After a lot of inner reflection and years of self study, I discovered the concept of self integration. Self integration is all about having the conscious ability to choose better experiences for yourself here in this life. Choice is your super power. Never forget that.
There’s a big difference between who you think you are…and what you are. We love to put ourselves into categories in order to define what we are. But it’s important to remember that these categories and boxes we put ourselves in, and how we define ourselves, is not at all what we are. I’m sure you’ll recognize your fragmented self in some of these statements:
These and all variations are what you associate with and wear as your badge in life. But these statements define you, rightly or wrongly, in the outer world. While inside, inside the heart of you, you’re desperately wanting to be someone else – to be your true self.
When you become self integrated, you’re able to take all of these elements that you call your “labels” and organize them in a harmonious whole that’s in alignment with your core being. This is what I call the integration of the mind and spirit. As conscious beings, we’re mindful and think – but just because we think something doesn’t mean that the thought is truthful.
Believing in these badges we’ve put on ourselves can lead to negative and self-damaging experiences. We can use self integration as a conscious ability to choose better experiences for ourselves.
Here are some of concepts you can use for the art of self mastery and self integration.
Understanding the Subconscious Mind
The subconscious mind is a massive computing system that resides in the brain stem and limbic system. It’s directly related to the brain in your gut and the vagus nerve, which give you those “aha” moments when you have an intuitive feeling about something. You can think of this system as the super highway that links the brain in your gut to the brain in your head – this is a concept I’ve talked about in a previous blog posting.
Your subconscious mind is also responsible for those same thoughts and feelings that you play in your head in a continuous cycle. When you listen to the same looping of these thoughts and feelings you continue to get the same results as you always do – your subconscious takes what you “feed” it as truth. If what you’re sending to your subconscious is negative in nature, you can find yourself in a damaging and stagnant spiritual space.
Using Neuroplasticity to Rewire Your Brain
Science has proven that we can change our brain by rewiring. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. says that:
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions”
Neuroplasticity lets you change your brain so that you can stop those over-reactive patterns of thoughts and feelings. Every time you’re over-reactive you switch on the electrical loop in your brain and experience the same response as last time. These responses make you lose control of what you want from life. You do the same things over and over again without asking yourself why you’re repeating the same response.
Far too often I see the harm that over-reactive patterns can do to people in my workshops. Relationships are lost when emotions are out of control. People live in loneliness and self-isolation because of the “categories” they’ve put themselves in and the loop of thoughts and feelings that they listen to. Think of it as the story that you tell about yourself and to yourself.
Just think of the times where you’ve felt out of control with anger, saying and doing things that you regret later instead of asking yourself why you overreact. But in understanding Neuroplasticity and how it works, you can change your behavior by changing your thoughts and feelings. When you change your neural networks/brain, you can make your life better.
The Question Is – How Do You Rewire Your Brain?
The answer is that to change your brain and alter the looped tape of thoughts and feelings that are constantly running, you need to develop a mental flexibility. By this I mean that you need to open your mind and change your habits. You can start doing this by setting goals, putting an end to procrastinating and find things to be grateful for.
Decide exactly what it is that you want. This is something I repeat over and over again in my podcasts and in my workshops. What do you want? Why do you want it? Write it down and choose to take action toward that goal everyday. When you have a burning desire for something, your energy will make that happen through the energy field around you.
Then ask yourself what you need. These two are very different – what you want and what you need are two distinct things.
Switch on New Neural Networks
When you know what you want, you can change your life by switching (like flipping a switch) your thoughts, which in turn can change your mood and feelings. You must know that you have that kind of control over your mind. Your mind will then change the chemical reactions in your body which then changes the way that you feel. Your body begins to feel good and sends messages back to the brain that you’re feeling good. You have just created a new neural network loop. Here’s what you can do to become more aware and connected to your subconscious mind:
Commitment to connecting with your inner self can change your outside experience. You’re in control. The results are remarkable and extremely reliable over time.
Practice and Repetition
Teaching yourself to switch thoughts requires practice and repetition…and more practice and repetition. A technique I recommend to my clients is to wear a rubber band on your arm – each time you have negative thoughts, snap the band to remind yourself to change the thought to one that’s positive and affirming of what you’re trying to accomplish – changing the wiring in your brain. You don’t need to dwell on your negative thought. You simply use the rubber band as a reminder to shift to positive thoughts.
Mental Rehearsal
Another technique for rewiring your brain is by mentally rehearsing. You need to mentally put yourself into positive situations so that you can feel it – and know the feeling. Take yourself back to a time that you associate with feeling good. Remember that experience and put your mental and emotional state into that time. What this does is tell your subconscious mind that this good thing is happening so it can rewire the brain’s neural networks. Remember – your subconscious believes what you tell it. More importantly the subconscious mind responds to feeling. What you feel the subconscious mind will absolutely produce in your outer world.
This is why I teach meditation in my workshops. By getting yourself instantly into a state of meditation whether you’re sitting, lying down, or walking you are energetically and mentally prepared to shift your focus no matter what you’re doing. Throughout your meditation, cast yourself as the main player and experience what it is that you want. Keep the memory of this meditation so your brain can rewire. Make adjustments as needed as you move progressively forward, forgiving yourself when you fall backwards – it takes practice and repetition to change and move into self integration. Be forgiving as you learn and grow.
The Process of Integrating With Yourself
As you begin with the process of integration tell yourself that you won’t let a single thought pass through your brain without stopping to look at it – what are the emotions and reactions the thoughts are trying to reproduce? These are the moments where you experience self awareness, where you begin to trust yourself and the subconscious within you.
Faith and The Mustard Seed
I believe that your faith can overcome fear, self-hatred, and self-loathing. Break the cycle of negative, over-reactive thoughts and feelings by planting the seeds of faith within yourself. Rewire your brain with the positive and loving and good. Practice meditation, gratitude, and daily intentions to connect with your subconscious and integrate with that which is your true and guiding self.
Use the words here as inspiration for self integration – without apology or judgement,
to become one with yourself and who you are and what you want in this lifetime.
