4 Mind 4 Life - New Brain Power Info.

Note: If you enjoy this article, consider reading 5 Ways Of Enhancing Brain Power [Part 1].

No matter how high your current I.Q. or level of education, there are still tons of great things that you can do to boost your brain power!  Boosting your brain power doesn’t always deal with reading books or hanging out with scientists on a daily basis!  There are many great methods that you can use to improve your brain’s overall level of cognition.  The following 5 methods included in this article will definitely help you flex your neural connections a bit and allow you to build a better brain!  In follow-up to the first part of this series (posted above), are 5 more great ways of enhancing your brain power!

1. Take Control Of Your Thoughts (Neurofeedback)

Taking control of your thought-patterns is much easier than most people imagine!

Though the concept of Neurofeedback sounds slightly New-Agey, there is a method of thought-control that you can use to actually boost your brain power! Most people that use it don’t have any idea as to how it works, but definitely are able to testify that it is highly-effective. It is not exactly a method of relaxation or meditation, though you can use it to help yourself relax! What is it? It’s called neurofeedback, and it is slowly gaining credibility in the field of psychology and scientific community.

Neurofeedback stemmed from the practice of Biofeedback and the terms are often used synonymously. Neurofeedback works by showing people (giving them feedback) of real-time measures of things like: brainwaves, heart rate, skin temperature, etc. and encourages them to take conscious control over it. The amazing part of this practice is that though people don’t think it will work initially, walk away with astonishing results proving that they were able to do it!

Neurofeedback has recently gained popularity in neuroscience and psychology to help patients boost their brain power and recover from diseases and disorders like anxiety or ADHD. The very first attempts of neurofeedback were done to increase the amount of alpha brainwaves (associated with a calm, relaxing mental state) displayed in an individual’s E.E.G. So far, researchers and neurofeedback practitioners have had much success with treating things like ADD and ADHD. They have also found plenty of scientific evidence that proves its effectiveness! It also has been effective in treating certain cases of depression, anxiety, stroke, brain injuries, and epilepsy.

Some experimenters have even used brain scanners that allow individuals to see and control brainwave activity in specific parts of their brain! This is an amazing advancement, in my opinion! What about for people that don’t have a brainwave problem? Can neurofeedback be effective for boosting the brain power of an ordinary, average guy? Definitely. Neurofeedback has been proven to improve memory and levels of calmness before exams in many average people.

It has also been effective at improving technique in dancers and musicians. With this said, virtually anyone can benefit from the practice. There is also evidence that the practice of neurofeedback can boost our confidence, levels of creativity, enhance our sexual performance, lift depression, balance brain activity, improve relaxation, and change personality traits. All of this improvement just through the act of controlling out thoughts!

2. Pay Closer Attention (Cut Distractions)

No matter your level of genius, creativity, or common sense, none of it matters unless your mind paying attention!

Paying attention is a fairly complex brain function that allows us to focus on details or see the “big picture.” Though there is no single best way to improve concentration, there are many things you can do to improve it! The first way to enhance your concentration is to increase your level of arousal. When you are in a highly-focused, beta brainwave state, your level of arousal is much higher than usual. The brain’s concentration-state of mind is controlled largely by the production of the neurotransmitters: dopamine and noradrenalin. Dopamine induces a “goal-oriented,” pleasurable, yet highly productive state of mind. Noradrenalin induces an vigilant, slightly paranoid state of mind. It is not shocking that doing activities to raise dopamine levels boost our ability to pay attention.

One way to boost our ability to pay attention is by taking drugs like amphetamines (Ritalin, Adderall, etc.) - drugs that treat ADHD. Caffeine also works well to boost our levels of concentration. I personally prefer a drug-free approach due to safety concerns associated with taking drugs. I know (from experience) that these drugs are not the way to go: they are a short term solution to a problem that needs a long term approach.

Another great way to boost your ability to pay attention is to get a good night’s sleep, eat brain foods, and get plenty of exercise! Meditation is also a great practice to incorporate into your lifestyle. Studies have proven meditation’s effectiveness at increasing our ability to pay attention. After you have chosen one of the methods mentioned above to improve your focus, you need to begin cutting distractions. Studies conducted at the workplace discovered that it takes at least 10 minutes to regain a quality state of focus after becoming distracted.

Psychologists highly recommend that you avoid doing work near noisy, annoying, distracting appliances like the dishwasher, fridge, or T.V. It is best to drown out background noise while working by finding a quiet place to work, using earmuffs or earplugs (if necessary), or even listening to music to kill the other noise. There are plenty of tactics you can use to help you keep paying attention. Pick one method you like best and stick with it!

3. Can You Learn From The Nuns?

If you don’t want to develop senility throughout your old age, you should consider asking a Nun what to do!?

A convent in Mankato, Minnesota may seem like an abnormal place to run a brain experiment… But, a study of 75 to 107 year old nuns has revealed great insight into keeping the brain healthy and powerful moreso than most other experiments to this date! This “Nun study” was done with over 600 total Catholic Nuns and an expert of Alzheimer’s disease and aging.

The nun’s high-levels of longevity is largely attributed to their lifestyle. They do not drink or smoke, they live quietly and socialize, they are calm, deeply spiritual, and have a healthy diet. All of these small differences in lifestyle appeared to make huge differences in brain power and aging later in life. A relatively low percentage of the nuns suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, but many have avoided dementia and senility that most individuals develop. Many of the nun’s brains revealed no signs of excessive aging.

