Mind Vs Brain: How Are They Different?

Sometimes you may find yourself stuck in a rut that is frustrating and mind numbing. If you’re in such a situation, it could be an indication that you need to reprogram your mind. This will help you set realistic goals for yourself and lead a more fulfilling life. Before getting to know how to reprogram your mind, it is important to first understand how the mind works.

Mind vs Brain:

In colloquial terms, the words mind and brain may be used interchangeably but, the two are in fact not the same. While the brain is a physical organ, the mind can be described as a virtual entity present within each cell of our body and extended to minimum 2 inches outside the body. That is why mind controls body. It is more like a collection of thoughts, emotions, imagination and memories. When compared to a computer, the brain acts as the hardware while the mind is the software within it.

The Three States of Mind:

The mind can be categorized into three states:

1. Conscious
2. Subconscious
3. Unconscious

Actions that need you to make an effort and think about what you are doing are said to be performed by the conscious mind. The subconscious mind refers to information that is accessible to you when needed and otherwise not something you pay attention to. For example, when walking down the road to your house, your mind subconsciously creates landmarks. The unconscious mind consists largely of primitive instincts and memories from early childhood that may not be easily recalled.

Unconscious mind also contains memories from past lives. Your unconscious mind stores everything from the past. Any incident which took place in our life is first stored in our temporary memory (conscious mind) but when we go to sleep, it gets transferred to our permanent memory (unconscious mind). So, considering those facts we can say that our unconscious mind remembers our past life, it depends on the ability of person to recall that.

A majority of our daily functions are controlled by the unconscious mind. The memories stored in our unconscious mind are responsible for many decisions that we make based on beliefs. Thus, training the unconscious mind can help reprogram the mind and make it more productive.

Here are three easy tips to help you make your unconscious mind more efficient:

1. Meditation: Meditation not only calms the mind and reduces stress, but can also help train the unconscious mind. Meditation helps increase your ability to concentrate on an activity and achieve the desired level of mental focus. This, in turn, helps develop new ideas and increases your belief in yourself.
2. Visualize what you want to achieve: Merely telling yourself that you want to do better is not enough. You need to set a goal for yourself and visualize it to begin working towards it. Create a visual board of the type of house you would like to live in, the lifestyle you would like to have, the job you would like to have etc. avoid generalized visions and be specific about what you want.
3. Hypnotherapy: Hypnotherapy is a safe, brief and effective way to deal with many emotional and anxiety-related issues, such as those listed on the right. It enables you to deal with your own mental challenges and blocks so that you can build on your strengths and take control of your life.