***What Does the ‘God Particle’ Have in Common with Your Brain?

Scientists are literally salivating over this week’s near-discovery of the so-called “God Particle” at the CERN Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Though the reasons for the search for this particle are inordinately complex, if the hints of the particles so far discerned are confirmed, it will validate what is known as the Standard Model of Physics. What we theorized will have proven correct.

And so it is with Brainwave Optimization. Though we don’t always understand why, we have mounting evidence that when we apply EEG sensors to your scalp and play back to you the sound of your own brain, the Brainwave Optimization works in the way we predicted. Some of the evidence: Sleepless people sleep. Addicts no longer crave. Learning challenged children become capable students. Depressed people smile. Although we are determined to understand the reasons the process works, as humans we just don’t have all the necessary knowledge.

Nobel Laureate physicist George Smoot was once asked if he thought that the most basic questions about life would ever be answered. He responded, "It depends on how I'm feeling on any particular day. But every day I go to work, I'm making a bet that the universe is simple, symmetric, and aesthetically pleasing—a universe that we humans, with our limited perspective, will someday understand."

My quest for understanding the seemingly incomprehensible way in which the brain can be trained began over two decades ago when I was hit in the head with a baseball bat. I happen to be a curious type–a computer scientist, data analyst, and spiritual being. From the moment of the attack, I began to seek a new understanding of myself, my brain, my life, and my purpose. It all plays out in my book, Limitless You: The Infinite Possibilities of a Balanced Brain.

Today my work is to help people improve brain functioning: to think more powerfully, see more clearly, love more openly, and transcend boundaries. Every day I analyze brainwave patterns. Most times, nature’s patterns make sense. Sometimes they raise huge questions.

Often I find myself comforted by a strong sense of "knowing" even when full rational explanations are absent. I understand and accept that the data I sometimes see is apt to be driven, in part at least, by a kind of energy that may still be beyond human grasp.

Some of us call this “intuition.” Others of us know that intuition is really just the brain working faster than our ability to comprehend. The feeling of “knowing” based on intuition is more than just a feeling–it is something that is detectable and measurable in brain patterns. It’s a dynamic that moves more quickly and more powerfully than we can see and clearly measure or control.

I also connect the “God Particle” discussion with the placebo effect–the beneficial effect that arises from a person’s expectations concerning a treatment rather than from the treatment itself, as well as the opposite or negative effect.

If a person is highly invested in negative judgment and actively engaged in gossip, complaining, or I’ll-be-happy-when thinking, their mind and body don’t have the same opportunity for a positive response. Negativity can cause the brain pattern to be less receptive to “God Particle” energy and more entangled in “me” energy, which is ultimately isolating.

The positive psychology movement of the last decade has merit in that it allows our brain to be more receptive to that “God Particle” (or unknown) energy and unleash the peace and joy that exist within.