The overall study revealed a few common factors that helped the nuns’ brain power: having the correct amount of vitamin folate, verbal ability early in life, and having positive emotions early in life. Also, activities such as: sewing, doing crossword puzzles, and exercising helped prevent senility. Spirituality and the positive emotions resulting from it, also had significant benefits. Individual differences also matter: irregular metabolism, strokes, and head injuries, all increase your susceptibility towards developing Alzheimer’s disease.

You definitely don’t need to become a nun to stay mentally fit, though! We can all work towards brain power improvements! With that said, this study can provide us with a plethora of great advice to take from the lives of some nuns and apply it to our own lives!

4. Physical Exercise Vs. Mental Exercise

Staying active through physical exercise can not only make you stronger physically, it will boost your brain power!

Are you the type of person who hates studying? Well, according to researchers, exercising for just 30 minutes a day up to 3 times per week can significantly improve your ability to concentrate, use reasoning, and your overall learning abilities by nearly 20 percent! The brain boosting effects of exercise are even more powerful and easier to observe in old people. Elderly individuals that are able to walk regularly perform much better on memory tests than their non-exercising friends. Even more impressive is the fact that over several years, their overall cognitive performance shows much less decline than those who don’t exercise. Every extra exercise session has significant benefits!

Though elderly individuals display the most noticeable changes in mental performance, they are not the only group of people that benefit from exercise. Children have been studied too: school-kids that exercise 3 to 4 times per week get higher exam scores than those who don’t! Though the effect is most observable in male schoolchildren, females do definitely benefit as well! Research suggests that aerobic exercise boosts cognition by getting extra oxygen to the brain.

There is also another great reason that your brain is so fond of physical exercise: it promotes neurogenesis a.K.a. “the growth of new neurons (brain cells)!” Until recently, scientists figured that we were born with a maximum amount of brain cells and that we could not replenish lost or killed brain cells. New studies, however, have confirmed that exercise definitely produces new brain cell growth (in people of all ages), even in adults!

The brain boosting effects of exercise are most seen in the hippocampus - the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. This is also the brain region that is easily damaged by cortisol - a brain-cell killing stress hormone. This is why if you are ever feeling stressed, the best thing you can do for your brain is to go for a hard run! Even relaxing, stretching-type exercise like hatha yoga can work wonders for your cognition. Scientific researchers have discovered that bending backwards - as opposed to forward bending and standing - is the best way to get a quick mood lift!

Apparently, not only does a fit body positively affect our brain, our brain can actually produce changes in our body! In 2001, researchers at the “Cleveland Clinic Foundation of Ohio” asked volunteer participants to spend 15 minutes each day thinking about exercising their biceps. After 12 short weeks, their bicep muscles were 13 % stronger than they were before! This is very interesting and a phenomenon that (in my opinion) should be studied more! The effects from this study were amazing, just from spending 15 minutes “thinking” about exercising a certain muscle group!

5. Get A Good Night’s Sleep (Seriously…)

You should never underestimate the power associated with getting a good night’s sleep!

Cheating your brain of sleep is actually very harmful to your brain! Depriving yourself of sleep is one of the many things that kill brain cells! (Yikes!) Your ability to problem solve, plan, learn, and concentrate all are significantly reduced. Intelligence scores are lowered. You become unable to properly function: if you have been awake for twenty-one hours straight, your cognitive abilities are equal to someone who is legally drunk! You should not be on the road… lack of sleep is just as bad for your brain as driving drunk. And, you don’t need to pull an all-nighter to suffer from the dangerous effects: just 2 to 3 (back-to-back) late nights with early mornings have the exact same negative side-effects!
What is also interesting is the fact that if you allow someone who isn’t sleep deprived to get an extra hour of sleep, they perform much better on normal tasks requiring high levels of attention, such as taking a test! These are not the only benefits resulting from a good-night’s sleep either! While you are sleeping, your brain is able to process new learned skills, the formation of memories, and solve problems.

An example is working on an extremely difficult math problem… Instead of working 8 hours straight trying to solve the problem, you would be better off working for a couple hours and taking a cat-nap. Why? Because, while you are asleep your brain refreshes and reactivates the neural circuits that it used when you were working on the problem. It then rehearses your memories as you worked on the problem and converts short-term memories into the long-term storage. The same applies to other skills such as learning a sport, playing an instrument, and driving a car.

There is also plenty of evidence that getting quality sleep helps us produce moments of problem-solving insight. Many people claim that their problems are solved sometimes in their dreams. One famous story and example, is that of the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. He claimed to suddenly “understand” a problem he was trying to solve with the periodic table in a dream, after he had spent an entire day struggling with the problem! It appears as though sleep allows the brain to juggle new experiences and memories, and provide us with flashes of creativity and ah-ha moments! If you are ever in doubt about a problem or stressed out, snooze on it! You may be surprised at what your brain is able to accomplish!

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1. Meditation

Meditation is an extremely powerful activity that can be used to manipulate and create your own reality. I believe that meditation is the single most powerful way to learn how to take control of your life and to consciously sculpt your own reality. Meditation has a large list of benefits and is one of the best activities for boosting your mental focus.

Experienced meditators are able to shift their brainwaves upon command to a desirable brainwave state (i.e. gamma, beta, alpha, theta, delta). With practice, you’ll learn how take full control of your state of consciousness. The act of meditation allows individuals to cope with, and better accept their emotions. In a more advanced practice, meditation allows individuals to replace states of mental pain with those of pleasure. In the most experienced meditators, a state of awareness that allows the individual to block out physical pain can be achieved!

