Let's Review

DeAnna Willman

Therefore. I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…and I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 2 Peter 12-15

Dear friend, we have traveled together for about 4 months now in this journey of healing of the mind, body, and spirit through the mind-brain-body connection. I am continually honored and awed that you remain with me in this journey. Know that you are in my prayers, asking our Father to act in His role as Healer in a mighty way in your life. I also give thanks to our Father for what He is doing within you as we learn and grow together through His word and His creation.

Before we continue, (yes there is so much more to this healing) I feel we need to spend a mindful moment reviewing what we have covered to this point. So, I suggest you read through this post several times (Quantum Zeno Effect) when you can sit quietly and meditate upon what has been discussed to this point. Use your right hemisphere of your brain to meditate upon each point. Where are you right now as a result of this journey to this point. Then, use your left hemisphere to bring up how you/your health was before you began and how you expect to continue to improve as we go forward.

We started with learning that each of us is made up of three parts; the mind, the body, and the spirit. Our health is like a three-legged stool that requires all three to be strong and present. However, the leg of the stool that symbolizes the mind directly affects the strength (health) of the other two legs. When the health of the mind is weak, the other two parts of our being will also be weak.

We have learned that over 700 known dis-eases are directly connected to our thought life. Science and medicine have both shown this to be true over the past 40 years. For many, many years it was known that our thoughts affect our moods, attitudes, how we perceive life around us, and our relationship with God, ourselves, and others. The unexpected thing scientists discovered over the past 40 years is that our thoughts even affect our brain and body down to the cellular level of our DNA.

We are made up of three parts, and our mind is made up of three parts, as well. The three parts of the brain are the non-conscious, sub-conscious, and conscious. The non-conscious is where all information taken into the brain is stored. It operates at 400 billion actions per second without our being aware of its action. It does most of its work at night while we are sleeping, and it is where that information we have stored there determines/influences our beliefs, perspective, and decisions. The subconscious is a filter that exists between the non-conscious and the conscious. Its job is to protect the conscious from information that it cannot handle at the time. However, we also saw how this filter can be persnickety at times, hindering the recollection of something even when there is no reason to do so. We call those “here-after” “tip of the tongue” or even “senior” moments. The information is usually allowed to pass into the conscious later- often in the early morning hours!

The conscious operates at 2000 actions per second and is where we make decisions regarding everything around us and all information coming in through our five senses. It is where we experience the Quantum Physics of the Brain. We take in information through the 5 senses, our own thoughts, and from the spiritual realm. Then the mind considers all possibilities connected to the information. Is it true, relevant, important, worth keeping? What will happen if the thought is kept or if it is rejected? After considering these things, the mind then makes a choice. Every choice has a consequence both in the physical body, our physical environment, and in the mind itself. Through the example of a toddler learning about banana pudding for the first time, we saw how the brain takes in the information, considers possibilities, makes a choice, which results in a consequence.

If the conscious mind chooses to keep or act upon the thought, it will become a physical part of the brain and be stored in the non-conscious. If that thought is healthy, the dendrites in that thought will begin to grow with intent of connecting with surrounding thoughts. The more that thought is exercised through the Quantum Zeno Effect, the dendrites will grow longer, stronger, and will direct messages from surrounding thoughts to other thoughts. That thought will resemble a healthy tree and that area of the brain will look similar to a forest or orchard. If the thought is negative/toxic, the dendrites will fail to grow and will remain weak, failing to connect with surrounding thoughts. The more this toxic thought is exercised, the thought will look similar to a thorn bush and this area of the brain will resemble a black hole.

Each time the mind thinks upon a thought, the brain responds with the release of chemicals and electromagnetic energy. These chemicals and energy will initiate certain activities within the body. Healthy thoughts will release chemicals and energy that initiate health, rest, recovery, and well being throughout the whole body. This impacts even our DNA by turning on healthy markers and turning off unhealthy markers. Negative/toxic thoughts will initiate stress (fear), fight or flight, and dis-ease throughout the body. They turn on unhealthy DNA markers and turn off healthy markers.

The good news is that our brains have something called Neuroplasticity. This is the ability to be shaped, molded, and even changed. We compared it to the childhood dough that is colored and can be repeatedly reshaped as long as it is not left out of the container to dry. The brain does not become set and unable to change as was once thought and taught. With the conscious mind, and through the Quantum Zeno Effect, we are able to change the thoughts that have been stored within the non-conscious, as well as change our health.

