Peak Experience
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Bruce Lee had a birth defect that may
have precluded him for martial arts; one leg was 1 ½ inches longer than the
other. In a field that considers balance and symmetry a requirement, Bruce Lee
pushed beyond all limitations; he developed his own style of martial arts that
could accommodate his “weakness” and became the top of his field.
Our limitations live only in our mind. Some
people are testing and breaking previously held limits. This article explores a
way to jump start the process of living your ultimate potential. Going past the
norm has some shared neurological processes that can be sped up, honed, and
supported with simple mental techniques known as The Art of Ascension as taught
by the Ishayas.
In the 1940’s, Abraham
Maslow studied some the most successful people, those that lived outside the
norm. He found they all had similar experiences and from that he coined the
term, peak experience. The peak experience is universal; it is experienced
across all cultures. It appears at the most unpredictable times -- staring
at the stars in the mountains, listening to the ocean waves at sunset, while
jogging, and an endless number and variety of other human experiences. An individual in a peak experience perceives:
·
no time and space
·
functioning effortlessly and easily without strain or struggle,
all separateness from the world disappears
·
being without inhibition, fear, doubt, and self-criticism
·
a free mind that is flexible and open to creative thoughts and
ideas
The above words describe the experience of expanded
awareness.
After
studying the peak experience for about 20 years, Maslow created a new theory;
he believed individuals climbed a ladder, what he called a “Hierarchy of Needs.”
Some people eventually reach the top
need, to self-actualize. Later in life, he recognized that
not all the lower rungs needed to be fulfilled. In studying self-actualizers, Maslow found they had more
peak experiences than most people. Self-actualizing
people are interested in moving from one peak experience to another, realizing
their ultimate potential. As they pursue their personal evolution, they flow
their ever-expanding growth out and into the lives of others.
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Figure 1 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
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You may believe you have not had a peak
experience; but consider the quite common experience of “falling in love.” The experience of overlooking the flaws of
your loved one and of seeing “the best” in the loved one also fits within the
description of expanded awareness. When you fall in
love, your brain releases chemicals such as dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin.
They produce a physiological response that includes an expansion of awareness. In expansion you are pumped up with neurotransmitters
that feel good. They make your brain function at its best.
A suggestion
that peak experiences can become the ordinary experience of life may seem
surprising. As one finds the peak experience rewarding, and begins seeking
more of that experience, this becomes a skill. A neuroscientist, Dr. Andrew
Huberman describes this continual expansion as a skill that can be leveraged to
keep expanding. Continual expansion is a skill developed by a regular practice
of the Art of Ascension.
Maslow considered
the top rung of expansion to be a by-product of stress dissolving. As stress
dissolves, one develops emotional intelligence, is more spontaneous, humorous,
appreciative, and accepting of self and others.
Stress is a
common experience in modern life. Stress is a physiological response when our perceived
needs are not met. In a Yale 2012 study, a major stress event such as the death
of a loved one or job loss was shown to shrink the prefrontal cortex, the
anterior cingulate and the insula, parts of the brain that are responsible for
emotion, decision making, self-control and goal achievement. These continued to
shrink for each additional major stress event a person experienced. Dr. Daniel
Goleman said, “Stress makes us stupid” because stress, in a nutshell, shuts
down the thinking part of the brain so that we can respond to threats
instinctively and reflexively. This leaves few resources for creativity, a
functioning immune system, good digestion, the anti-aging process, or
self-actualizing.
In order to
move from the life of stress to the experience of expanding awareness requires
a change in the structure of the brain and the nervous system. It must change from
an experience of stress and limitations to perceive it as an opportunity to
gain experience. Carol Dweck, a research neurologist from Stanford University,
in her book, Growth Mindset says, it requires erasing or supplanting old
limiting belief patterns into a new expanded way of being, with the desire to
expand being a bigger desire than the desire to be right.
Rewiring the
brain and nervous system based on new experience is called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the
brain to form new connections and pathways and change how its circuits are
wired; neurogenesis is the even more amazing ability of the brain to grow new
neurons (Bergland, 2017). Our brains are truly extraordinary; unlike
computers, which are built to certain specifications and receive software
updates periodically, our brains can actually receive hardware updates in
addition to software updates. Different pathways form and fall dormant, are created,
and are discarded, according to our experiences.