If you aren’t already practicing meditation and have an interest to consciously create your reality, I highly recommend that you set aside some time each day and get yourself started!

2. Brainwave entrainment

Brainwave entrainment is extremely powerful technology that can easily be used to create your reality. Not only can brainwave entrainment deepen meditation practices, enhance brain function, and improve brain flexibility, it can also shift your brainwaves to a synchronized, optimal state of functioning.

Another cool feature of brainwave entrainment is that you can use the technology to manipulate your own consciousness and emotions. Like I’ve mentioned in all of my brainwave articles, each brainwave has it’s benefits and downfalls. As you read over my articles of brainwaves: gamma, beta, alpha, theta, delta - you’ll a sense of what brainwave state you are currently operating in and whether you would benefit from a brainwave change.
If you choose to experiment with various brainwave patterns and frequencies, you’ll naturally get a better sense of understanding of yourself by learning how you feel and act in various states of consciousness. In my personal experience with brainwave entrainment, I have found it to be worthwhile and mind-expanding. If you are interested, check out my recommended products and give their free trials a shot before you buy. For starters, I recommend trying “Neuro-Programmer 2 Professional” or “Mind Stereo.” Mind Stereo will allow you to listen to your favorite music while practicing brainwave entrainment and Neuro-Programmer 2 Professional is great for customizing sessions and exporting them to an mp3 player or I-Pod.

3. Neurofeedback

Possibly one of the best things you can do to enhance your brain and brainwave flexibility is neurofeedback. Enhanced brainwave flexibility is a key characteristic of creating reality. Neurofeedback largely aids in the process. Helping your brain consciously learn to travel through the outgoing, externally focused beta range, through the deeply powerful, and creative level of the theta brainwave range can work wonders. Neurofeedback will allow you to consciously shift through the various brainwave states.

Though most of the benefits of neurofeedback are the exact same as those associated with meditation, neurofeedback may be much easier and quicker than meditation. In my opinion, it is a great alternative option! The only problem associated with doing neurofeedback (unless you do it yourself), is that it can get quite costly (at least several hundred dollars for one session). Not to mention, some people take 30 + sessions to obtain permanent results. You do the math (30 sessions * $300 = $9,000).

However, for some, the value of a good neurofeedback program definitely outweighs the measly several hundred dollars spent. If you don’t want to pay for neurofeedback, you’ve got alternative options: buy your own unit and teach yourself how to do neurofeedback or teach yourself a good meditation practice. Though many people may not be familiar with neurofeedback, it really is a great way to help improve your brain’s brainwave flexibility.

4. Eating healthy

Eating healthy will not only help you cut body fat and lose weight, it will boost your brain power and aid in the creation of your reality. What types of foods are you ingesting? I don’t believe that foods are totally at fault for mental problems, but they can definitely contribute to the formation of a healthy brain or an unhealthy one.

Some foods naturally enhance blood flow to the brain and give the brain vital nutrients that allow it to successfully carry out it’s executive operations. Eating unhealthy foods could be creating (or at least aiding) in the creation of a negative, unfocused state of reality. If you are currently confused about what types of foods will help you boost your brain power, check out my article: 5 Supercharged Brain Foods. Foods play a powerful role in giving your brain the power and energy to create your own healthy reality.

5. Physical exercise

Though reality is created by our brain’s thoughts, getting involved in a daily physical exercise routine can really help create a relaxed mind, lower stress levels, and boost calming brainwave patterns. Not only does physical exercise boost your brain power and keep you energized, it aids in the prevention of bodily disease.

The brainwave patterns that result from exercise and the psychological benefits that have been associated with having a daily exercise routine can all be powerful influences on our realities. In my opinion, exercise is one of the single most effective ways to naturally boost brain power, strengthen the body, and improve your reality.

6. Affirmations, incantations, and positive self-talk

What kind of self-talk do you constantly use with yourself? Do you praise yourself and always give yourself the benefit of the doubt? Or are you ridiculously hard on yourself or set too high of expectations for yourself?

By using affirmations, incantations, or positive self-talk instead of conditioned negative mental talk is extremely powerful in the shaping of your reality. Positive self-talk and affirmations involve repeating positive, praising ideas to yourself (about yourself) over-and-over until your mind is filled with only positivity or more positivity than negativity.

I have personally experienced great success with affirmations and really enjoy doing them loudly in my car. Though it may be difficult at first to replace all the past negative self-talk that has accumulated in your subconscious throughout your life, you can do it with a little bit of discipline and dedication. At first, you may get frustrated and begin to think that affirmations aren’t working, but keep up the work for a week, then a month, then a year. Make it a daily habit and I truly think that you’ll reap the benefits. Taking time each day for positive self talk has been scientifically studied and associated with beneficial brain changes. Be loud, be strong, and look yourself in the mirror while doing positive talk and affirmations: have fun with them!

7. Self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis is awesome for implanting powerful beliefs into your mind and shifting your level of consciousness. I have personally experienced the benefits of self-hypnosis. The problem is that most people interested in self-hypnosis believe that either: a) it’s a magical cure OR b) it’s scary and could up your mind. Both “a” and “b” could not be further from the truth.

The activity of self-hypnosis will not “cure you” of a problem, but it will definitely aid in the creation of your reality and will definitely reduce the pain of a certain problem and improve your abilities to cope. On the other side of the spectrum, there are a lot of uneducated people that think self-hypnosis is some sort of scary brain manipulation technique that could potentially ruin their life! During self-hypnosis (and regular hypnosis), you have full control of what suggestions you choose to accept an act on.

