We can not necessarily fathom the infinite nature of what we are as humans.

How do our nervous systems work?

What information are we processing at any given moment?

When we break it down on a gross level all we are is 80 percent water, and beyond the cells that make up our bodies we are bacteria.

What is then left?  What are we?

Every second, whether or not we are aware of it or not, we are taking in billions and billions of bits of information. This cosmic data is then filtered through the many lenses that we have accumulated that then create a picture of our reality.

These lenses are emotional and spiritual experiences, our fixed-paradigm and conditioned programs—all of which may or may not be serving our growth as humans.

Much has been written and spoken about the holographic universe, the law of attraction, and our ability to create reality in each moment. However, I am attempting to demystify this and break it down into a practical understanding of the function of our nervous system.

Our nervous systems influence our experience of life and the cosmos.

The nervous systems’ job is to filter and sift out information and wisdom—overtime we begin to create a pattern. This mechanism is intended to help us survive. Our patterns decide what is noteworthy and worth paying attention to and what is not worth a second glance.

When we can remove ourselves enough from our habitual response we can begin to look at the programming of our beliefs, thoughts and feelings enough to create a shift. The hope is that if we can create a little more awareness, then we can be a little more present or awake in our lives.

From there, we can begin to re-program our minds through whatever technique we choose—it need not be fancy, we can utilize focus and clarity through meditation, yoga qigong and any other spiritual or energy work that can help us re-pattern.

Any kind of re-patterning is thought to be a “practice.” A practice can be likened to what we do with our body when we bring flexibility and fluidity back in to the muscle. The aim is to continue to strengthen our focus over time and yet it is much more profound than any of us can wrap our brains around.

Reality is huge—there is so much we don’t know about. We can break reality into:

1) What we know we know.
2) What we know we don’t know.
3) What we don’t know we don’t know.

There is a whole lot that we don’t know we don’t know.

Look at the light spectrum for example. We only perceive a very small amount of what that is. When we begin to say to ourselves, “My reticular system, my filtering system, my brain/nervous system are all doing this. How can I leverage that in order to increase my ability to focus, with discipline?”

This active participation in our own experience is what is needed to create real shifts or transformation. The expansion of our conscious awareness is never done per se, nor is their a peak that we must meet.

However, if we can maintain enough discipline to build our awareness we can create enough shifts that we are no longer a victim of reality, but are instead actively choosing reality for ourselves—hopefully this involves us, being a little kinder, a little freer and a lot more awake.

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Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Jim Fischer/Flickr