How to change Limiting Beliefs

This question has deeper implications than it would seem. Generally speaking when we want to change our beliefs, we study the matter, review the evidence and reach a new conclusion. For example, we used to believe that the earth was flat, the matter was further studied, evidence pointed in a different direction, and we came to a new conclusion, we now “believe” that the earth, is in fact, round. That change was neither painful nor did it require that much work on our part.

The problem with “limiting beliefs”, however, is that they are emotionally charged and have usually been with us for many years, from infancy in some cases. We have lived through the lenses of these beliefs, acquiring as much proof as we could to validate and solidify them. From a physiological perspective, what has happened in our brain is that a neural network was formed and reinforced with every negative event. For instance, if our limiting belief is “I am worthless”, then every time we make a mistake, or something doesn’t go our way, we attribute it, not to unrelated circumstances, but to the fact that we are indeed “worthless”. These assessments seldom come without brutal judgment and a complete recall of all the other failures that have occurred due to our “worthlessness”.

Limiting beliefs are easily recognized because when we think about them we think in term of absolutes. It’s a fact, on a scale of 1 – 10 they’re a 10. Since most of these beliefs were created at a time in our life when we were learning at a different wavelength, telling ourselves now over and over again, the contrary, will not change the neural networks associated with the belief. More is needed; the change has to be done in the subconscious mind. The two most effective ways to do this is through Meditation and the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)   developed by Gary Craig. CAT scans have demonstrated visible results in the brain patterns in people who meditate.  I personally have found meditation to be a great way to start the day and the shifts that have occurred in my mind have been subtle but very profound. EFT on the other hand has become my favorite tool both for myself and in my practice to help shift limiting beliefs.  EFT works on the same meridians as traditional acupuncture, using light tapping on specific points on the head, face and hands to release energy while you think about the limiting belief. It’s very fast and easy and can be focused on very specific beliefs. If you would like know more about EFT and the results I have achieved with it’s use, feel free to contact me.

DNA- Are we victims of our genetic makeup?

In the late 1980's the Human Genome Project was tasked with cataloging all the genes in the in the human body. It was going to be no small feat.  It was expected that they had to find a gene for each of the more than 100,000 proteins that make up the human body. Then there are the additional 20,000 genes to coordinate the activity in the protein genes. The expectation was that the catalog would contain at least 120,000 genes, thus having a blueprint of the human genome. This would be a revolutionary discovery. Genetic predetermination had become the explanation of choice in everything from medicine, when explaining why one falls ill while others don’t, to sports, when attributing great feats to the lucky inheritance of “good” genes. The results of the Genome Project would pinpoint the exact reason for everything from our health to our behavior.

By 2003 when the results were in, the scientific community was shocked by the findings. Of the 120,000 expected genes, the human genome consisted of only about 25,000. More than 80% of what was thought to be required DNA was missing! The concept of one gene for every protein was disavowed and the complexity of the human body could no longer be explained with a blueprint. Particularly unsettling was the fact that a parallel project found that rodents have roughly the same number of genes as we do.

During the decades that came and went while the decoding took place, the idea of genetic predisposition had become a mantra for society. The belief that some of us simply don’t have the necessary genes to accomplish great things, in matters of health and disease, weight loss, muscle gain, language learning ability or even social skills, was deeply held. Burdened with the “knowledge” that genes not only controlled our lives, but we're not consulted on which genes we get, many of us felt victimized by our heredity and saw little need to fight against our "destiny".

David Baltimore, one of the world’s most renowned geneticists and winner of the Nobel Prize, recognized the need for more information.  He said, “Understanding what does give us our complexity—our enormous behavioral repertoire, ability to produce conscious action, remarkable physical coordination, precisely tuned alterations in response to external variations of the environments, learning, memory, need I go on?—remains a challenge for the future.”

So, our genes don’t bind us to failure or success after all.  “Conscious action” –however it is that we come about it- can propel us into achieving our dreams and desires.  The only thing holding us back is what we have come to “believe” to be true about ourselves; once those beliefs shift, an entire world of previously unattainable possibilities are ours for the choosing.   Therefore, the real question is, how do we change our limiting beliefs? 

Water Crystals

          I recently read a book called The Hidden Messages in Waterby Masaru Emoto. Mr. Emoto has researched the effect of various environments  on the formation of a complete water crystals. He does this by exposing distilled water to sounds, pictures and words both spoken and written. For example, he exposed water to both classical and death metal music; the result was, classical music would produce beautiful and complete crystals while the death metal exposed water was unable to create a complete crystal. When he exposed the water to beautiful pictures and specific words as “thank you”-  and “dirty”  with similar results. 

          This of course has very interesting implications in our lives since according to NASA our bodies are 70% water. We have heard about the importance of kind words but nothing brings it home like these crystals- 

          One of Mr. Emoto’s readers decided to test his theories with his family by putting rice on three containers and having the children speak to the containers every day. They would tell one container  “Thank You”, another one “You Fool” and the third they would ignore all together. After a month, the container that had positive words spoken to it began to ferment with a light malty smell. The one that was insulted, turned black and rotted. The most interesting thing was what happened to the rice that was ignored, it rotted faster than the one that was insulted! Apparently negative attention really is better than no attention at all. 

          I think it's a great example of quantum dynamics and the observer effect. If you were to try to replicate these experiments with any sort of doubt, with a desire to disprove the theory, that doubt would change the nature of the vibration associated with the words, music and scenery you are exposing the water to. Since the water is simply reflecting the vibrational state of the observer, your personal feelings toward the experiment would supplant the meaning of anything you expose to the water. To Mr. Emoto, the word "Thank You" puts him in a state of gratitude which is then reflected on the water. That is to say, if the sound of the word "Dirty" would evoke a sense of gratitude in a different observer, than that observer would get in amazing crystal from "Dirty". 

       So often this is the problem with "proving" theories regarding the mind-body connection. Since the meaning of words tend to be a matter or character, culture and language of the speaker, what would evoke pride in one English speaker may evoke shame in another because, while they speak the same language, they do not have the same cultural background. I see this occurring with the word "ambition" - in our American culture it carries a positive connotation, if you are "ambitious" then you are driven, dedicated, a "go getter", you are shooting for the stars! Where as the same word when spoken to a person for whom their first language was Spanish may see "ambitious"as having a negative connotation - greedy, selfish, willing to step all over others to attain their own desires. So too, the way to raise the vibrational state or mood of one person (or of water for that matter) may differ drastically form one to another. One things seems to be universally true, however, being kind to others from a sincere heart with no desire to obtain anything in return has a positive effect on the vibrational state (emotional state) of all involved and by extension their health and quality of life. So let's be kind to each other!