Mind Magic

Humans have a limited ability to process information; they cannot attend to every aspect of a situation. As we will see in greater detail later, the salience of a thought, idea, or intention determines which bits of information will most likely grab one’s attention and have the greatest influence on one’s perception of the world.

Four of these neurotransmitters are primarily responsible for our sense of happiness, well-being, and positive feelings and are, in fact, critical to our survival. These are dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, which are colloquially called the “happy hormones.” Dopamine is often called the “reward chemical,” as it is associated with plea

comfortable for you and is not distracting. C. Beginning with your toes, start to relax the muscles of your body all the way to the top of your head, feeling more and more at ease as you focus on relaxing your body. You will find that as you do so, there is a sense of calmness that envelops you, and you feel safe. You are no longer worrying about p

autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. Manifesting primarily makes use of four of these large circuits: the default mode network (DMN), the central executive network (CEN), the salience network (SN), and the attention network (AN). It is the interaction of these four primary brain areas, along with the two branches of

The DMN has two powerful lessons for us in manifesting: first, experiences such as mind-wandering illustrate that cognition is not always tethered to

Essentially, the DMN is responsible for brain activity when a person is focused inward, including during wakeful rest, daydreaming, mind-wandering, and reminiscing. It allows us to carry out self-referential processing, or the ability to reflect on ourselves.

In a sense, the flow state translates to the complete alignment of our conscious and subconscious minds in service of our intention. In flow, we have a special kind of access to the deeper resources of our subconscious and can draw upon them more directly. We can also seek this kind of VIP access to the subconscious via the techniques of hypnosis,

START TO RELAX A. Sit in a relaxed position with your eyes closed for a few minutes, allowing your thoughts to settle. B. Now sit up straight with your eyes still closed and take three breaths slowly in through your nostrils and slowly out through your mouth. Repeat until this type of breathing feels

The Buddha similarly commented on the powerful ability of thoughts to shape our experience of the world when he said, “Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness.”