Concepts about brain resistance to change - Dr. Joe Dispenza

@ccau_82

Thanks for sharing this. I will try and view it tomorrow night

Thank you for sharing this @ccau_82 ! The video definitely connected with my experience. I have a few musings.

Pushing through that discomfort and resistance to change can be incredibly hard, as the video said. We absolutely need to recognise this! I think a video like this can be helpful to reduce some of the shame associated with having difficulty making changes, including with our thoughts and feelings. One thing that has PLAGUED me for many years is that I’m a pretty switched on, self-aware individual who works in the mental health space and I still frequently come up against that resistance and those barriers to changing things that aren’t healthy / don’t serve me. Understanding the biological resistance to change helps reduce some of that shame.

Awareness is the first step to change. I find that the smaller the change, the easier it is. I try to break down change into the smallest possible step, so that my brain is less likely to put up a lot of resistance. When I think I’ve broken down the step to something “manageable” I try to break it down even further, until they are almost invisible to my brain. Change by stealth?

I really liked when he said "Intellectual understanding is miles away from embodied knowledge". Awareness and recognition are only the first steps to making change, and they’re important steps, but just because you intellectually KNOW something doesn’t mean you’ll immediately be able to make that change. “Knowing” something can dimmish it’s power, but now we need to action (which we know can be infinitely harder but not impossible). As a chronic over-intellectualiser I often feel disconnected from my emotions, so I’ve found that it’s incredibly important to embody to “action” things I learn and try to feel them in my physical body too.

I definitely feel that my brain is connected to the energy outside of my body. This video really reflected that to me and made me go "YES! I feel that!".

Uncomfortable doesn't automatically mean unsafe, although often our brain tells us that it is and then put up that resistance. I think a video like this gives me hope that it is possible, even if it’s hard.

Your reflections are insightful @0ddsidian ! You've touched on something crucial that I hear constantly in conversations that I am having - the gap between knowing and embodying.

That shame you mentioned about being "switched on and self-aware" yet still hitting resistance? This is SO common, especially for those of us in the mental health space. Your nervous system doesn't care how much you intellectually understand - it cares about whether change feels safe. Your "change by stealth" method is brilliant nervous system science! When we make changes microscopically small, we're essentially speaking to the part of our brain that scans for threat. Big changes = potential danger. Tiny changes = under the radar.

You're not tricking your system - you're working WITH its protective intelligence - Pure Gold!

What you said about embodying the learning really hits home. Intellectual understanding lives in the prefrontal cortex, but trauma and emotional patterns are stored in the body. This is why someone can "know" they're safe but still feel anxious, or "understand" their worth but still experience shame. The body holds different information than the mind.

I feel deeply that healing happens when we can bridge that gap between knowing and feeling. Uncomfortable vs. Unsafe - this distinction you made is EVERYTHING. Your nervous system is constantly asking, "Is this uncomfortable or actually unsafe?"

Growth lives in discomfort. Trauma lives in unsafety. I feel and believe learning to tell the difference is one of the most powerful skills we can develop! The fact that you can feel your brain connected to energy outside your body suggests your nervous system is starting to feel safe enough to expand beyond its protective boundaries. That's beautiful progress.

Keep honouring those tiny steps - they're actually huge victories for your nervous system

@ccau_82 @0ddsidian

Just Wow!!!

That video was both amazing and inspiring!

I have been known to be resistant to change.

I didn't realise that this was my biological programming in play.

I love what he said about change being about consistency and not intensity.

I also learnt a lot about the benefits of meditation and elevating your emotions.

I have been thinking about cutting back or cutting out sugar, but I was resisting, thinking it was just too hard. Obviously, this is just me resisting change. If I act consistently, it is possible. Sure, there will probably be side effects at first as my body adapts to a new reality, but it can be done. I loved that this video was about change and wellbeing. I am studying wellbeing at Tafe at the moment. I think I will forward this link to my lecturer. Maybe she will show it in class. She has been saying that thoughts become feelings which in turn become behaviours which then feed back into our thoughts. This video backs that up. My lecturer is big on meditation as well. I am excited to start to make some changes. I think I will chat to my psychologist about this when I see her on Saturday. I need to make a change to the way I have been feeling. I have been feeling quite flat but if I make an effort to change my emotions consistently that should change both my behaviours and thoughts. This is a very interesting area. I think I will try and watch this video again. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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Hey everyone,

Please see @ccau_82 's post at top of this thread. The video is amazing and transformative and definitely worth the time investment. It will make you think about change a bit differently. Please let us all know what you find interesting in it when you watch it.

Dear @0ddsidian can you explain what this means ?

still frequently come up against that resistance and those barriers to changing things that aren’t healthy / don’t serve me. Understanding the biological resistance to change helps reduce some of that shame.

...............

I'm about to watch video so it may teach me anyway .,.

Hey @PeppyPatti,

Absolutely happy to explain 😊 It's probably helpful for me to give some examples from my life, of the things I find difficult.

Exercise / moving my body
Reducing my sugar intake (I'm Type 2 Diabetic, so this is important)
Cleaning my house, particularly my kitchen and bathroom (to a point where it's hygienic and functional for me).
Minimising my manipulative behaviours with my partner.
Asking for and accepting help from others.

These things are things that I want to improve / work on because they can negatively impact my wellbeing. I sometimes refer to this as them not "serving me" or "serving me well". There's a lot of shame attached to these things because I KNOW what I could (in theory) do to make positive changes in these areas, but I come up against resistance in my brain. The video that @ccau_82 shared is a great way to explain why it's so hard to change things (because of a biological resistance that our brains have to change), especially when they're so ingrained in your brain, and reduce some of the shame that comes with all of it.

Hope I explained that alright. Let me know if you'd like to talk more about it ♥️

Hi @0ddsidian I haven't done much reading or listening to audibles lately.

I like Joe Dis. Video.

I also li

ke Dr James Doty who is a neaurologist. And Jon Kabat Zinn who is a meditator.

May I get back to you later today about what you are addressing ? .

Thanks for writing in

Of course @PeppyPatti. You are welcome to get back to me whenever. No rush or pressure. I am often around and lurking. I'm sure @ccau_82 and @Oaktree would have wonderful thoughts too.

@0ddsidian

So many of the things you mentioned are the same things I need to change too. Maybe we are twins?