Neural Pathways

I was talking with Oenca Calliste-Fontaine in London a few months ago. We started looking for ways to consciously re-wire her neural pathways, i.e., reverse behavior that had been getting in her way. Capitalizing on the processes she learned In the More To Life program, she discovered some ancient history that was way out of date. Bottom line, in a moment of fear when she was young, she decided she would never again be hurt; and that from then on, she would be invulnerable. Many years later, being invulnerable was no longer serving her.

I don't know about you, but I do know that exact same issue for myself – different incident sparking my fear, but the end result was the same. In college, I remember someone calling me an ice-queen (at least they didn't call me an ice-princess). Like Oenca, from the moment I made a seemingly logical decision to be invulnerable, there were countless times that I practiced invulnerability till it became normal, replacing my original wiring of being open and real and willing to face whatever happened.

Neural pathways – electrochemical impulses that traverse the brain and the rest of the nervous system, conveying information and commands. The brain builds new neural pathways throughout our lives – depending upon whether or not we require it. And we require it when we learn new things – the more we practice our new behavior, the more skillful we become, because of our stronger neural connections. Unfortunately, there is a downside to this amazing ability to create new skillsets. If I assume a new belief that commands a change in my behavior, and that belief is alien to who I really am, then I repeat that new behavior till I am really good at it, I will have deviated from my original wiring, bringing all the natural consequences of that action.

Fortunately, the reverse is also true. We can change our behavior. Neural pathways are indiscriminate regarding learning. It is up to us to discern which learnings we want to embody. More to come.

,