All self-hypnosis will do is get your consciousness to a very relaxed, yet extremely focused state of mind: making conscious change easier than it was before. Like meditation, self-hypnosis has many of the same benefits and is nothing to be afraid of!

8. Brainwashing

In reality, we are constantly brainwashing ourselves or allowing others to have direct influence over our personal brainwashing process. The repetition of similar thoughts day-in and day-out is a form of brainwashing. When brainwashing is taken to an extreme, it can have profound and powerful results.

Unfortunately, there are many negative connotations associated with the act of “brainwashing.” With that said, brainwashing can be used in a positive manner to implant positive thoughts and beliefs. Brainwashing can actually enhance a person’s quality of life. The United States ARMY training program is an expert at brainwashing (mostly younger males) to develop discipline and mental strength. You too can create your own brainwashing program that helps you to create whatever you want within your life (i.e. love, peace, abundance, money, etc.).

9. Hypnotherapy

Like self-hypnosis, hypnotherapy (with a licensed hypnotherapist) can be very beneficial. Though factors like susceptibility to suggestion can play a role in determining how effective the hypnosis practice is, hypnotherapy is very healthy and completely safe. In no way, shape, or form will a licensed or unlicensed hypnotherapist be able to gain control over your mind or be able to implant any unwanted beliefs into your mind.

Throughout the entire process, the hypnotherapist will relax your mind and help you learn to enter an extremely relaxed state of focused awareness. Hypnotherapy can be beneficial for many areas of life including: thought-process, performance, relationships, and learning to consciously tap into our lower brainwave frequencies.

Though some hypnotherapists may be somewhat costly, you may have fun trying something new and judging how effective the experience was for you. Some people claim that licensed professionals are way better than doing self-hypnosis sessions, while others feel that both are equally as effective. They both involve the same concept and I feel that they both yield similar results if done correctly. So if you are wary about seeing a hypnotherapist, try some self-hypnosis sessions first!

Either way,hypnotherapy can definitely be effective at allowing you to take better control over your reality!

10. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (N.L.P.)

Though I haven’t personally used Neuro-Linguistic Programming, I do believe that if practiced correctly, it will work positively to help you to create and manipulate your reality. Neuro-Linguistic Programming focuses on the communication aspect of your thoughts in relation to external things. N.L.P. can be used for a wide variety of behavior changes.

An example of using N.L.P. to create success within your reality: To make your reality more successful, you’d examine how “successful people” communicate (verbally, body language, eye movements, etc. Next, you mold your current characteristics to incorporate those of the successful person.

By modeling their behavior, N.L.P. argues that you can literally “duplicate” their patterns of thinking and thought communication that made the successful individuals successful. The brain can learn healthy patterns and behaviors that bring about positive physical and emotional effects. Do I think Neuro-Linguistic Programming will be the sole shaper of your reality? No way. What N.L.P. will do is act as yet another tool to aid you in the process of creating your reality.

11. Find a supportive life coach

Finding a supportive mentor or life coach can make a world of difference when dealing with certain problems. Though there is never any single activity, person, or thing that will create your entire reality, hiring a life coach can have a huge impact on your ability to deal with certain problems. A life coach can serve as a great line of support to talk to and as a person who will help you learn more about yourself by helping you overcome life’s obstacles.

Though life coaching can be great, it may not be worth it to hire a life coach if he or she isn’t helpful or seems to be more conflicting than harmonizing. Do some research and find someone that has a good reputation or look for a life coach that offers a free trial period of a month or two and that offers a free refund. You don’t want to lose money by paying for a service that you found unhelpful.

Since everyone isn’t perfect in all areas of life, it may be helpful to focus on one area of your reality that you’d like to improve and find a life coach or mentor that can help you with that specific area. For example: if you want to learn how to create financial abundance within your life, it will be extremely helpful to learn from a life coach or mentor that has previously made a fortune.

With that said, life coaches can be great to have because their main goal is to help you with your life. Think of them as a refreshing outside perspective with life experience and insight in certain areas that you may be lacking. You can always use their wisdom for a crutch when you need it. After a few months spent with a good life coach, you’ll naturally acquire their wisdom and have a permanent crutch that consists of information that they taught you.

Life coaches can be great teachers that can help you cope better with certain aspects of reality or create rapid personal change!

12. Social conditioning: be around like-minded individuals

The book Rich Dad, Poor Dad teaches that the six people in which you spend the most time with are the individuals that you’ll most likely emulate. Do the six people that you spend your time with have like-minded interests and goals? If they don’t, they may be completely wasting your time. I understand that it is awesome to try new things and expand your reality, but if you’ve been spending your time with six people who do drugs, drink alcohol, and watch T.V. all the time, you will most likely pick up their same bad habits.

Why even waste time with anyone with terrible habits? It is important to not let social conditioning interfere with your personal ability to create reality. Though six people may be spending time doing illicit drugs and drinking alcohol, it doesn’t mean you need to spend time with them! Find six other people and exercise, play golf, and set some goals or whatever interests you! If you are not spending time with people that do not reflect your interests or life purpose, think of it as a time-killer and reality killer.

13. Use prayer

Prayer has been used for ages as a way to communicate with God and the spiritual side of reality. Though not all people agree that every prayer’s wishes are granted, most people pray because they feel that God or a divine source of energy is listening. Prayer in itself is a very powerful way to create changes in reality.

