Your brain is like a computer
24/08/09 12:35
This is a
useful metaphor for understanding how the brain
works. The grey matter is the hardware like the
computer itself, and the programs that we run are all
the things that we’ve learned: the habits and
thought patterns that we have developed over time to
help us move through life. The mind learns
consciously and then allows these programs to run
unconsciously, so that we don't have to think about
things too much.
So when the alarm clock goes in the morning, you probably have a fairly consistent routine about when you eat, shower, get dressed, etc, which doesn’t take too much thinking about - thank goodness! Something like 80 to 90 percent of our behaviour runs automatically in this way. This works very well most of the time, but just like a computer program, our minds are susceptible to negative influences. In the same way that you have anti-viral software on your computer, you also need this for your mind.
Negative habits and patterns of behaviour can run just as easily and effectively as positive ones, and this is why change can sometimes seem difficult. Consciously you know that eating too much, smoking, drinking too much, etc, don’t make sense and you want to change, but the mind likes the familiar pattern and runs it unconsciously. So you continue to find yourself doing the thing you don’t want to do, and usually give yourself a hard time for this.
In cognitive hypnotherapy, we get to the bottom of how this habit started - and why it continues and work on this level - in order to create the changes you want. It’s a bit like installing your own anti-viral software to root out the negative patterns that you want to change and installing new ones that fit with how you want to live your life.
So when the alarm clock goes in the morning, you probably have a fairly consistent routine about when you eat, shower, get dressed, etc, which doesn’t take too much thinking about - thank goodness! Something like 80 to 90 percent of our behaviour runs automatically in this way. This works very well most of the time, but just like a computer program, our minds are susceptible to negative influences. In the same way that you have anti-viral software on your computer, you also need this for your mind.
Negative habits and patterns of behaviour can run just as easily and effectively as positive ones, and this is why change can sometimes seem difficult. Consciously you know that eating too much, smoking, drinking too much, etc, don’t make sense and you want to change, but the mind likes the familiar pattern and runs it unconsciously. So you continue to find yourself doing the thing you don’t want to do, and usually give yourself a hard time for this.
In cognitive hypnotherapy, we get to the bottom of how this habit started - and why it continues and work on this level - in order to create the changes you want. It’s a bit like installing your own anti-viral software to root out the negative patterns that you want to change and installing new ones that fit with how you want to live your life.