Speed Reading: Got Affirmations?

When I listen to anyone talk of a program or system to improve my life, my automatic reaction is, "Sure, right, and so is the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the guy in the red suit and his reindeers--Santa.

If you check out your own reactions to new ideas, there is a human tendency to be a skeptic, cynical, and a contrarian. We are hardwired not to believe strangers because they want to exercise power over us.

Tom Jefferson said, "Who in his right mind would trust religious thinking to decide a conflict over Three Farthings [quarter of a penny]? Today we ask those who choose to persuade, convince, or influence us to produce scientific evidence."

What is an Affirmation?

Sure, it's a short statement of a goal we desire, but does it have scientific proof behind it? Or is it just another urban myth like the alligators in the NYC sewer system?

Fact: In 1981 researchers discovered an area of the human brain that has the ability to send electro-chemical-magnetic signals to the immune system of the body. So what? Our immune system is linked to our Central Nervous System, putting it under the influence of our brain for conditioning.

Before this scientific evidence, researchers saw the brain as a separate entity from the body. The two (brain and body) have always been linked, but it was not accepted by many scientific researchers. They believed there was no way, except in superstition, for the brain to send messages to influence the body.

Since then an entire field of scientific research has evolved called PNI (Psycho-Neuro-Immunology) producing further evidence of the connectedness of body and mind. Result: proof of the power of Affirmations (repetition) to affect the body.

Consciousness and Non-Consciousness

All educated societies on the planet Earth value the Brain over the Body, our left Hemisphere (cognition, language, and planning) over our right Hemisphere (emotion, intuition and pattern recognition). We live in the Knowledge Economy, and mostly ignore the body, and hope it performs its hardwired functions.

Get this and you will be in the elite, vital 20%, and not the irrelevant, trivial, 80%.

For Inquiring Minds Only:

Scientific Fact: the human conscious mind processes up to 100 bits of information per second. Repeat – 100 bits (Hz) per sec. It is as low as 18 to a high of 100 bits.

Fact: the human non-consciousness can and does process 11 Million bits of information per second. Repeat – 11 million bits (Hz) per sec.

The Conscious mind is our left-hemisphere, and functions in the use of language, planning, logic, and reasoning.

The Non-Consciousness controls our right-hemisphere, including the subconscious mind, emotions, and memory. All our Nervous and Immune Systems are operated by our non-consciousness. It requires 11 million bits of broadband.

Specifically: non-consciousness includes the Basal Ganglia (nuclei) and the brainstem. This includes our Somatic Nervous System, Central, Autonomic, Peripheral, Sympathetic, and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems.

These control our hormones, enzymes, and neuropeptides. Our Adrenal glands are part of the Endocrine system producing hormones (chemical messengers) influencing specific organs, tissues, and bodily processes. Adrenals affect every bodily system including Immunity, protecting our lives and health.

Communication

Affirmations are how we communicate our conscious objectives and desires to both our conscious and subconscious minds for behavioral change. Let us be clear: command Affirmations are really Auto-Suggestions and Self-Hypnosis.

The goal is to implant positive ideas to affect our mind and body. It can be for healing illness, and creating new, positive habits.

Electro-Chemical Pathways

Repetition uses concentration, willpower (motivation) and feeling, to create a neural pathway in the brain, a new neural network that is triggered by association of ideas similar to the contents of the Affirmation. You'll know it when you see it.

Focused curiosity attracts us to people, ideas, and things related to our burning desire centered in the affirmation. Science uses the term, the cells that fire together, wire together. This means the more often you emotionally focus on repeating the Affirmation, the stronger it influences the mind and body to discover your goal.

Repetition three times daily for two-minutes each, for 21 consecutive days, creates a template in our brain for the Affirmation.

Contents of an Affirmation

1. State your Affirmation in the Present Tense. Keep it simple, and one desire at a time. Example:

Every Day in every way, I am Speed Learning better and better, and enjoying it more and more.

Say it aloud and notice the rhythm. It becomes a song or jingle in your mind, and is retrieved almost automatically.

2. Express a simple, short, positive statement. Recite it again:
Every Day in every way, I am Speed Learning better and better, and enjoying it more and more.

3. Feel a powerful desire (emotion) about your goal and objective. Key: Place a Duchenne Smile on your face. That means your eyes and your mouth smile when you think of how great you are to read three-times faster, and remember two-times more.

N.B. Next time we will add the power of Mental Visualization to your Affirmation.

Remember, your Affirmation Chant (aloud or silently) is based on your Primary Auditory Cortex. It is part of your Electro-Magnetic waves (sound vibrations) and triggers your brain and body to cooperate in discovering your objective.

The secret of using Affirmations to heal your mind and body or release your talents for success at school and career is Perseverance (persistence and determination). It must be implanted in both consciousness and non-consciousness before it produces what you want. Repetition.

Endwords:

Would you be more competitive in school and career with the skills of reading three (3) books, articles and reports, and doubling your long-term memory, compared to your peers who can hardly finish one? Ask us how and when.

Copyright 2008 H. Bernard Wechsler