I pray because I think that my prayers are answered, it feels good to me, and because I believe in God. Depending on the type of prayer used and what is said, powerful emotional changes can result. Some people may be using prayer as a crutch to help them make it through a rough time in their lives. Using prayer to make it through a difficult time or situation may make them feel somewhat relieved and at peace. Other people may be using prayer to give thanks and may feel extreme amounts of joy and happiness after prayer and giving thanks. While others may use prayer as a time to reflect, talk, or ask God for something in their life.

Your emotions and level of change in your reality will largely depend on many prayer factors such as: how connected you feel, how you use prayer, how long you pray, and your state of conscious awareness. Whether you enjoy prayer or don’t pray, most would agree that prayer is a great way to help create and influence reality!

14. Emotional healing

Not everyone is perfect and in this fast-paced world, many people have unintentionally damaged their emotions. People in states of Post-traumatic stress, with high amounts of fear (hypochondria), anger problems, A.D.D., and other mental problems can really throw your emotions out of balance. If emotions get thrown out of line for an extended period of time, some areas of the brain and body are usually temporarily underactive, overactive, or damaged.

It is important to recognize when your emotions are thrown out of line. Too much stress depletes levels of the alpha and theta brainwaves and literally has potential to “shut down” certain areas of the brain, while making other areas hyperactive. The emotional healing process can take anywhere from around a month to over a year. If you realize that you just don’t “feel right,” ask yourself if you are stressed, unfocused, angry, etc.

To start a healthy emotional healing process, it really helps to have someone close to talk to or to see a therapist. In my experience, meditation has helped greatly, along with listening to lower brainwave frequencies. The theta brainwave range serves as a natural “reset button” for the brain when it’s being overworked or overstressed. Through the entire process of emotional healing, it is important to realize that you may recall some painful memories, and that your entire state of awareness will shift and your reality will change. You must be prepared to accept whatever emotions arise and the repressed memories that may come your way.

Most emotional healing will take place in the theta brainwave range, so doing theta brainwave entrainment will definitely speed up the healing process. However, you must realize that immediately after listening to theta everyday for awhile, your brain will not automatically reset itself. You’ve got to give the theta brainwaves a break for a couple weeks and let your brain naturally return to it’s own rhythms. After listening to brainwaves, I’d stop listening to them for awhile and your brain will shift back to it’s natural rhythms and literally “heal itself.”

By healing your emotional body, you free up the ability to use your emotions to help you make decisions in the creation process of your reality!

15. Utilize your power of “free-will”

Every person has the ability to make their own decisions. You have the power to make a choice to “do whatever you want, whenever you want.” It’s very unfortunate to see other people not expressing their power of free-will and scraping by life by conforming to the social norms and social standards.

What everyone should be striving for is the ability to express themselves and share their unique gifts with the world. When creating your own reality, it is extremely important to learn how to utilize your power of free will. Using your power of free will to make healthy or unhealthy decisions will have a direct reflection upon your reality.

Here are a couple of examples of how free-will can be utilized when eating:

1. “My meal was excellent, but I am using my free will to make the decision to stop eating and save some food for later. I’d rather stay at a healthy weight.” - Kayla
2. “My meal was excellent and even though my gut was full halfway through the meal, I made a conscious decision to stuff the rest down. I have my own free will, nobody but myself can stop me!” - Jim

Kayla and Jim were both able to use their power of free-will to make a decision to either stop eating when they felt full (Kayla) or keep eating even though they felt full (Jim). Free-will can be used as a healthy skill for creating reality (Kayla) or it can be used in a more unhealthy manner (Jim).

The power of free-will is somewhat of a complex concept. You can use the power of free-will to identify, recognize, and use your “power of free-will.” Or you may not care about it and may use your power of free-will to avoid using your “power of free-will.” Every decision that you make, you have full power and full control over your life and situation… Even though it may not seem like it at times. Just knowing you have the power of free-will actually gives you a deeper sense of control. Use this power to your advantage when creating your reality!

16. Make conscious decisions

Making conscious decisions is a great way to create your own reality. Making conscious decisions means knowing and understanding why you are making a certain decision. Conscious decisions put you into the driver’s seat of your life and allow you to take full control over the creation process of your reality. Unlike unconscious decisions, making conscious decisions leave you satisfied, express your individuality, and are influenced solely by you.

Unconscious decisions are decisions that are made in a state of fear, anger, desperation, or that have some “uncontrollable” outside influence. If you have ever made a poor decision when under “peer-pressure,” you know what it feels like to make an unconscious decision. If you have ever damaged property, others’ feelings, or yourself when overcome with anger, you know what it feels like to make an unconscious decisions.

Unconscious decisions are ones that you’ll want to stay away from, as they create reality for you without your conscious influence. Always make an effort to “think” and make conscious decisions that reflect your values and life-purpose if you want to successfully create a positive reality!

17. Implant positive thoughts

The act of implanting thoughts can be successfully done by consciously replacing any negative thoughts with more positive ones. A great exercise to do is to write down a list of positive thoughts to incorporate into your thought process instead of any negative thoughts that may arise.

When or if any negative thoughts do arise, replace them with the thoughts written down on your list. If you don’t want to replace negative thoughts, just take the time to consciously integrate positive thoughts into your thought-process. Technically, you can incorporate whatever type of thoughts you want into your state of reality.

You could incorporate funny thoughts if you want to laugh more, relaxing thoughts if you want to feel calm, or exciting thoughts if you’d like to feel more energized!

18. Understand your emotions

Understanding your emotions can be extremely helpful when looking to grow or create your own reality. One way that is commonly used to understand your emotions is meditation. Some people are in a state of depression, while others may feel extremely happy. Both happiness and sadness are great emotions to experience and can teach us more about ourselves.

