Almost everything happens before awareness. We think, feel and act the same way every time and we don’t really know why.

You know what to do for your health but somehow it hasn’t happened.

Deliberate Imagery makes success, brings satisfaction and creates pleasure.

Let us help you train your routine health practice into what you want it to be.

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To learn more about programs Herd Healthcare offers, our website is:
www.herdhealthcare.com

Neurocognitive Function

Our brain has about 85 billion neurons that make trillions of connections with other neurons. This complex operates all thought, emotion, action and behavior including health practice.

A total of a billion-billion operations per second is estimated to be the brain computing power. About 11 million bits per second are received and processed. Information processing includes sorting, storing, interpreting, comparing and responding. With repetition, processing includes selecting ideal combinations of inputs, outputs and results. All stored in memory of unlimited capacity and accessed endlessly.

Automatic Subliminal Function

We run our lives with subliminal action. Events occur, effects evaluated, decisions made and actions completed before we are even aware of them. Most of what we see, evaluate, execute and store in memory is unconsciously automatic.

We respond automatically and unthinkingly to a variety of environmental and social stimuli. We have subliminal automatic responses to things we have learned to like and dislike. We might even have conscious preferences that conflict with automatic responses. Things happen so fast, we usually don’t make corrections. We simply go with what’s stored in subliminal memory.

We are aware of some automatic actions. We know we are driving our car and where we’re going. We just don’t think about details like steering, braking and changing lanes. We know we’re having dinner but we don’t think much about what we’re eating. This automaticity provides a comfortable interaction with events in our life. We do things just like we always do and don’t worry much about details.

Automaticity is both a strength and a weakness. It provides quick response to events and situations. We can act even before we’re consciously aware of what’s going on. On the other hand, we often make responses that we really know are not the best possible action.

Conscious Mental Imagery

About 60 bits per second is the limit the conscious mind can process. If we can keep our conscious mind focused, it can handle about 2 or 3 cognitive tasks at a time.

Executive cognitive control can initiate different responses that change automatic actions completely. As long as we remember what we want to do and have time to act.

What we never know until we try is how long we’ll keep doing what we should. The subliminal automatic responses eventually have to be redirected into the desired path.

Sensory Processing

Encoding is the first step in processing about 11M bits per minute of sensory information that flow into the brain.

•Reception begins with converting the flow of information into a construct that can be identified and evaluated. Sensations in various sensory areas of the cortex are decoded and combined with sensations in other areas. Sensations become an experience that can be evaluated.

•Perception is a process that compares constructs from sensory areas with subliminal imagery holding previously acquired knowledge. Meaning, evaluation, emotion and results from previous responses are combined. This is where current information becomes associated with information from memory. Almost everything voluntary happens right here.

•Memory is elaborated with new information as it is received. Initial encoding takes place deep in the brain as short term memory. From there, various threads of information are stored in various parts of the brain as long term memory. A neural network connects sensory cortex to storage regions and old information is recalled when new information arrives.

•Imaging is going on all the time. Short term and long term memory are being recalled constantly to process new information. Very little actually reaches the conscious mind. Emotion does increase conscious attention and intensity of neuronal activity increases the likelihood mental imagery will reach the level of conscious awareness.

Goal for Deliberate Imagery is to increase the expert skill required for Good Health Practice. Can’t train up everything. Set goals and targets that can be defined specifically and measured accurately.

If you were coaching a basketball team, you might set something like this.

•Goals: Long term – qualify for Conference Finals, Mid-term – winning % at half-way through the schedule, Immediate – win at least 2 of the next 3 games.

•Targets: Routine – improve field goal accuracy 1% per week, Deliberate Practice – 3 point shooting 1% per week

As an individual improving Good Health Practice, you might set something like this.

Train Deliberate Imagery by conscious effort. Practice closed eyes visualization. We visualize best what we have seen the most. We can also improve closed eyes visualization by deliberately concentrating on details. The more we practice, the better our visualization.

At first, we can’t visualize anything for more than a second or two. Eventually we can recall images for several minutes even when we are away from where we captured it.

