So what are we talking about here? Just what is the definition of the mind? What usually comes to mind when we hear the word? Something to do with thinking, right? The part of us and the process that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, judges, etc.
Our knowledge and intellectual ability are associated with our mind.
Our intention, what we intend to do, is there.
We can make up our minds, close our minds, open our minds and change our minds.
What about the brain? The brain is the organ itself, the gray matter.
That part of our bodies that if our heads were to be cut open we would see it, touch it, smell it.
& I wonder if we would smell stinkin thinkin? In other words, it's tangible.
Our minds are actually the thoughts, the knowledge, all those things we mentioned earlier.
Sometimes it's referred to as consciousness.
Now science is telling us that our brains (the gray stuff, remember) can actually be changed by our thoughts.
Our neurons, the electrical system, can be re-wired.
It's called brain plasticity or neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity is a concept that is at once very simple and extraordinarily complex.
That the brain is not static; that it responds to circumstances, to new learning, is fairly easy to grasp.
How and why it does so is quite a bit more complicated, and one that scientists are digging into.
Meditation practitioners have long been aware that the mind can be transformed through regular meditation and visualization.
What is exciting and new is that scientists have now shown that these types of mental training can also change the brain.
With regular practice of meditation, visualization and affirmations we have within us the power to actually re-wire our brains and therefore our responses in every area of our lives providing new perceptions and the ability to see through a new pair of glasses.
Stay tuned for more on this topic.