In one post we looked at the amygdala of the brain which has two jobs. Its main job is to protect the body from harm. The nano-second it determines the body is in harm’s way, (car coming at you as you cross the road) it triggers the body to react immediately to avoid harm by initiating the fight or flight mode. In this mode, the body responds by engaging the sympathetic nervous system which dilates the eyes, the veins and arteries, sends extra energy to the muscles, increases the heart rate and breathing, shuts down the digestion and reproduction systems, and initiates a hyper alertness within the brain. All this empowers the body to avoid or get out of harm.

The nano-second the amygdala determines the body is no longer in harm’s way, (the car stops, or you jump out of its path) it tells the body to go into rest and recovery via the parasympathetic nervous system. The eyes, veins, and arteries will return to normal, heart rate and breathing slow down, the muscles relax, digestion and reproduction are turned back on, and the brain recovers from the hyperalert state needed to protect the body. However, the amygdala does not take the time to decide if something is truly a harm to the body. It does not determine whether that person jumping out at you is a threat or simply a prankster. It assumes it is a threat and reacts. It is when the conscious mind catches up (usually after the body has responded to the threat), that a decision can be made as to whether that person was truly a threat.

The second job of the amygdala is to assign an emotion to thoughts and experiences. When cut off in traffic the amygdala will assign an emotion such as anger, fear, or resentment to the experience. Again, this is an immediate reaction without time to decide anything. The good news is that emotion will flush out of your body within 90 seconds unless you consciously choose to hold on to it. The emotion will trigger instant release of chemicals and energy that affect the whole body. While the amygdala reacts immediately, its emotional assignment does not have to be accepted. After that 90 seconds, one can consciously acknowledge the emotion, and decide whether the amygdala has assigned an emotion you desire to hold within your thoughts. If you change the thought, the chemicals and energy will change, as well.

The thoughts you choose to store in the non-conscious and to think upon consciously will determine your perspective (world view) and influence your perception (interpretation) of everything around you; of all information taken in by your brain. If you store up thoughts of rejection and build your perspective as one of rejection due to words or actions you have experienced, you will perceive everything done/not done, said/not said (even positive things) as a form of rejection. You will LOOK for and EXPECT rejection. If your perspective of a rat is one of fear, you will see rats as something horrible and to be avoided. However, if you are an exterminator, rats can be perceived as money in the bank. If you are a zoologist or biologist, rats may be perceived as fascinating! If a scientist, they may be perceived as a necessary and helpful tool. The exciting thing is that you can change your perspective by changing your thoughts! That will in turn change how you perceive things, information, and people around you.

One post was even dedicated to explaining steps for taking your thoughts captive and changing those you desire to change. Let’s review this as well:

Capture- take captive the thought, whatever it is. What is the thought I am having, behavior I am manifesting, belief I am believing, emotion I am feeling?

Reflect or recognize- from where did the thought originate? Who told me this? What evidence do I have that it is true? How does it make me feel? Do I want to feel that way? How does it lead me to behave and relate? Do I want to continue to behave and relate in that way?

Write/dump- while you are reflecting, you are writing down the answers to your reflection. This is not to be in paragraph form, or even grammatically correct. No one will see this except you. Just dump it all out on paper however you want as it comes to you.

Reconstruct- With what thought/behavior will I replace this current thought/behavior? What is the truth? How do I want to feel, think, speak, behave, relate to others? What does God say about this specific thought, emotion, behavior, belief? How would my life change if I changed my thinking/behavior/memory?

Action- this is the immediate action you will take to begin changing this thought/behavior/belief, etc…

Live- how you will think and behave in the truth going forward; Ways you will hide the word of God in your heart regarding this issue. How you will resist the temptations to return to that thought/behavior.

Through all of this we have continued to bring up the fact that in order to consider information and make a wise choice, we must be mindful. We must be able to take captive the thought/emotion and measure it against God’s word. We must consider all the possibilities in regards to what God says is true. Our choices must be in line with the word of God and the example of our Messiah. Using the Quantum Zeno Effect in learning and memorizing the Word of God we will literally write His word upon our hearts, as well as the rest of the cells in our bodies. As we do so, our health in mind, body, and spirit will be affected for the better.

I wanted to review what we have learned thus far. It is important that we understand and remember these things in order to go further in our journey of healing. As you spend more time understanding and practicing these things, you will see positive things happen within you. Most important, you will be drawing closer to our God who created you, operating as He intended you to operate, and reaping the benefits of walking in step with His plan. Go through this review multiple times over this next week. Even better if you speak these things out loud, and/or with someone else as it causes the information to set deeper into the brain, strengthen those dendrites, and build healthy thoughts, brain, and body.

Next, we will be looking at things that hinder mindfulness and harm the brain. Then we will look at what is good for mindfulness and healing to the brain.

Until then…..

Therefore, if any man be in Messiah, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are becoming new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 HalleluYah!