We’re often told that beliefs make our experience, that what we focus on becomes our reality.
And it sounds a bit woo-woo or magical – let’s be honest.
But it really is true, and I wanted to share a key piece of the science with you today.
There’s a nifty little part of your brain stem, just two inches long and about the width of an ink pen. It’s called the reticular activating system, and it’s responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle, and it filters incoming sensory stimuli away from the irrelevant stuff.
It’s the part of the brain that helped our ancestors (or me in the summer and fall) find berries and mushrooms in the forest.
→ And it’s the same part of the brain that suddenly notices all the cars that are identical to the one you just bought.
→ The same part of the brain that finds your lost keys when you’re in a hurry.
→ The same part of the brain that alerts you when a crazy driver is quickly edging into your lane at high speeds on the highway.
Basically, the reticular activating system is the mind’s filtration system. It learns what’s important to you and filters out all the rest.
It does it automatically and effortlessly, with no conscious effort on your part.
Pretty cool, right?
And while it’s super helpful for survival, it’s also the same part of the brain that keeps you stuck in old habits, old patterns, old beliefs.
→ It’s why you notice more bad things happening to you and around you when you’re already in a bad mood.
→ And why the person who feels bad about their weight finds reasons to eat more, to never start moving their body.
→ And why the anxious person finds every reason to stay scared of making change.
The good news is you can tune up the reticular activating system, and this is exactly how hypnosis works!
And even better news – it’s really easy.
In fact, just by reading this email, your RAS is already starting to look for evidence of its effects in your life, without any conscious effort on your part.
Notice today how true it really is!
Hypnosis helps to tune that RAS on what you want rather than what you DON’T want.
And it gets better and better with practice.
The more you use what you learn and experience in one-on-one hypnosis sessions with me, the less you’ll need it as it becomes natural, normal, effortless.
You can thank your reticular activating system for that.
