Redos vs. Rewinds

 “Writing straight with crooked lines.”  It’s just what I woke up thinking about this morning.  That and the oldy but goody, “neurons that fire together, wire together.”  I think I had been off somewhere in my dreams being convinced that it was a good idea for me to start doing live YouTube broadcasts…I don’t know if these are supposed to be my topics or what.  That’s a little scary.

I’m certainly no neuroscientist, even though I did take the class, master’s level, at Wash U back in 2003.  Remind me how that ever happened again?  Different story, different day, but the one thing I remember from the class, “neurons that fire together, wire together.”  Very sexy.  You know, I've written about it before.

I remember it, that phrase, because at the same time, at the same university, I was taking a Philosophy of Religion course, and I had this persistent notion that human energy, human spirit, our soul, is connected and can connect in the same way, firing together and wiring together.  I could never prove it exactly but something in me at the time wanted me to contemplate this idea.  I did.  I do.

And yesterday when I was working at my computer editing my latest goat video, I stumbled upon a video interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza.  I listened to it as I worked on my own video and it inspired me and reminded me of what really excites me about evolution and spirituality.  It’s not just the magic and the woo that makes me tingle, it’s the idea that there is actually science involved here that could back me up.

It's the reminder that we are creators.  Apparently, in just 7 days, we can program, re-wire, change and heal our brain, and consequently, our mind.  “We become a work in progress,” Dispenza says.  I resonate with that notion…I always have.

And we can heal ourselves. I recently did a 72-hour water fast, an interesting and worthwhile experience, even though it was a little bit challenging.  According to Dr. Mindy Pelz, the science says that at a certain point, after the 72-hour window of fasting, our bodies begin to make stem cells that turn back the hands of time.

I have fasted before as a spiritual discipline, but I have not gone down the road of fasting for the benefits of healing the body, until now.  A window of 12 – 16 hours of fasting can help you lose weight, reduce brain fog and restore lost energy.  At 17 hours of fasting, autophagy kicks in and the body begins to detox.  Brain function and cognition is improved, immune boosting benefits kick in and sex hormones begin to balance. 

Fasting for 24 hours triggers a major reset of the gut microbiome.  At 36+ hours of fasting, not just weight loss, but the real fat burning switch turns on.  This allows the body to release stored sugar, reduce cholesterol and minimize weight loss resistance.  After 48 hours of water fasting, what’s been hard gets a little bit easier as dopamine levels are rebooted and joy returns.  Anxiety levels decrease as this 48 hour fast stimulates the prefrontal cortex and the neurotransmitter GABA is produced, creating a notably calmer state of being.  Yes, I felt it.

All of these amazing benefits are great, and I enjoyed watching and feeling them unfold as I participated in the 3-day fast.  But, according to Dr. Mindy, after 72 hours the real rewards of the fast begin.  At 72 hours, your body begins to regenerate stem cells.  Revitalized stem cells are able to find injured body parts and make them new again.  Chronic conditions can be eased, chronic disease prevented and relentless musculoskeletal injuries alleviated.  Stem cells also have anti-aging benefits. BONUS!  Yes, they turn back the hands of time. 

I feel really accomplished that I completed the 72-hour fast.  In fact, I broke my fast at around the 90-hour mark.  But in order to have really reaped the physical healing benefits of stem cell production and renewal that I was looking for, I really should have fasted for 5 days.  Now that would have been really difficult…or would it?

They say that after 72 hours, not only do the physical benefits explode, but the spiritual benefits start manifesting as well.  In fact, after 72 hours of fasting I was indeed feeling an expansion in my 3^rd Eye and experiencing more vivid visualizations during my meditative times.  I also saw fleeting flashes of energies moving in my peripheral vision.  Imagine, coupling a 5-day water fast with the Dr. Joe Dispenza’s meditations…I believe that 7 days could absolutely change your body, change your consciousness and thereby change your Life.  I believe.

Full Interview

Which brings me to a pervasive question that has been in my psyche for ages… “Where do beliefs come from, specifically, where do my beliefs come from?”  It has morphed into a litany of questions such as, “Why are beliefs so powerful?  Can we reprogram our beliefs?  Are truths different than beliefs?  If beliefs are reprogrammable, are truths reprogrammable? What is Truth?  What is True?”  What if what I believe is backed by science?  I want to know.  I want to run the experiment.  I want to try.

It seems though, whether fasting for health or meditating for cosmic consciousness, if you want change you have to be willing to be uncomfortable.  Dr. Dispenza says that “The greatest habit we have to break is being ourselves.”  Our thoughts can make us sick or our thoughts can make us well.  And you know how the old adage goes, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.  You can only help those who help themselves.

Apparently, stress is very addictive to people.  They are addicted to bad relationships, bad jobs and miserable life circumstances just as much as food or drugs or gambling. People are more likely to stay in a miserable life, reliving memories that are only 50% true, just to stay where they are, you know, the status quo, just to avoid the uncomfortable process of change.

To change a habituation, says Dr. Joe, requires an enormous amount of energy and awareness.  To change, one must become so conscious, they simply do not go unconscious again.  He suggests that the biggest problem is that people lose their free will to a set of programs.  The wrong programs, I would say.

The point is, we don’t rewind.  We don’t go back and relive and rehash the past.  We move forward.  We reprogram. We redo.  We redo how we think.  We redo how we act.  We redo how we feel.  We can fast.  We can meditate.  We can heal.  We build new circuits.

We reclaim our free will.  We break the habits of the old self and reinvent a new Self.  We find new friends.  We fire together and wire together.  We energize higher timelines.  We enter higher levels of consciousness.  We change the world.