Do you want to set your well-being on a better trajectory? If so, one of the most lasting and powerful things you can do is learn how to recognize and change the very things you believe to be real.

Our well-being and health are directly correlated with our thoughts. You could even say that if we know the thoughts a person uses to interpret the world, we would by extension know about their health’ which inescapably arises from those thoughts just like a computer yields the same results when it carries out its programmatic instructions.

So, if you want to set your health on a different trajectory, it may be helpful to investigate the thoughts you use to navigate the world. The way you do relationships and the way you think about yourself originate from those thoughts. It may be helpful too, to consider that thought has a direction. It starts from the level of belief which, in turn,gives rise to our emotions, which give rise to our feelings, which give rise to the very logic we use. Our emotions do not just arise out of thin air. If you’re scared or angry, there is a belief that generated that fear or anger. That’s the kind of belief that the neuroscientist Dr. John C. Lilly referred to as a “self meta-program” or what you could call a belief about something we think is real.

Lilly was one of the first scientists to recognize that our mind is like a biocomputer, and just like a regular computer, our mind is comprised of a hierarchy of programs. If you are going to build a computer, you have to start with an operating system because it controls all of the higher-level programs. For humans, our beliefs-in-real are at the operating system level of our thinking. Those beliefs run the show. Since those beliefs were put in place before (around age 4), we have a tendency when we’re young to write code that interferes with the best expression of who we are. I know a woman, for example, who remembers spending a lot of time in her crib—not too surprising since she is the ninth of 10 siblings. From those experiences, however, she wrote a program which you could call “Nobody Loves Me.” That’s not unusual when we consider that the young mind is prone to make mistakes. The trouble arises, however, because the “nobody loves me” belief then becomes the very lens through which she interprets the whole world. And when you get right down to it, that belief may contribute to the stress she experiences.

The good news is that we can change our beliefs and many of the other programs we wrote. Dr. Lilly discovered that time spent in a floatation cabin is one of the most powerful and effective modalities for adjusting your beliefs and, hence, your behavior. A floatation cabin is a profoundly relaxing environment where you spend an hour or longer with virtually no external stimulation. There are only about 10 inches of water. It is heated to about 95 degrees to match the ambient temperature of your skin and, with about 1000 pounds of Epsom salt dissolved in the water, you float effortlessly like a cork. Floating in this environment is like hitting the reset button. It is designed to allow you to disconnect from the outside world and spend time in a deeply relaxing state.

What Dr. Lilly also found is that when we spend time floating, we naturally examine and adjust those deep programs that cause stress and anxiety. The benefits do not stop there. Floating also relaxes your body, helps reduce pain, chronic stress, anxiety, and other stress-related conditions by calming the nervous system, slowing the heart rate, and lowering blood pressure. Floating offers a safe and stress-free environment where you can take a break from the everyday chaos of daily life while enhancing insight and helping you find solutions to personal and professional problems or obstacles. This is why so many people are turning to floatation therapy.

Quantum Wellness offers floatation cabins and the best of all relaxation modalities in its spa-like facility located at 327 US - 202 in Bedminster. For more information, call 973-782-3227 or visit QuantumWellnessNJ.com. See ad, page 7.