Most of the capacity of our brain is unused. There are innumerable scientific studies debating on how much of it is used and many busting the myth of the various proposed percentages. The crux is that a significant percentage of our brain is still a mystery hence labelled as dormant, unused or potential.

Neuroscience suggests if we don’t use any part of the brain it degenerates as the neurons do not get exercised. That is true for the body as well. Pain or disease begins in the part which is not put into work.

Psychologists divide functioning of the brain into conscious and sub-conscious mind. Spirituals further add super-consciousness to this explanation. The conscious mind is approximately twelve percent of the total mind. The rest is subconscious mind which constitutes the instinctive habits, automatic functioning of the body and the repetitive behaviour. Individual habits and behaviours are programmes which are formed by centuries of conditioning. These are the bedrocks of why we feel, react and act a certain way. This also is the reason behind the strong likes and dislikes. According to neuroscience, the habit, behaviour or reaction in certain situations is the same or difficult to change because the neuropathways are well established to follow a certain route. Anything outside of it is unfamiliar hence dangerous for the subconscious mind. That is precisely the reason why it is difficult for human beings to change old, not so useful habits. This is one of the important reasons why many parts of the brain haven’t even been explored.

Human race is spending more time in exploring life outside the body, country even planet. Working with half the capacity of the brain we can get so far then think about the potential of the brain still not revealed. How much are we missing out on? If each one of us takes time to go within, understand self and fire up darker and sleepy parts of the brain becoming a genius wouldn’t be a miracle.

What is the simplest way to energise the brain and fire neurons to the undisclosed parts? Yoga in its purest form and higher meditation are sure shot and relatively faster ways to activate the brain cells. Ask yoga and meditation practitioners who have been diligently at it and they will not fall short of intuition enhancing experiences which may sound too mystical to be true.

The so-called clairvoyance or futuristic ideas achieved by many saints, entrepreneurs, creative artists, mathematicians, scientists, etc are nothing but enhanced intuition by pushing the brain to reveal more. The common thread amongst all of them is one-pointed focus that pushes the mind beyond its current state.  The much-hyped illumination is lightening up the darker parts of the brain through dharna which is awareness and dhyan also known as prolonged awareness. A good holistic meditation practice can help achieve this.

Before choosing a meditation do go through the following criteria to know its power

1. A meditation from a highly evolved being can make the energy flow from a much higher and powerful source.
2. It should incorporate dharna and dhyaan as suggested by the originator of yoga; Sage Patanjali. Dharna is development of awareness and Dhyaan is prolonged concentration. The combination of awareness and concentration triggers the miraculous ‘Aha’ moment such as in the case of Newton, even though he wasn’t meditating in a conventional way. He was practicing awareness and concentration.
3. Meditation could be active or passive, however one has to try and master the body to go deeper into the mind. However, this can happen simultaneously. One doesn’t need to put the body through immense pain even before starting to try. It may discourage you to practice.
4. Do not worry about the thoughts created by the monkey. An active meditation can guide you to let go of the thoughts and bring focus to the inner realms.
5. Also, certain techniques in the meditation help clear away the inner noise and random thoughts popping up.
6. Certain meditations are somatic in nature, they increase body awareness however, don’t take the attention to the mind. There are powerful techniques available to expand the consciousness beyond the mind. Again, these have to be practiced under proper safety guidance.
7. In the end, every practice that expands the consciousness must have a technique that helps in grounding the energy. This makes the practitioner super sharp with manifesting ideas.

These are guidelines and not steps cast in stone. I have drawn these overall factors after healing many who practiced various meditations without diligent evaluation. Internet is exploding with content but do check if it is researched or comes from a highly recommended or evolved source. I have had people who could not sleep for days after certain practices or had vague psychological experiences.

One of the meditations I practice is The Twin Hearts meditation. This one is highly recommended and is practiced across the world. There have been neuroscience experiments on it, is known to bring down stress and increase focussed concentration. For me, the idea of this blog flashed after one such practice.

Taking a trip within through the practice of self-awareness, yoga and meditation are reliable and safe ways of developing the muscles of the brain. Research says that if polar bears have to change their fur it may take at least four evolutions, however humans can achieve that in one life time by using their brains. Let us tap the best machine nature has given us. It is time to take a trip within.

There is light within us.