body will produce a particular sensation which patients can easily recognize, for example a feeling of pins and needles, or a slight shock, or the feeling that blood is flowing into the designated area. Hand application will show more accentuated vibrations on the right side of the forehead when patients concentrate on their right hand or foot, and on the left side when concentrating on the left hand, foot, elbow, etc.
Exercise No. 5: The doctor places his/her finger on any muscle, and asks the patient to concentrate on that point. If the patient is able to concentrate, the doctor will feel a slight muscular contraction under his finger. Note that it is often necessary to wait a few seconds before getting results. The exercises we have just described are easy, and can be improvised on to form infinite variations; we have only given the basic forms here - the rest is up to you.
Exercise No. 6: Concentrating on the number 1: this exercise often presents real difficulties, and we have seen many patients take weeks before being able to do it correctly, although at first it seems quite simple. The exercise consists of writing and mentally saying the number 1, three times in succession, without allowing any other thoughts to interfere. In addition, between each written and mental repetition, there should be a pause of between half a second and a second. For example: 1 pause 1 pause 1 pause It is not necessary to maintain a mental image of the number 1 during each pause. In this way, patients have to concentrate on sight, words, and mental hearing (since the word is heard in the mind as it is spoken in the mind) as well as on the act of writing, which also occupies the brain. As soon as a patient is able to do the exercise correctly, increase the number of repetitions to 4, 5, 6, 7 etc. A patient who can do seven successive repetitions is able to concentrate sufficiently.

Concentrating on ideas
 In this exercise, patients are asked to develop an idea in their minds. For example, they may try to resolve a problem, or prepare a written summary of something they read, or listen to a conversation or lecture for a predetermined period of time, without allowing them-selves to get distracted. To do this they must instantly stop all other thoughts from entering their mind, except those which are directly related to the subject at hand. The most common error patients make at the beginning is to wonder if they are really concentrating properly during the exercise. This self verification naturally interrupts their concentration, and patients start worrying if they are able to concentrate at all. It should be explained that they will not be really concentrated unless they approach the exercise as simply as possible.

“Concentration on Tranquility.”
 We ask patients to try and establish a sensation of mental calm, of psychological and physical tranquility in their minds. To do this, they will mentally evoke an idea or thought which represents those feelings. For example, one person might think of a peaceful landscape,another of a particularly soothing piece of music, another of some elevated moral concept like compassion, or a prayer, etc. Once the feeling of tranquility is attained, patients must try to maintain it for as long as possible, through an effort of willpower. The image should become more defined the longer it is held in the mind. Objective verification is simple - as soon as the sensation of tranquility is established in the brain, the hand perceives a modification of vibrations, which become slower and stronger.

Concentrating on the idea of energy
 This is done using the same method as in the above exercise. Patients are asked to try and feel the energy and strength pulsing through their own body, by remembering occasions when they were really energetic. During the exercise, hand application will detect a series of more accentuated, voluntary vibrations.

Concentration on the idea of control 
 This exercise is the natural progression of the two preceding ones, and requires a simple process of deduction. In fact, as soon as patients are able to remain calm or summon their energy at will, they are capable of self control. They will, therefore, not have much difficulty in defining the sensation of control. They simply have to be persuaded that, during those moments of voluntary tranquility or energy, they really are in control, in order for them to gradually develop the faculty of real control which is so essential to their well being.

Pain
We might conclude, at first, that it would seem inappropriate to call a patient’s attention to his or her pain. But this view is mistaken, since concentration, directed at the point of pain, results in a normal nervous influx which neutralizes and modifies the current of pain perceived by the brain. This can be proved by the following simple experiment: Pinch a person’s body hard, and ask the person to concentrate on the painful point: if the person can concentrate well, the pinching sensation will clearly disappear as soon as the current is directed at the point in question. Of course, the subject must concentrate on the area of the body, and not on the pain itself.

Elimination, de-concentration
We teach patients how to concentrate and how they should centre their thoughts or ideas. We also teach them how to do the opposite, i.e. how to get a thought out of their mind.
Experiment 1: The simplest training procedure is the following: Patients choose 3 to 5 objects and place them on a white sheet of paper. After studying the objects, they are asked to eliminate one by taking it off the paper and putting it aside. They are then told to close their eyes and to make sure they can mentally eliminate the object in question. This is the main part of the exercise. A second and third object are eliminated in turn, until all objects are gone. If the exercise was done correctly, the patient will be left with a mental image of a blank sheet of paper, devoid of objects.
Experiment 2: Patients are asked to write 2 or three numbers down in their mind. They must then erase each number successively until their mental image is empty.
Experiment 3: Offer a patient two objects and tell him/her to mentally choose one and eliminate the other. The same thing can be done with two numbers, letters, words, phrases. etc. You can verify whether or not patients are doing the exercise correctly from the vibrations felt by placing your hand on their fore- head. If you ask a patient to mentally write the numbers 3 and 5, for example, you will feel a vibration on the left side when s/he writes the first number, 3 (since people write from left to right) and a vibration on the right side when s/he writes the number 5. Then ask the patient to eliminate one number. If s/he chooses the 3 and keeps the 5, for example, you will feel a vibration on the right side (and vice versa for the 3). After initially concentrating on the number, patients are told to relax their brain for as long as possible. As soon as a thought arises, they concentrate on the number again, and so on.

