The moment I realized I was fearless, my life changed. In EBT, we use scientific. techniques to rewire the emotional brain, which happens to be the center of survival, the hub of attachment, and the seat of the soul.
Each use of the Cycle Tool, EBT’s central rewiring and resilience technique, brings us not only a small or large chunk of trauma healing, but to a state of mind, body, spirit connection. That is Brain State 1 (aka Joy). What I didn’t realize some 50 years ago when I first ventured into the professional world of health, that I could actually wire my brain for that fearlessness, but using that brain process – the Cycle Tool.
What follows are the highlights of that journey, how I reconstruct the rewiring process to the best of my ability.
1. “I am fear-based, and I don’t want to be.”
Driving over the Bay Bridge from my job based in Oakland to my then-home in the Cow Hollow area of San Francisco, I realized that I was chronically in fear. Sure, part of it was that in my new job of teaching education theory to health professionals, standing before large groups of people giving talks, not sure of my content or how to give talks. Yet somehow that jostled into my awareness that I was always slightly scared out of my mind. I realized I wanted to be out of fear.
2. Many lost years, just seeking to cope.
There were those in-between years, a lot of them, when life was so demanding, mainly because I was trying to find my way, in work, love, and mothering. I was using my best version of emotional processing, but figuring how to be true to yourself and chart a course is rather daunting. I think of those years as a time of seeking, experimenting, and dealing with figuring out how the world works and who I want to be. I was without EBT, and often it was messy and very hard.
3. Rewiring the conscious mind, the prefrontal cortex.
The next phase was training my conscious mind to focus on what was happening in my emotional brain, as evidenced by body sensations and emotions. Basically, my challenge was to somehow release my old way of processing life and focus on my physiologic state or “brain state.” If I wasn’t at a state of connection, then my job was to release overcontrol and trust that if I did a Cycle and spiraled up, all would be well. By this time, I had the EBT tools, so I could accomplish the change in brain state, but what slowed me down was all the trauma wires (“emotional clutter”) that had to be cleared. I knew what I should do (stay aware of my brain state and spiral up if I wasn’t at Brain State 1), but I didn’t always do it.
4. Clearing the unconscious mind of emotional clutter.
The conscious and unconscious mind have a curious relationship in that they both inform each other. Essential was shifting gears in the conscious mind to put my unconscious mind’s activations first. After all, the survival brain must activate those wires during the clearing of trauma. There is no other way to rewire them, and when they launch their stress chemicals, they are in charge. However, knowing that yes, we will be out of control for a few moments, then reliably not only return to control, but be so in rapture that we happily steer clear of “overcontol” makes us productive self-healers. We can do a lot of emotional excavation and find peace inside. As the emotional brain is the seat of the soul, and the Cycle tool not only heals our wounds but nudges us to have a spiritual deepening, both happened for me. My spiritual learnings and knowing that in the Bible, the most often stated words are “Be not afraid” were important to my release from fear.
5. A whole brain experience: fearless for life
Then one day, I realized that I had no fears. I didn’t fear myself and what hidden monsters were still waiting inside, ready to pounce on me. I didn’t fear rejection, knowing that I had survived much of it, but learned it was a blessing. The only way out was to transcend overcontrol and surrender to being of service. It was those times when I was not at Brain State 5 (stress overload), but more like Brain State 10, that the most significant shifts toward transcendence, the spiritual, and freedom from fear occurred. Fancy that. Also, I didn’t fear death or the health suffering of the body as it ages. That’s part of a well-lived life, too.
So, truly, my unconscious mind was telling my conscious mind that I did not have anything to fear. Yet the moment I not only experienced fearlessness, but realized that I was fearless, and chose to live without fear, that every aspect of my life became better.
I wish I had figured this process out earlier. In writing this, I hope that my journey gives you more security that you have a loving, forgiving brain that is happy to make you fearless. Sure, it may take a lot of Cycles to clear away that clutter or remind your conscious mind to stop the overthinking and spiral up, but appreciate that with EBT, you have a direct path to the unconscious mind. You can do this!
But there is something more. The emotional brain rewards us in the present moment. Each time you spiral up, notice that just for a few seconds, you are absolutely fearless. I don’t mean less afraid, but flat out, sublimely fearless.
So, in a way, the future is now. All you have to do is robustly Cycle. Do the work, and each episode of spiralling up will give you a spiritually connected, in rapture peace. Then, our of loving kindness, it will bring on stress again, the perfect motivation needed to spiral up once again, and give yourself a tad more rewiring success in having freedom from fear.
We are in the Age of the Emotional Brain now, when our future rests on our capacity to be at peace. The more fearless we train our brains to be, the more we open ourselves to the goodness of life and the many gifts of the spiritual forces that be.
We all have this amazing emotional brain, so I challenge you to do better than I did. Spiral up more often. Appreciate each moment of fearlessness, and enjoy the journey. Perhaps you can be fearless earlier in life than I was – perhaps even now!