Emotions are a natural part of being human. Everyone gets both good and bad emotions: some are just better at dealing with emotions than others. People who throw a fit of rage and do damage to others or bury their emotions within, lack emotional control and understanding. Everyone can benefit from learning to deal with, understand, and manage their emotions better. After all, emotions are a very powerful ingredient in the process of creating reality!

19. Evaluate your beliefs

What do you currently believe? Do you carry around beliefs that are self-defeating instead of empowering? Beliefs can play a huge role in the creation of your own reality. Most of us were conditioned with certain beliefs that our parents, teachers, friends, and environment displayed to us. Chances are good that most of us have been influenced with many positive beliefs, but may have never taken the time to weed-out our unhealthy, self-defeating beliefs!

Not being able to identify our negative beliefs is a fairly big problem when most of us are trying to create a positive reality! Do yourself a favor and evaluate your beliefs that may have consciously or unconsciously entered your life. Are you constantly telling yourself: “I’m not good enough?” or “I’m worthless compared to (insert name here)?” Ask yourself why you believe these negative beliefs. Chances are good that you may not even know, they may have been integrated into your thought-process through repetition.

After evaluating your negative beliefs, you’ll realize that many of them sound extremely silly and aren’t what you truly wanted to believe. Negative beliefs hinder the process of change and creation of reality because they “get you stuck” - sometimes too stuck to get out of alone! Identify and replace your negative, limiting beliefs with more empowering and positive ones.

20. Learn from your past

Everyone has something to learn from their past experiences. Past experiences and knowledge gained from them can be successfully utilized to create a better life and easier future. Overcoming a problem in your life is a learning process. As you overcome problems and learn from experiences, your knowledge base increases.

An example would be my struggle with an attention-deficit. Though I personally struggled with A.D.D., I also learned how to overcome my mental handicap though a healthy daily routine. If my A.D.D. ever returned after I stopped my daily routine for awhile, I would know exactly what can be done to successfully deal with this problem.

Everyone should be interested in learning from their past: after all, your past experiences, and knowledge gained from them, play a huge part in shaping your future!

21. Consider taking supplements

There are many great supplements you can take that may have an impact in the process of creating your own reality. I personally am a huge advocate of fish oil because it had a positive influence on my reality.

If your brain is deficient in vitamins, you are feeling depressed, or not mentally sharp, there are definitely some effective supplements on the market for you to take. All I am currently taking right now is a daily dose of fish oil and a daily vitamin supplement. The combination of both seems to be optimal for my overall mental and physical health.

A heads up: Just because a supplement has “all natural ingredients” or is completely “all natural,” does not necessarily mean that the supplement is effective! There are some all-natural supplements that are completely ineffective (a placebo), yet people recommend them. It is important to do a little bit of personal research before splurging on a supplement because it is all-natural and “sounds healthy!”

Be smart if you are going to take supplements and realize that finding a good one can do some good for your reality and boost your brain power!

22. Pharmaceutical medicine

Taking pharmaceutical medicine can have a huge impact on you reality and state of consciousness. Certain medications can make you feel extremely tired, while others may actually hype you up! Everyone reacts differently to pharmaceutical drugs: some may feel positive changes, while others may die from the consumption.

More people die each year from adverse reactions to prescription drugs than illicit drugs. If you don’t have any need to be on prescription drugs and are on them, I recommend getting off them! Prescription drugs can interfere with your conscious control over your reality and state of consciousness. Many psychiatric medications actually make creating your own reality extremely difficult because they have direct influence on certain brain areas and neurotransmitters. Medications that have an effect on the brain and it’s functioning are very powerful and should be avoided by those that do not have a true psychiatric problem.

On the other hand, those who do need psychiatric medication and attention will benefit from taking their medication. Creating their reality will be much easier if people with serious diagnoses like: clinical depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. stay on their medication. Same goes with any type of medication: if you truly need it, taking it is probably doing a lot more help than harm! Choosing to take or not take pharmaceutical medication will have an impact on your reality. Whether it’s a beneficial to your reality largely depends on if you truly needed to be on the medication in the first place!

23. Do purposeful activities

Do activities that align with your soul, interests, and purpose. Why waste time creating a reality that does not resonate with who you are? It makes perfect sense to chose to participate in activities that you enjoy, and those that leave you with feelings of happiness and fulfillment.

No need to allow others to influence your decisions and activities that you choose to pursue! Do activities that force you to lose yourself in the moment and become overcome with a sense of timelessness. You’ll know what activities “feel right” and really touch your soul. If you frequently engage in activities that give your life a deep sense of purpose, you are probably already doing a great job at creating your own reality!

24. Adopt-a-reality

Sometimes when we allow ourselves to be overcome with certain negative emotions like fear, anger, or hate, it may be very difficult and tough to cope with our reality - let alone create it! It is extremely difficult for anyone to be a creator of reality when they find it difficult to cope with life. This is where I like to utilize the concept of “adopting a reality.”

Though it may seem difficult to do, try to leave your state of consciousness by adopting someone else’s. You may choose to adopt your mentor’s state of awareness, your therapist’s, your mother’s, your father’s, your best friend’s, or anyone’s! Adopting a state of consciousness can be very beneficial in the process of creating your reality because it helps you recognize how others’ thoughts and actions may benefit your own life.

Give another person’s reality or thought-process a test-run for awhile and see how you like it and if there is anything you can learn! When it feels like you are consciously stuck, it may help a lot to “adopt-a-reality!”

