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The
Law Of Attraction And Weight Loss: Can You Think Yourself Thin?
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
--------------------------------------------------
Metaphysics & Brain science merge and prove that positive thinking
and
goal setting literally create your body and your entire life experience
---------------------------------------------------
On
recently broadcast special edition of CNN's Larry King Live, Mr. King
interviewed a panel of "mind experts" about how the thoughts
you think literally turn into the events you experience, the material
things you possess... AND even the health of your body.
For
years, "positive thinking" and goal-setting were often criticized
as "pollyanna" and "the law of attraction" was relegated
into the category of "new age" fluff.
On
the recent Larry King show, panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf
and others who were featured in the movie 'The Secret' explained that
recent breakthroughs in neuroscience along with understanding mental
laws, reveal why goal setting, the "law of attraction" and
"positive thinking" all work, regardless of whether you look
at them from a metaphysical or a scientific perspective.
Scientists
have even identified specific parts of the brain, such as the reticular
activating system (RAS), which works with the visual parts of our brain
to call our conscious attention to things that are important to reaching
our goals and to filter out those things that are unimportant.
The
RAS is activated by "programming" goals into our sub-conscious
minds. Our sub concscious mind is the "power center" and THIS
is the mechanism that explains why goal setting and positive thinking
are now being accepted as scientific methods for change.
We
are discovering that our brain is cybernetic in nature, which means
that it is literally like a computer, waiting for a program to be installed.
Here's
the kicker - the subconcsious is completely neutral and impartial -
it will carry out any instructions you give it.
Unfortunately,
many of us are still running negative programs we picked up from others
as children when our non-conscious minds were totally open and impressionable,
or which we developed over the years as a result of repetition of our
own negative thinking.
As
it turns out, our own thoughts, repeated daily, are one of the primary
ways that our "mental computer" is programmed on a sub-conscious
level, which is the level of beliefs, habits and automatic behavior.
To
change your results, you must overwrite old negative programming and
install positive new programming into your subconscious.
This
can be achived through such techniques as written goal setting, positive
self-talk (affirmations), and mental imagery (visualization).
In
the 1970's, the Soviets and East Germans were the first to formally
use structured mental rehearsal, and at that time, they dominated in
several olympic sports. This was reported in great detail in Charles
Garfield's landmark book, "Peak Performance." Today, virtually
all elite athletes use visualization extensively, as we now know that
the brain cannot differentiate between real practice and practice that
is vividly imagined.
If
you are getting more of the same negative results in your life - such
as the same health problems, or the same body fat continues to return
even after you lose it, then you have probably been un-consciously running
old negative programs and re-inforcing them with negative thought patterns.
You
can begin the positive mental reprogramming process by writing down
your goals, changing your internal dialogue and taking a few minutes
to relax, quiet your mind and perform a session of visualization or
mental rehearsal every day (seeing yourself in your "mind's eye"
not as you currently are, but as you ideally would like to be).
These
methods, repeated often enough, will begin to program the non- conscious
portion of the mind, which is the same part of the mind that controls
your heart beat, digestion and new cell production, all on "automatic
pilot."
In
the last decade, neuroscientists discovered that you have the capacity
to create an almost infinite number of new neural connections in your
brain when you run new thought patterns.
The
Old neural pathways are like grooves in a record, and if you are struggling
with your health related behaviors or behaviors in any other area of
your life, you have been playing the "old records" over and
over again.
If
you were to carve a new groove into that record, it would never play
the same way again. the old pattern would weaken and the new one would
take over. Brand new, positive thoughts, feelings and images begin to
create new neural patterns.
Psychologists
estimate that it takes 21 to 30 days to establish a new pattern in your
brain. During this time, the focus on sticking with your practice and
repeating your new thought patterns is critical.
Is
this easy? For most people, no it's not. In fact, controlling your thinking
and keeping it constructive may be one of the most difficult challenges
you have ever faced. Fortunately, writing goals and reading affirmations
can help get you started.
You
can take some of the pressure off yourself by simply accepting that
negative thoughts and self criticisms will pop up from time to time.
Just observe them, without mulling over them or adding to them, and
change the polarity of the thought by quickly repeating one of your
positive affirmations or by changing your mental pictures.
So
is there something to this whole "positive thinking" thing?
The
philosophers and theologians have been saying yes for the entire span
of recorded history: "As you think, so shall you be." Variations
on this proverb can be found in every spiritual and philosophical tradition.
But...
if you are the left-brained, "prove-it-to-me" type, you dont
have to go on faith anymore. Scientists are beginning to prove more
and more convincingly that thoughts are powerful things. Even Larry
King seemed impressed with what his panel of "mind mentors"
had to say.
So
how soon are you going to begin your mental training right alongside
your physical training? When are you going to learn how to harness this
power locked up inside your mind?
Guess
what? You're already using this force every day because you cannot turn
it off. Whatever you are thinking and picturing in your mind repeatedly
on a daily basis is already on it's way to you, so it's simply a matter
of HOW you are using it, not IF you are using it.
What
do you say to yourself every day? Do you say, "I am becoming leaner,
healthier and more muscular every day?"... or do you say "I
am a fat person - Ive tried everything, nothing ever works?"
The
fact is - you can think yourself thin and healthy or you can think yourself
obese and ill. Maybe not in the literal sense...but most certainly as
the critical part in the chain of causation...
You
see, there's a lot of talk these days in the personal improvement world
about law of attraction, manifesting, intention, visualization, affirmations
and of course, positive thinking.
Without
understanding that there is an orderly, scientific basis underneath
all of these things, many people will simply remain skeptics, while
on the opposite extreme, others may get the idea that you can sit around
meditating and visualizing, then expect a mystical "law of attraction"
to kick in and then "poof!" a great body materializes out
of thin air... along with the perfect relationship, a nice bank account
and fantastic career success.
What
really happens is "Positive thinking" and related methods
quite literally re-program your brain, which in turn creates new behaviors
that move you physically toward whatever you have been thinking about
and focusing on.
So
success is achieved through positive thinking + positive doing.... attraction
+ action. There are two sides to the coin. Without paying attention
to both, you may continue to struggle... often against nothing but yourself.
If
you want to transform your body or any other aspect of your life, then
you have to change on the inside (the mind) first and then everything
else will follow.
This
process of *scientific* goal setting and mental reconditioning through
emotionally charged mental imagery (visualization) and internal mental
dialogue (affirmations) is the very first thing I have always taught
my clients and the first thing I wrote about in my book, Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle. You can learn all of these techniques
in detail in chapter 1. Learn more about the psychology of body transormation
inside the Burn The Fat ebook.
About
the Author:
|
Tom Venuto
is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal
trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist
(CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written hundreds of
articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN,
Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development,
Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds
of websites worldwide. For information on Tom's Fat Loss program,
click
here.
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