Be Informed - Create New Neural Pathways
I have been a natural health practitioner for over 35 years, my main specialty being remedial therapies. Like most professional health training I completed a four-year college curriculum of which two were health sciences, anatomy and physiology etc. For nearly a decade I had an approach to healing that saw my point of reference being muscles, bones and skin. In the late eighties I learnt a new modality of healing called Bowen Therapy, which at that time had no clear rationale for how it worked. In my search for a greater understanding I was informed about a highly ignored part of human anatomy called fascia. What I found was one of the most dynamic tissues in the body, and one that if manipulated in the right way would result in what could only be described as miracles. By the mid 90s my rural country practice saw me with a client roster of over five and one half thousand clients and appointments of over 120 clients per week. The results spoke for themselves. Had I not been informed of the dynamic nature of fascia, I would have continued to use the healing approach of my college days, with all of its limitations. When I attempted to share my research back in the 80’s many of my colleagues refuted my findings, even to the point of vilifying them publicly. Twenty years on, my early research is now accepted globally and has been the stepping stone for further extensive research in the area.
So How Does This Work?
By being informed, we immediately displace ignorance. By displacing ignorance we become more aware. Once we become more aware, we have a greater capacity for creativity, strategy and innervation. For me to change my approach to healing, I had to first be prepared to have an open mind. This meant that I was prepared to listen to new possibilities. Adaptation, change and innervation will never happen while we stay stuck in old beliefs, knowledge and attitudes. Being teachable is the primary quality for someone being better informed. Have you ever come across someone who could never be told? Someone who already knew it all? As they say, their cup was already full. It is impossible to be informed with a closed mind. Being informed is the beginning of creating new neural pathways. Neural pathways are nerve passages that the brain establishes to make it easier to remember how to do things. Imagine if you had to experience driving a car with the same fear and lack of confidence as you did when you first learnt. As you practice, you develop these neural pathways that can be accessed each time you go to drive a car. They can be so well developed that you no longer have to be conscious in order to carry out a complex behaviour. A new neural pathway is either the process of finding a new path for achieving an old destination, of a new path to a new destination. For example, it is now understood that the brain can restore body functions lost through a stroke, by developing new neural pathways, replacing the ones damaged by the stroke. Being informed is about the latter model of creating new neural pathways to new destinations. These are new beliefs, behaviours and attitudes that we determine would be better serving to our health and wellbeing.
A New Destination
The need for a new destination mostly comes on the back of the old one no longer being of benefit. Mostly some sort of suffering motives the desire for change. Sickness, divorce, death, financial stress, and redundancy are some of the key catalysts for change. Having learnt that the behaviours and neural pathways resulted in the way they did, we now mostly possess an open mind about what it would take to have that be different, in other words, find a new destination. This new destination is about becoming informed. What would my life look like if I was healthy, in a loving relationship, not fearful of dying, financially abundant etc. Our programming (which I call our story) almost makes it impossible to see another reality. At EAP the first step in change is being honest, which is identifying those destinations that are not serving us. The second step is being informed, which is identifying new destinations that would better serve us. The third step is creating the neural pathway (the strategy) that would make reaching that new destination possible. Finally the fourth step is about constantly reengaging the strategy in our awareness, which actually doesn’t initially requires us to enact the new attitudes, beliefs or behaviours. The choice to engage the new pathway naturally occurs, as the new pathway has already been worn by the constant awareness being repeatedly applied to the same. Simply put, being informed is about imagining new suffering-free destinations in how we could experience life. Once you are informed of new possibilities, you are no longer ignorant. Only then is change possible. Remember that old adage – if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.
Take a Moment to Consider
Take a moment to think of one mental, one physical, one emotional and one spiritual aspect of your life that is no longer serving you. Poor diet, unmanageable stress, fear and depression are a few examples. I am sure you can come up with a heap more. Now imagine what your life would look like if you were free of these things. What would your health look like? How would your relationships be different? What difference would it make to you financially? How would your engagement in life be different?
The Enhances Awareness Program is a systemised approach to helping you develop new neural pathways. What is unique about our approach is that it is an awareness based approach with proven sustainability. I would love to hear your comments and your experiences. Please write your comments on this blog and I can respond to you there.
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