I saw a sign with these words outside a farmstall once. It was placed on a table with (free) fresh produce. I liked it because it showed the spirit of community, which I think the mental health awareness community aims to embrace. It's also appropriate for this, my final blog post dedicated to Dr Joe Dispenza's Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.
I sat with my fingers on my keyboard for long minutes, unsure how to articulate how I felt about the remainder of Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. I hope I have been transparent about the book's impact on me. It holds so much value, and I will refer to excerpts of it throughout my self-help journey. However, by Part II, the book reached a point where I began disconnecting because specific segments contradicted my beliefs. If I were to summarise Dr Dispenza's book, I would say its key message is manifestation through mindfulness and meditation. I'm entirely on board with the mindfulness aspect of the book but have taken a soft-pass approach to the segments that deal with meditation and manifestation.
Meditation As A Means To Manifest
I have meditated (or at least tried to) since I was nineteen years old. I consider this practice very personal and likely the one thing I will hold close and not touch upon too much on this journey. I will say this, though: meditation has a specific purpose for me: spiritual enlightenment, not worldly gain.
"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays." (Kierkegaard)
Irrespective of whether it is God, the universe or any other higher power that one holds communion with, Søren Kierkegaard emphasises the transformative power of prayer. The Danish philosopher's perspective proposes that praying encourages reflection and growth. I do not conform to any religion, so I am not religious, but I equate prayer with meditation to a certain degree. Granted, they're defined differently, but they share a commonality in mindfulness, self-reflection, connection and spiritual growth (for example) - all valuable personal and spiritual development tools.
So, the personal disconnect with Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself is, essentially, because of the link between meditation and manifestation and the fact that it does not fit into my philosophy. However, as personal as this blog is, it aims to highlight meaningful aspects of a text that may appeal to anyone reading the posts. And there is plenty of meaning in the entirety of Dr Dispenza's book. I'll try to get to the crux of that meaning, irrespective of not delving deeply into Parts II and III.
Remember in the previous post that Dr Dispenza posited that:
"When you think from your past experiences, you can only create past experiences."
In Chapter Three of his book, Dr Dispenza shifts from 'Overcoming Your Environment' to 'Overcoming Your Body'. Here, he gets into epigenetics, a field of study that examines how chemicals in cells determine how genes function. He writes that:
"Perpetuating Old States of Being Sets Us Up for an Undesirable Genetic Destiny"
In 'Overcoming Your Body', he states that how we feel (i.e., our emotions) can trigger some gene sequences and turn off others. In my blog post dated 8 September ('Spoiler Alert'), I used laughter as an example, citing studies in which it was proven that laughter releases 'feel-good' hormones that reduce cortisol levels in our bloodstream (i.e., the stress hormone) by raising dopamine, endorphin and oxytocin levels. This is where the book becomes even more fascinating because Dr Dispenza submits that it is possible to fire new genes in different ways by emotionally and chemically changing your internal environment. He refers to "mental rehearsal", an activity in which we imagine a preferred outcome and goes on to say that:
"When you have thoughtfully rehearsed a future reality until your brain has physically changed to look like it has had the experience, and you have emotionally embraced a new intention so many times that your body is altered to reflect that it has had the experience, hang on... because this is the moment the event finds you!"
This is where things became a little challenging for me. The above quote preceded Part II, titled 'Your Brain And Meditation' and essentially focuses on manifestation through meditation, which, in my opinion, is the crux of the book. Part III then goes through a guided Meditative Process. I am very iffy about all of this. I read through all three parts of the book and made copious notes, but I have not put any of it into practice because I can't reconcile it with my personal approach to meditation.
This is where I decided to take what I need and leave what I don't. What I like about the above quote is its focus on imagining a positive outcome because it's better than the alternative. Irrespective of the result, I would rather remain positive than slip into the quagmire of my current go-to reaction, which is almost always a worst-case scenario. It's not easy, but Dr Dispenza likens this process to the exercising of a muscle: the more we use it, the more we strengthen it. Relying once again on that common thread that runs through mindfulness and self-help literature, Tony Robbins says:
"In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently."
When you begin to do this, you start creating the new version of yourself that I mentioned last week. So, my take is that, with consistency and (a lot of) devotion, it is possible to shift from an anxious and depressed state to a peaceful and happy one. Dr Dispenza has made this shift in his personal experiences and cites many people who have done the same in their own lives. As I typed out his quote above about imagining and experiencing a future event in the present, I was reminded of a personal experience that I'm sure many of us can relate to.
I travelled to Italy in May this year to attend a dear friend's wedding. I worked as an au pair for their family and cared for him and his younger brother when they were children. I hadn't been back in several years, and as I was driving to work one morning, I imagined the reunion and cried tears of joy. How many of us have anticipated a reunion or any other pleasant experience and felt joy ahead of the event? Every one of us, I think. The reunion with my Italian family was indeed joyful, so did I manifest that experience, or was it a natural course of things? I knew it would be a beautiful experience, much like I know that my upcoming dental surgery isn't going to be. Is it just about maintaining that positive outlook in the present moment, not lamenting the past or thinking about the future (good or bad)? Or is it just about maintaining a consistent sense of equilibrium?
"Mindfulness is both a state of being and a daily spiritual practice, a form of meditation." (David Richo)
As I neared the end of this blog post, it became evident that I would need (and want) to revisit Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself because, while I read the entire book, Parts II and III were clouded by my inability to look beyond what I know meditation to be. Looking at the link between meditation and manifestation through the lens of the above quote may help me going forward because perhaps I'll be able to look at mindfulness as a form of meditation and separate it from my approach to the spiritual aspects of the practice. Till then, though, I'll wrap up this post with the following.
Why I Think You'll Benefit From The Rest of Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself
I wasn't joking when I said I had marked up almost every page of my copy of Dr Dispenza's book. The image on the right is Page 273 (of 329), and much of the rest of the book looks exactly like this. What I took from the work is hope, determination and the strength to persevere along this journey of self-help and mindfulness. Re-reading the quote below reminded me of the full extent of the impact the book originally had on me, despite my misgivings around the link between meditation and manifestation. If you find yourself reading this text and you're able to work your way through Parts II and III, I imagine that you'll be able to take so much more than I did.
"To be empowered - to be free, to be unlimited, to be creative, to be genius, to be divine - that is who you are... Once you feel this way, memorize this feeling; remember this feeling. This is who you really are..." (Dr Joe Dispenza)
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