25. The law of attraction

The “law of attraction” is a fairly new-agey term that seems to be loved and highly touted by “new-age” supporters and denied by others. I personally believe that the concept of the law of attraction works and have experienced results in my own life.

Whether you believe the concept of the law of attraction works or doesn’t, I don’t have a problem. When the concept of the law of attraction is explained in a non “new-agey” way and not given the title “law of attraction,” most people agree that it works. To simply sum up the law of attraction: ask for something, focus on what you want and how to get it (visualize & put in effort), keep working, let time pass, and what you asked for will come into your life.

Don’t be afraid to try something new by experimenting with the law of attraction. Most uneducated people on the topic think that all a person needs to do for the law of attraction to work is meditate and visualize what they want. Anyone with some common sense will know that by only meditating and visualizing, you will probably not get anywhere. With that said, understanding the “law of attraction” and utilizing it’s concept successfully will definitely allow you to cultivate reality!

26. Being open-minded (trying new things)

Nobody with a closed mind wants to make changes. It is extremely important to learn how to always be open minded to certain areas of life. Change occurs when you try something new! If you read this list, but never try anything on this list, you’ll never be able to make a valid opinion as to how effective these 26 ways to create your own reality were in your life!

Years ago, I struggled with keeping an open mind and trying new things. I now choose to always be open-minded and by trying new activities, talking to new people, etc. If your mind is closed in certain areas it may be due to social or family influences and conditioning.

Try something new, keep trying new things, and watch yourself change and grow! In my personal experience, simply being open-minded has opened-up new areas of life in which I would have never experienced. Though making a commitment to be open-minded may be difficult at first, it can easily be overcome. Once you realize all that you were missing out on by keeping your mind closed, you’ll never want to go back.

Being open-minded is the biggest key in the process of creating your own reality!

Have fun with this list and feel free to share (in the comments section) any positive personal changes that you may experience when trying suggestions on this list!

Best wishes,

4 Mind 4 Life

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What are beta brainwaves?

Beta brainwaves are considered “fast brain wave” activity. Beta brainwaves are brainwaves that cycle within the range of 12 – 38 Hz and are usually generated in the brain’s left-hemisphere.

Beta waves kick in when logically thinking, feeling stressed, and feeling tense. Beta is generally thought of as a “normal” rhythm and is dominant in people who are alert, anxious, or have their eyes open. Beta brainwaves are considered to be the normal brainwave pattern in healthy adults.

Most children and teenagers have dominant theta and alpha brainwave patterns. There isn’t a single brain wave pattern is better than the others – so don’t think beta brainwaves are some sort of miracle that your children need! If you happen to be deficient in the beta brain wave range, increasing them may feel like a miracle!

Benefits of increasing beta brainwave activity include:

• Ability to think quickly – When a person is high in beta brainwaves, they are able to think fast, generate new ideas quickly, and live in a high-state of functioning. Quick thinking and mental processing definitely helps when applying for a job in the 21^st century and preparing for exams. Studies have shown that people who think quickly feel more confident, happier, and actually live longer than slower thinkers.

• Being more social – When a person talks, their beta brainwave range naturally increases. If you are interested in becoming more social, an increase in beta brainwaves may be the ticket. In most people, an increase in beta activity boosts conversational energy and ability to keep conversation going. I’ve had personal experiences in the high beta brainwave range and you are more social period.

• Feeling excited – Ever get that nice healthy adrenaline rush or feeling of excitement in the pit of your stomach? That feeling is caused by an increase in the amount of beta brainwaves. Beta waves kick in when people get excited and definitely feel invigorating.

• Goal oriented – When people are in the beta brainwave state, they naturally feel more goal-oriented. It could be due to the fact that they have more energy, are more social, and have high levels of focus that cause them to naturally be more goal-oriented. It could also be the fact that an increase in left-hemisphere brain functioning is associated with goals and goal setting. Either way, it definitely will get you more pumped up and inspired to achieve your goals.

• Peak-performance – Though a specific peak-performance brainwave pattern is heavily debated, beta brainwaves can certainly aid in performance ability. When a person’s focus skyrockets, and their energy levels skyrocket, their performance abilities will naturally increase.

• Highest levels of focus – Have some mental fog and a low level of focus? Beta brainwaves may be the ticket to changing that around! People with ADD and ADHD are commonly prescribed stimulants, which cause beta brainwave activity in their brains to increase. Hence, an increased ability to focus, get things done, and all the other things associated with beta waves.

• More energy – Do you lack energy? Are you always tired and wish you had more energy? Well, beta brainwaves could definitely help you out! People low in beta brainwaves feel tired and report less overall energy throughout the day. To get out of a sleepy state and lift some mental fog, consider increasing your beta waves!

• Positive thoughts – I’ve definitely noticed that I feel less depressed and constantly am able to generate positive thoughts while in a high-beta mental state. Positive thinking and an increase in beta waves makes perfect sense because the left-hemisphere is associated with positive thoughts.

• Write easily and quickly – When beta brainwave levels are high, one’s ability to write increases. Beta activity occurs in the left hemisphere which is highly activated while writing. I can personally testify for this one: my ability to write is definitely enhanced when I am able to get into a state of beta.

• Increase in I.Q. – Studies have been done and show that people higher in the beta brainwave range actually have higher I.Q.’s than the average population. It makes perfect sense, since activities like reading and solving math problems can definitely help build a smart brain.

