manifesting

i dedicated a month to thinking only positive thoughts—did i succeed?

surprisingly, once i set this intention, my conscious thinking cooperated beautifully. it was very easy to stay positive almost all the time

there were a couple situations where it was more challenging, though:

2. when trauma responses occurred

a regular negative thought can be easy to reframe and release, but during a trauma response, the psyche is determined to hang on to the negativity for protection from intense danger. these thoughts/beliefs are also generally deeply subconscious—you may experience a feeling but have no idea what thought or belief is causing it

when this occurred, i again used self-directed emdr, and was able to discover which negative beliefs were triggered and shift them into positive ones…

this whole process takes a willingness to be brutally honest with oneself, to be open to seeing things in a new light, and to be extremely mindful of one’s state of being and mental patterns. if you’re too used to being anxious or depressed it’s not always easy to even notice a negative state. you must become very discerning about how you are willing to feel

it can be exhausting and difficult at times, but it’s well worth it for the relief it brings!

more posts coming, just trying to keep updates short. there’s a lot to unpack!

1. when i was physically compromised

i had a bad reaction to food at a restaurant and ended up with migraines for a few weeks. the first day i woke up with an inflamed brain, my morning meditation and visualization time was riddled with intrusive thoughts. i hadn’t experienced any intrusive thoughts during this experiment before the migraines

i was able to shift my brain into a more positive state using self-directed emdr and intense prolonged positive focus, but while my brain was aggravated it was much more difficult to achieve joyful states. the inflammation seemed to be creating a strong emotional and physical depression

UCLA Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience. Director of UCLA Comparative Cognition Lab. Proof Collective member. Director of Pigeon Art Project. Bankless citizen

congrats! And thanks for sharing your journey. 100 $DEGEN