Your Nonconscious Brain: Part 3

If you wired it in, you can wire it out!

Q: Where Do Your Beliefs Reside?

1. Somewhere in the "Cloud" on Google?
2. In small clusters of neurons, primarily in my nonconscious brain?
3. What beliefs?

If you answered "b", you are right! At some time in your life, each of your core beliefs was "wired" into a physical structure somewhere in your nonconscious brain. It takes the form of a tiny cluster of neurons, which under a microscope looks like a miniature tree. Because these structures are myelinated, they become automatic "reflexes" that will shape your beliefs, attitudes, and worldview for the rest of your life - unless you deliberately decide to change them.

Toxic vs. Healthy Beliefs Some beliefs are healthy and others (like an orphan spirit) are toxic. Discerning your toxic beliefs is tricky because your conscious brain has no direct access to your nonconscious brain. However, there are ways to "hack" into your nonconscious brain through the "back door." Good therapists know how to do this. But it's a skill that you can learn too. This enables you to rewire your brain yourself, replacing your toxic attitudes and beliefs with healthy ones. You are not a victim of toxic beliefs residing in your nonconscious mind. "If you wired it in, you can wire it out!"

It Works By Repetition - Your nonconscious brain works primarily by pattern recognition and associations. Therefore don't try to force-feed it logic. That's the wrong kind of food for this animal! Your nonconscious brain learns by repetition - especially when those repetitions are accompanied by reinforcing emotions. This is the same way that little children learn before their prefrontal cortex is developed. This is how all good mothers naturally train their young children.

Strategies to rewire the nonconscious brain are not new; they have been sucessfully used in the non-Christian "self-help" business for decades. Before neuroscience nobody knew how these methods worked. Now we understand the "how." But when it comes to rewiring my brain I want a Christian-based program. I like the popular Christian app (100,000+ downloads) sold by Dr. Caroline Leaf. It certainly worked for me!

Caveat - You didn't acquire your toxic thoughts in a single day. So don't expect to get rid of them in a single day. Rewiring your brain is paced by the time it takes to grow new neurons and assemble them into a functional "ready-to-fire" myellinated thought or belief. You cannot accelerate this process by pushing harder. Brain growth moves along at the pace of a flower garden - hence the sketch accompanying this article.

If you can grow a flower garden, you can also grow healthy new thoughts and beliefs in your brain!