The Applied Neuroscience Institute

Fiat Lux wrote on Thu Jul 5th, 3:42pm:

When I was 16 years old (almost four decades ago) I studied Transcendental Mediation. I was given that very secret $500 mantra which I was not allowed to share with anyone. I never really maintained a solid practice. In the ensuing forty years, I studied with many teachers and masters from all walks of life in all different traditions. Do I routinely meditate? No. Do I maintain different rituals for setting my intention, creating clarity around my greater mission in life and am I able to manifest that which I am intentional about….absolutely YES!

What I found so utterly fascinating about re-framing the notion of the emotional
gym as a form of meditation is that it is much easier for the average person to maintain as a practice. What usually trips people up when they are learning to meditate is the notion that they must empty out- that the goal is to eliminate thoughts and when you find yourself thinking to redirect to a state of nothingness.  The idea of pulsing positive emotions is very direct and much less distracting and can land you into a similar state of peace or at the very least activate the left frontal lobe. Ultimate, if you are pulsing long enough, you soon forget that you are doing so and it becomes a fluid, rhythm that takes on a power of its own and lets you empty out which brings you to a very refreshed state of clarity.  This is a very clever approach to getting to this state and though at first, one feels very self-conscious about the pulsing, it gets you where you need to go in a rather facile manner.  LOVE IT!!!!!

Steve D wrote on Sat Jul 7th, 11:38am:

Laughing as my first thought is where can I find my frontal lobe; is it looking from within//out meaning that it would be on the left side of my head as I view the world or is the left frontal lobe the other side looking within my head from the outside so it would really be on my right!  Then I realized how much I think all of the time…perhap sit will help to know the answer so I can visualize where all of this positive ernergy is manifesting within.

I love the emotional gym and all that I do thorughout the day to reflect and meditate on positive thought.  Formal meditation never worked for me and it’s something that I have no real desire for.  Informal meditation however I choose to do so (usually quiet music with reflective intention usally laying down comfortably in bed is my preferred way when I think informal meditation).

But aligning to the emotional gym with focused attention on pulsing, being aware when I’m in a place of of negative thought and anchoring positive thought every day through some of my informal rituals has really helped me live in a state of incredioble harmony.

Each day I start the day with the song of the day…dancin and doin’ my emotional gym moves to anchor gratitude, love, peace, joy, inspired hope, and child-like innocence.  It starts the day with a smile and I’m off and running aware of my choice to be happy…one that I will choose 9 times out of 10…hey I’m working on being 10 for 10! 

Peace to all this incredible Saturday while I’m listening to the Top 40 countdown of this day in 1966…ah to be 13 years old again…I do feel it within even if I do have gray hair!

neuromind wrote on Sun Jul 8th, 9:37pm:

As I understand this… negative emotions are associated with activation of the right frontal lobe and positive emotions are associated with activation of the left frontal lobe. So by continuing to direct my mind in positive ways, I increase the electrical activity in the left frontal lobe, by doing this, I increase positive emotions, and I feel good (UpSpiral).

According to Barbara L. Fredrickson, PhD., in her book Positivity, by directing the mind away from negativity and using mindfulness or meditation we can “sever the link between negative thoughts and negative emotions” (p. 167) and we can decrease anxiety and increase our focus (p. 168). I have certainly found this to be true for me. I started with ANI earlier this year, and have used the Emotional Gym, calling up positive emotions and directing my attention to Gratitude, Love, Peace, and Joy.

Lately my attention has been directed on enhancing my professional performance, and in order to achieve my goals, I continue to stretch and take risks.  This means putting myself in situations where on a regular basis I step into the unknown.

This year I have faced some significant personal and professional challenges, and I believe they were easier because of the work I’m doing in redirecting my mind. Since the start of 2012, I know I’ve changed; my brain has changed and so have my experiences in life. I notice as I continue to take on challenges at work that I am calmer and more focused than before. The other day it occurred to me that I really feel different… it is such a wonderful experience to feel calm in body and mind, especially as I continue to stretch myself. I feel alive, engaged, and creative. This is a very different experience compared to how I’ve felt in the past when I would step into the unknown.

Licensure Student

RachelsWell wrote on Mon Jul 9th, 2:39pm:

I’ve been pulsing in the emotional gym for over three months, and am continually surprised by how something so seemingly simple is changing my experience of myself and the world.  I can now pulse Gratitude - without really thinking about it or trying too hard - while driving in traffic, doing errands, losing this blog post as I was working on it… or just about anywhere, any time, and not just on a cushion . Meditating emotions is a simple but profound practice.

With Gratitude as the foundation, I decided to pulse one emotion at a time for a day or more. I began with Joy. The other day while rhythmically pulsing Joy at the (physical) gym - on the treadmill with a view of the mountains that already puts me in a light meditative state - I felt a slight shift and suddenly Joy was pulsing me. I was permeated by a higher vibration that changed my experience and my perceptions of myself and my immediate world as it was happening (and clearly raised my UpSpiral and Emotional Scale scores).  I understood what Abraham (through Esther Hicks) meant when he taught: “You are joy looking for a way to express…It’s not that your purpose is joy, it is that you are joy.” 

In his book 12 New Steps For a New Millennium, in the chapter on the very First Step (“made the decision to experience positivity as often as possible”) Dr. Larkin writes how we don’t have to first know suffering in order to know joy.  “The world has already learned everything it has to learn from suffering.  It is now time to learn from happiness and joy.” (p. 30).

Dr. Larkin continues on the next page:  “And so we are not only looking at, in this step, the importance of the decision to be happy and to live in an UpSpiral of positivity.  We are literally,” he writes, “standing on the threshold of joy. Could it be that the world and ‘our own little world’ are getting ready for joy?”
What a remarkable concept. Definitely something to consider. To practice. And thanks to all I’m learning in these classes and readings, and to that touchstone shift I experienced in the Emotional Gym, to live.

palmspringsesq wrote on Sun Jul 15th, 9:05am:

The traditional form of meditation focuses on an individual’s mantra. I prefer meditating in the emotional gym as it specifically focuses on gratitude, love, peace and joy.. These seem to be important emotions linked directly to our ability to be genuinely happy. Also, these emotions allow one to focus more on other similar emotions.

Meditating in the emotional gym appears to rapidly change ones mental perspective more rapidly than simply repeating a mantra. I’m not saying traditional meditation is deficient, but simply lacks the positive emotional changes the emotional gym provides.