Unlike past
beliefs in brain science, Eric Knudsen showed in his research that the mind can be equally
malleable in a 40-year-old as in a child! It is possible to become our own neurosurgeon
at any age, to change the way the brain operates. Carol Dweck put it this way, “It’s not that we are born
smart, average, or dumb, but the brain is more like a muscle, it changes and
gets stronger when you use it… You’re in charge of your mind. You can help it
grow by using it in the right way.” The difference between the adult’s
malleability and the child’s is one of focus and inner direction. The child’s
malleability is non-focused, but the adult brain’s malleability requires focus.
According to Dr. Andrew Huberman, “For people that want to change
their brain, the power of focus is really the entry point—and the ability to
access deep rest.” The repetitive change in neural activity patterns lead to a
reorganization in neural circuits, which produces long lasting functional
change. As we adapt, our brains dispose of unused or unnecessary neural
connections while strengthening and preserving those that are used frequently.
This activity is called synaptic pruning and occurs only during deep rest.
Dr. Huberman goes on to note
specifically, “PET
(Positron Emission Tomography) studies support the idea that a period of
stillness each day, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes of physical stillness,
combined with some gratitude, creates a neurochemical signature in us that
involves dopamine release as well as serotonin and oxytocin release. It’s kind
of like [what] MDMA or ecstasy is designed to do but obviously without
ingesting anything.”
The Art of
Ascension is unlike other meditations. While many meditations and relaxation
techniques are now available promoting the ability to improve our lives, each
one has a different aim and research shows they have different outcomes. The
purpose of Ascension is to rewire the brain and nervous system, bringing it to
optimal levels. It expands awareness and produces alertness while giving deeper
rest than is possible with sleep, all while it is opening awareness to an
experience of orderliness that lies deep within yourself.
The deep rest
can be measured as decreased blood pressure, decreased oxygen consumption,
carbon dioxide production, and a lower respiratory rate, all exceed what is possible
in sleep, mindfulness, hypnosis, apps, etc. A review
of 37 studies
shows it is an
integrated psychophysiological response and is successful in erasing stress,
thereby reducing hypertension, insomnia, anxiety, pain, and medication use
across multiple populations.
It also
incorporates praise, gratitude, love, and compassion, upward spiraling emotions
that assist in the expansion of awareness. So, the Art of Ascension charms the
mind during every phase of transformation. The mind is always greedy for more
experience, more love, more peace, more knowledge. When used regularly, the
Ascension techniques facilitate continued expansion.
It is one thing
to experience periods of stillness with the eyes closed in periods of
meditation. It is quite another thing to incorporate a tool that can be used
throughout a busy, hectic life. Neuroscience has
coined Hebb’s rule which states, “neurons that fire together wire together.” Rick Hanson explains, first,
as your brain changes, your mind changes. Second, as your mind changes, your
brain changes. Many of those changes are fleeting, as your brain changes moment
to moment to support the movement of information. But many are lasting, as
neurons wire together: structure builds in the brain. Mental activity is like a
spring shower, leaving little traces of neural structure behind. Over time, the
little tracks in the hillside draw in more water down, deepening their course.
A kind of circular self-organizing dynamic gradually develops, and then the
mind tends to move increasingly down that channel, and soon enough you have a
gully.
To add to the power of the Art of Ascension, you
can use these mental techniques throughout the day, interrupting any negative
“gully” patterns. It is
possible to retrain the mind so that the deepest gullies are those that lead to
expansion of consciousness, to liberation rather than stress.
We know that what we focus on grows. In the
beginning workshop of The Art of Ascension, you learn 4 perfect thoughts,
called Ascension Attitudes, which align with all the forces of good in the
universe. The three-fold
structure of the Ascension Attitudes, used consistently, causes each of the
three primary aspects of our personality -- our hearts, our minds, our bodies
-- to move in the direction of growth.
These
4 perfect thoughts are universal to all humans and are taught in a First Sphere
course, over 2 ½ days. Shining Light On Life Events provides a list of events to learn this practice.
