How to program your autopilot
Thinking is harder than you think.
If you’ve ever spent a day stretching your mind and running through new thoughts, then you may have a clue what I mean. It’s exhausting in a different way than exercising your body.
But just like physical exercise, working beyond your limits is a great way to push them out.
When you grow your mind in this way, it takes a lot of energy. Food, water and sleep are (usually) essential. I say generally, because everyone responds differently. I tend to sleep less and eat a lot more after thinking hard.
A great deal of personal care is also needed. When you are outside of your normal thought patterns, old memories and buried emotions can surface. This is a good sign, a sign of growth. Even so, your mind can have growing pains just like your body.
But what makes this the case?
Our brains evolved for adaptability. Shouldn’t our minds thrive with new thoughts?
Well they do. But thinking our habitual thoughts is always easier than thinking new ones.
You can imagine someone born into a tribe of hunter-gatherers. As a child, they had to learn a lot. In fact, they had to learn it all.
The whole world was new to them.
As they became adults, their models of the world stabilized. Sure, there were always changes. The night is different from the day; summer is different from winter. New tribes out there and new members in their own tribe changed the political balances.
These changes, however, were within tight parameters. They were adjustments to the world, not reinventions of it.
That’s why clothes work. Yes, even in today’s world where “change is happening faster than ever.” Habits save you time and energy by responding in predictable ways.
By the time you reach adolescence, let alone adulthood, you have a complex web of habits. It takes focus and willpower to break these ruts. Even in your own mind, certain thoughts trigger specific reactions.
Changing requires more effort than staying the same. After all, your brain assumes that most things won’t change. Fish will not replace birds in the sky and rocks will not turn to ice cream.
Your habits keep your life stable.
But sometimes that’s not what you want.
Sometimes that’s not what you need.
In that strange state of mind that meditation and hypnosis create, the trance state, your mind is open to new possibilities. Your conscious mind likes to lock things down and keep them stable. You like to follow habits, routines and procedures.
However, your unconscious mind looks for meaning in chaos.
He likes to change.
He is happy to think new thoughts.
Yes, it still takes energy to think about this. And it takes even more to decide if these new thoughts are worth thinking about…
But meditation is like turning off your habits. Your mind is free to think in new ways, develop new habits, and discard old ones.
It’s nature’s way of making you change your mind.