How stress damages the brain
Stress, pressure, fatigue, poor diet, alcohol, and drugs damage neural connections between the brain’s prefrontal cortexor and the rest of the brain. When you are overtired or under intense mental or physical stress, the brain bypasses its higher,

Is it possible to consciously choose to create a more satisfying life experiences?   The reason why most peo ple have only a few satisfying life experiences is because they are almost completely unconscious. They are operat ing on automatic, on subcon scious programs that run qui etly in the background, dictat ing their every move, pulling on their emotional strings, se lecting their perceptions, and organising their experiences around past hurts, fears, and insecurities.
   Ironically, they think that they are conscious. Acting out in a crazy, self- and other-de structive way is not con scious. And it is only because of acting out on our drives that we are unconscious Someone who is conscious does not let their drives dic tate their thoughts, feelings and actions. Instead, they choose the best possible op tions available to them based on what they currently know A casual survey of people around you will quickly re veal that impulsive actions are the norm. Rationality takes a back seat to innate ten dencies and urges.
   The way to become con scious is to become aware Awareness is stepping back and looking at everything for the first time. It is pulling the subjective ego state out of the equation and making an at tempt to see what is the way that it is. Awareness is not simple. It is not something that you naturally snap into And this is why spiritual dis ciplines like yoga, focusing on your breath, meditation mindfulness, and so on exist and have the power to change your life for the better. The natural state for human be ings is to be hypnotised by the onslaught of conditioning that began since birth. Thus the natural state for human beings is to be unnatural. It is to perceive through the lens of bias. It is to hear selectively. It is to act impulsively, regard less of consequences. It is to defend the ego from all possi ble threats while at the same time pretending to make a show of being open-minded rational, and even objective.
   Another way of describing this phenomenon is to say that the neocortex is used much less often than the mammalian or reptilian por tions of the human brain. Yet it is only the highly-developed and functional neocortex which will inform our actions to choose the best possible ex periences. The emotional brain and the instinctive brain take over the show.
   Thus, if we desire to have more satisfying life experi ences, we have to be present to the moment. This means that we have to be aware. We have to be cognisant of the envi ronment. And we have to recognise our own subcon scious programs trying to bubble up to the surface to take over our experience.
   If you are aware enough the past does not have to equal the future. You can, in fact choose your ideal future and find ways to reach it. Howev er, because most people are not aware enough that the fu ture happens to be a constant repetition of past patterns.
   The weight of past experi ences, because it is unexam ined and therefore uncon scious, has a stronger pull on them. The way to create awareness is to take on the practice of some psychologi cal or spiritual discipline which will train you to think in an original and creative way. Those who choose not to examine the past are con demned to repeat it.
   Cultivating awareness is not easy, but there is nothing more worthwhile. The culmi nation of supreme awareness is enlightenment, the uncan ny ability to be in a stream of constantly unfolding satisfy ing experiences.
   Ultimately, it is a spiritual experience to be in charge of your own mind and direct it away from unconscious act ing out to conscious delibera tion. The culmination of this discipline is awareness. And the gift of awareness is con nection with your own divine nature.

YOUR emotions are very powerful. They change you and influence other peoples behaviour towards you. Whenever some emotions arise in your system, it is like rain. The emotion is poured; like rain, it happens inside your system, in your Being. It floods you. Scientists support this view.
These emotions are generated in your brain as chemicals, neuropeptides. So, an emotion is nothing but a chemical ultimately. There are particular cells which catch those emotions. For example, if you think about anger, there are particular cells which catch that anger emotion. Not only do they just catch and stay, they will start reproducing. This cell will create at least four or five more cells that can receive this emotion.
These cells that catch the anger emotion start reproducing and each cell creates five or six more cells. Next time, when the anger shower happens, when the anger rain happens, all these cells will also catch the same emotion. They become the size of the original cells. They come to this same original size. Now, these cells also start reproducing. The third time, when the shower happens, all these cells grasp and store the emotion.
That is why, every time when you are showered with the same emotion, it becomes stronger. You get addicted to that emotion; you are unable to control that emotion.
First time, if anger is showered on you, if you are affected for 10 minutes, then the next time, it will surely become 20 minutes. Third time, it will naturally become half an hour. That is how the emotion becomes stronger and stronger.
In your being, again and again, when you cooperate with these negative emotions, you create the same type of mood, the same type of that lifestyle in you.
One more thing: not only will this emotion get recorded into you, the big problem is that you will express the same thing on others. What you have is what gets reproduced in others.
If you are working to strengthen your greed, you will be caught by the emotion of greed and you will radiate that emotion of greed. You will throw that emotion of greed on others. You will torture others also with that same emotion.
So, if you learn to generate calmness and radiate calmness, you will generate calmness around you. Over time, calmness will be built into you and around you. You will be walking bliss!
Please express what you wish others to express towards you!

by PARMAHAMSA SRI NITYANAND

source : et.india.