Our fears, confusion, doubts, ignorance and beliefs distort our perception of the world, prevent us (our body, mind and self) from accessing our true intelligence. As long as we are flooded by survival and fear-based emotions, we lack clarity of thought, we are prone to experiencing brain fog and confusion, and we are guided by a negative belief system. All of this cuts us off from life, alienates us from other people, and prevents us from experiencing elevated emotions of love, gratitude and joy. In such a state of being we feel disconnected, tend to doubt everyone, and shield ourselves from—what what we believe is—a hostile world. In the language of neuroscience, we let the amygdala behind the steering wheel, strengthen the neural pathways that impair our cognitive functions, promote anxiety-dominant brainwave patterns, and bring our heart out of a state of coherence.  

A Lack of a Sense of Oneness

The universe is a unified field of intelligent energy, and our focus on survival through individualism, competition and struggle is what prevents us from experiencing a sense of unity or oneness. Both social conditioning and the stress-inducing, frantic modern lifestyle have caused most of us to live in a perpetual state of fear, anxiety and worry about the future. Yet we all are capable of forging a connection with the universal field of consciousness. One of the simplest and easiest way forward is to guard—or to bring awareness to—our thoughts and feelings. For, as long as we continue to focus our mental and emotional energy on things like danger, conflict, violence and destruction, we continue to strengthen the idea of the world as a chaotic and malevolent place.  

Falling Prey to the Confirmation Bias

We have a strong tendency to focus on information that supports our already established opinions, attitudes and beliefs. We favor that, which confirms and conforms to our own assumptions, ideas and theories. As a result, we develop a blind spot for facts, arguments and experiences that contradicts our belief system, and at the same time we exaggerate the validity and significance of those bits of information which fit into our worldview and could serve our own agenda. In psychology, this phenomenon is known as confirmation bias. Confirmation bias explains why overly pessimistic individuals seem to find overwhelming evidence that their negativity is justified, while optimists see everywhere proofs of a benevolent universe.  

Lack of Awareness of the Present Moment

Not living in the present moment (in the ‘here and now') means being preoccupied either with the past or with the future. Both regretting the past and fearing what future may bring are traps, as they dissipate one’s energy. Such an attitude fills the individual with negative feelings, and also feeds one’s fear of uncertainty. They trigger the body’s survival mechanism, elevate the levels of stress hormones in the body, and impairs one’s ability to make rational decisions. The predominant brainwave pattern switches to the high beta frequency band. The heart starts beating faster, and the blood pressure rise. Your heart-brain coherence is lost. And with it, your ability to tune into the universal consciousness is lost.

Ignorance About One’s Purpose  

Guided by external drivers—predominant societal norms, popular culture, mainstream media and peer pressure—many people become products of the zeitgeist, or ‘the spirit of the time.’ They consent to living their lives according to the standards and expectations of others (family, school, workplace, and the community at large), all the while ignorant of their true calling or purpose of life. Unsurprisingly then, this blind pursuit of things and achievements easily becomes tiresome and meaningless—it fails to bring satisfaction and joy.  

Take the time to be still, and to temporarily disconnect from the frantic pace of everyday living. This will help you connect with your inner reality, put things in perspective, and bring your heart and brain in a state of coherence.  Doing so will not only bring peace and order in all your external affairs, but also awaken you to your life purpose. When that happens, you will begin to resonate with something new, something much greater than you’ve ever experienced before. You will slowly tune into the rhythm of the universe, and you will begin to tap into that source of unlimited potential.