Willpower
Now let’s look at the psychological conditions, without which there is no emission of willpower. These are three in number: 1. Knowing what you want: We must get into the habit of accurately formulating exactly what we want, in a clear sentence. We often realize how vague our desires are when we try to formulate them clearly. This indicates that we often really don’t know what it is we want. 2. The possibility of getting what you want. 3. The sincerity and truth of wanting.

Only willpower is an active form of energy, and only willpower expresses freedom of choice; desire is passive, subjecting persons to blind attraction/repulsion reflexes. If, as often occurs, we can reasonably want what we desire, it is only after desire has been tempered by judgment and freedom of choice. However, we should not wait for a desire to arise before wanting something, since this would mean giving up our freedom of choice. Impulsiveness is the same as desire, but exerts an even stronger influence. It is a powerful form of mental energy, but it is also disorganized, with no built-in braking mechanism, and therefore not an expression of freedom. Impulsiveness is even more dangerous than pure desire because it is less rational, and can dominate an individual’s mind more completely.

Intention, even more than desire, misleads patients. Isn’t intending to do the right thing enough? Well, no it isn’t, since almost all intentions remain just that - an intention -instead being transformed. Intention is all the more dangerous in that it satisfies a person’s conscience to some extent - people are content with defining an objective, but do not make any real effort to attain it. Intention, although an illusory form of energy, can possess a certain amount of force, just like feeling sincere about the intention to do good can create the illusion of honesty.

Only willpower can completely satisfy a person’s conscience; your conscience knows when a decision has been made - it is no longer preoccupied with finding an objective, nor with defining what it wants. When an outlet for its energy has been found, your conscience becomes calm. When only the intention is there, the energy is only encapsulated and not actually used - you always get the feeling that something is missing, that your intention is only half true.

Some more exercises:
Sight: 
  • Visualize the image in your mind, but without thinking about it. Recall just the image, the visual impression it made on your retina.Then start again.
  • Look at a detail, a fragment of the object. Then close your eyes and visualize it, this time making it grow larger and larger, as if you were looking at it through a magnifying glass.
  • Practice developing instantaneous and total perception of images, in all their detail, like a still camera as it snaps a picture instead of like a video camera which pans across the scene, centering on one point after another.
Hearing
  • Clink a glass (crystal if possible) or ring a chime or a bell. Instead of listening with your thoughts, let the sound waves pass through your body without stopping them. Vibrate in unison with the sound 
  • Listen to other sounds, like the ticking of a clock or the regular purring of a motor. Try to perceive all the nuances of sound, without anticipating them (as if you were hearing them for the first time).
  • Instead of tensing up and feeling your muscles quiver whenever an unpleasant or sudden sound reaches your eardrums, accept it. Welcome it, as you perceive each vibration. Suppress all inner dialogue as you listen to the sounds around you.
Touch
  • Find someone to assist you, and ask them to place an object in your right hand, while you keep your eyes closed. Keep them closed throughout the exercise, in order to concentrate on your sense of touch. Perceive the whole range of sensations you experience through touching: first, hot or cold, hard or soft, moist or dry; then the texture of the material - smooth, rough, soft, etc. Don’t try to attach words to what you feel. Don’t try to determine what the object is. - Next, do the same exercise using your left hand.
  • Become aware of everything you touch and everything that touches you while sitting on your couch: all the points of contact between your body and the chair, the texture of the materials touching you, all the objects (jewelry, glasses etc.) or articles of clothing that you’re wearing.
  • Instead of thinking about something else while brushing your teeth, feel the effect of the bristles as they brush over your gums and teeth.
  • When you take a shower, concentrate on the water pouring down, on its temperature, how the droplets feel as they hit your skin, the sensation of soap sliding over your body. and so on.
  • When you open a door, feel the cold metal of the doorknob, the resistance of the spring or hinges, the way the lock clicks open and shut, the way the handle turns the lock, and so on.
  • When you shake someone’s hand, feel the contact - is the grasp firm or gentle, the skin dry or moist, rough or smooth, warm or cold? Feel the energy flowing from hand to hand, be aware of the duration of the handshake, the rapidity or slowness with which your hands separate...
  • When you drive your car, be aware of all your movements: how you hold the wheel, how you shift gears, how you sit in your seat... You will quickly become aware of any useless tension in your body.
  • As you eat, feel the weight of the food on your fork, the muscles you bring into play to carry the food to your mouth, the movement of your jaws, the consistency of the food you’re eating...
  • When you engage in some sport, like tennis for example, feel the movements of your body, the contact of the racket as it hits the ball, the way it vibrates, and so on.

2 comments:

  1. The most helpful thing I learned from it, and maybe because I read quite a few self development books, is about being conscious. Being conscious make a really big difference and focusing on what you're doing at the moment rather than being doing something but your mind actually is thinking about a totally different thing make a huge difference. I believe yoga and meditation can also help you harness your thoughts and keep your mind into the conscious state of the moment you're in instead of letting it wander everywhere else. It requires a lot of practice though to be able to do it as mind tends to wander often.

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