As goes for anything, too much beta activity can be a bad thing. By no means would it be a good idea for you to increase a brainwave that you already have high levels of. In fact, you may experience the horror of beta brainwaves, as they can cause:

• Anxiety – I can personally vouch for this one. Too much beta activity caused me to feel afraid or have thoughts of fear towards things that I’m normally completely calm with. I would imagine that if your brainwaves get high enough in the beta range, you will begin to notice a fear of things that are not normal to freak out over.

• Stress – Though there are many good things that come with beta waves, there is also a huge possibility that they may stress you out. They are linked to increased stress, which is why it is important to learn how to shift your brainwaves when needed.

• Paranoia – Paranoid schizophrenics are actually able to generate much more high-beta activity than the average population. Are beta brainwaves the cause of schizophrenia? No, they are a side-effect and schizophrenia is a much more complex disease. Increasing beta brainwaves will not increase the likelihood of you becoming crazy, but they could make you feel more paranoid than usual. Always checking the locks and worried that someone will break in? It may be time to boost that alpha brainwave pattern and tone down the beta!

• Muscle tension – Another drawback to the beta brainwaves is that your body will feel uneasy and muscle tension increases. Nobody enjoys feeling tensed and unable to relax their muscles. Avoid high amounts of beta activity to avoid tense muscles.

• Increased blood pressure – High blood pressure is usually not anything to be proud of. Beta brainwaves cause an increase in stress and thoughts and naturally increase your blood pressure. If your blood pressure is already high, chances are good that you know what a beta brainwave state feels like.

• Unwanted thoughts – Beta brainwaves can be a source of unwanted or anxious thoughts. Too much beta activity can cause one to experience a mild form of obsessive compulsive disorder. Rapid, random thoughts that are beyond control have potential to haunt the person that is high in beta.

• Insomnia – Want to stay up all night? If so, I recommend increasing your beta activity. It is probably a bad idea to do any beta geared activity right before falling asleep. Keep your brain healthy, get that sleep, and work to prevent insomnia.

• Addiction – Are you addicted to the internet? Chances are that if you have an addiction, you would greatly benefit from a downscaling in your current amount of beta brainwaves! Addiction is a long, bad cycle to go down that I don’t recommend. Look at “how to boost your alpha brain wave” to help you curb and hopefully eliminate your addictions.

Healthy Ways To Increase Beta Brain Waves:

• Brainwave entrainment – Check out my recommended products section and try out Neuro-Programmer 2 if you haven’t already. Brainwave entrainment is definitely a revolutionary technique to help you naturally increase brainwave activity within a certain range. Prepare to be impressed with this technology, if you aren’t already.

• Neurofeedback – Neurofeedback is quite expensive, but is actually very effective at increasing beta brainwave activity for people who have ADD and ADHD. There is a very high success rate for helping ADD in neurofeedback! Consider checking it out.

• Brain training games – Brain training games increase thinking speed and naturally increase amounts of beta activity. Not all brain training games are boring: check out the games Big Brain Academy for the Nintendo Wii or DS and Brain Age 2 for the Nintendo DS and prepare to have some fun. I’ve also heard good things about the Luminosity.Com brain program, so consider checking that out.

• Doing homework – Much of the schoolwork geared towards students in the 21^st century is actually beta-geared. Doing math problems and reading short stories is a powerful, natural way to increase your beta activity.

• Reading a book – Reading is a left-hemisphere oriented activity that everyone should do. Not only may you actually learn something, you will get smarter and increase your beta waves.

• Solving math problems – If you aren’t a student, print out some math problems or buy a book of math facts to get up to par.

• Drink a cup of coffee – The caffeine in coffee definitely gives a jolt of energy to the brain and body. Why? Taking in caffeine increases the amount of beta brainwaves for awhile. The caffeine effect is different for everyone, but you’ll learn that caffeine is definitely a beta brainwave booster.

Unhealthy Ways To Increase Beta Brain Waves:

• Snort cocaine – Drugs are just plain unhealthy, addicting, and life threatening. Cocaine does increase beta activity in the brain – causing adrenaline rushes, rapid heartbeat, and positive thinking. Stay away from this stuff and increase your beta waves naturally.

• Take diet pills – Ahh, good old fashioned diet pills. Pop a few down the hatch and you don’t have to work out or eat healthy to lose weight…right… Diet pills are not good for you. You should know better if you are currently taking them!

• Take some amphetamines (Adderall) – If you need to take stimulants for ADD, then do what you’ve gotta do. If you don’t have a prescription for Adderall, then it is illegal to take and could potentially be very addicting. Just stay away from amphetamines if you don’t need them. Their long-term health effects are brutal!

• Drink a Redbull (or another energy drink) – Energy drinks are just plain unhealthy in my opinion. Yes, they do give you a shocking amount of energy temporarily! After the energy comes, a crash occurs and your energy is completely zapped for the rest of the day! I recommend avoiding these to increase your beta activity.

• Smoke a cigarette – The nicotine found in cigarettes is a beta brainwave booster. Want lung-cancer, a tarred up throat, and to lose money in the process? Nobody does! Stay away from cigarettes!

Final Evaluation of beta brainwaves:

I personally think that beta brainwaves are great, but you need to be the judge as to whether or not increasing them is right for you. Are you already a positive thinker with higher than normal amounts of energy? If so, chances are good that your brain naturally produces large amounts of beta activity and you may even benefit from slowing down your pattern to the alpha range. If you are tired a lot, feeling unmotivated and bored, chances are good that you are a type of person that would benefit from the increase. I recommend giving Neuro-Programmer 2 Professional a shot and doing a little bit of experimentation to find out what’s right for your brain!

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