What we’re improving by training this way is our ability to deliberately concentrate on details.

It’s important to attach a sense of satisfaction and feelings of pleasure to the experience you’re imaging. To do this, first remind yourself how a sense of satisfaction and feelings of pleasure can arise in an experience. What do you sense and feel doing things you enjoy? Train yourself to elicit mental states you enjoy and attach them to images you acquire from good performances you are proud of!

•Real Time: Experts in every field report great detail about practicing their skill. They recall motor, sensory and emotional features of their good performances. Individuals of lesser skill report little or no memory of anything they do.

The ability to image great detail about performance is a feature of deliberate practice. Experts deliberately use intense concentration on difficult mental and physical actions to keep improving their skill.

•Mental Images: A remarkable feature of recall imagery is the complete overlap of current and recalled experience. The memory formed of sensations elicited while recalling mental images is the same as memory formed during actual performance!

Consequently, recalling and rehearsing mental images promotes good practice. It is just as effective redirecting subliminal automaticity as deliberate real time repetition.
                       
Repetition converts conscious to automatic practice. As we go about daily activities, we generally perform the same way, day after day. When we decide to do something differently, we have to think about it every day. If we do those new things consistently day after day, we have to think about it less and less. Eventually, we don’t have to think about it at all. We have a new automatic pattern of daily activity.

When we start our new daily activity, we don’t know how persistent the existing automatic pattern will be. We don’t even know how strong our ambitions will be. There will be unexpected changes in daily activity and barriers to our conscious ambitions. Sometimes, things will work out the new way and sometimes ambitions will fail. Activities that have been rewarded by acceptance in the past will have priority over activities that currently are less rewarded.

The objective of deliberate imaging is to bring a sense of satisfaction and feelings of pleasure as rewards for performance of new daily activities!

Good Health Practices

Almost everything we do influences Good Health Practices. Deliberate Imaging of Nutrition is the easiest to describe.

Nutrition imaging starts with taking photos of meals and snacks typical of current practice. Also, keep records of physical activity. Two or three days should be enough to determine usual schedule and variability of meals and physical activity day to day.

A rough rule of thumb is to reduce total intake about one-third and keep energy output constant. Usually, it’s intake of carbohydrates and fat that should be reduced while intake of protein is kept constant or increased.

Counting macronutrients is not what’s important. The objective is to take pride in reducing intake and feel pleasure in what is accomplished.

Along the way, practice imaging the meals and snacks being photographed. Aim to concentrate on details of intake to improve imagery with eyes closed. Eventually, mental imagery should be possible away from the table.

Exercise imaging is more general. The rough rule of thumb is to take photos or make videos that capture a personal sense of effort. The regular camera feature can be used during some exercises. Also, a friend or family member could use the regular camera feature during strength training. Even a selfie photo or video can provide a mental image.

Ideal photos and videos capture a sense of satisfaction and feelings of pleasure.

Routine daily activities may be worthy of attention. Efficiency, effectiveness and corrective actions may be essential for Good Health Practices to Reduce Insulin Resistance and Reverse Diabetes. Deliberate practice could devise improvement. Deliberate mental imaging could capture good results and promote automatic daily practice.

Sleep imaging brings attention to ideal conditions and routine preparations for 6 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Deliberate practice of preparations for sleep and deliberate mental rehearsal of successful preparations will promote automatic daily success.

Relaxation, recreation and entertainment are essential to Good Health Practices. Deliberate attention to current events provides opportunities. Deliberate mental rehearsal of satisfaction and pleasure they create can be attached to imagery of more routine health practices.

Determination, Satisfaction, Pleasure, Immediate Rewards

Deliberate Imagery is the skill mark of Experts. Deliberate Practice improves health. Deliberate Imagery is an essential part of Deliberate Practice.

The immediate rewards of Good Health Practice are looking good, performing well and feeling terrific!

The money you save from out of pocket medical expenses and increased income from work in good physical and medical health pays for extended years of Good Health in retirement.

We are pleased to share our blog articles with you, and we are always interested to hear from our readers. Our website address is: www.herdhealthcare.com

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