sholomar

Seems to me you have to dig through your own bullshit. There are different paths that lead to the same destination. Don't worry about how others take their path... worry about your path... once you evolve enough, there shouldn't be any bullshit for you to even have to "tolerate" in theory. There's a thread on here right now about "people who eat animal products cannot be enlightened" .. I'd say it's topics like that which can throw people off course.... this person is entitled to their opinion but missing the whole point, in my opinion. This can throw other people into thinking matters "of the world" matter, and that "fighting for causes" matters more than fixing one's own bullshit.... it keeps one stuck in the world, worried about the trees, instead of seeing the forest.... it creates more bullshit... basically it fuels and empowers the ego and righteous morality. It is the opposite of what enlightenment is about...

As somebody who has felt suicidal it's driven by the biologically wired emotions and instincts we evolved as animals to want to fit in and be part of the pack, to feel accepted. It's really a cry for attention or the final result when we don't get attention, feel outcasted, and feel powerless to do anything about it. For most men the cause is no woman in their life or the love of their life betraying them.. most men really need that emotional connection, more than women realize, but women are biologically wired to want dominance and want the man all other women are chasing... the dominant bad boy alpha type. Combined with surplus of men from no wars killing off the surplus males leading to a surplus of men and many of these men being weak or lacking a personality and it leads to a lot of frustrated men. Nature is harsh, boys. It's the limbic brain (our mammalian brain and all it's emotional drives) and the thoughts of the prefrontal cortex (consciousness and thought) mixing in a toxic brew is really what it is. Once you get into a habitual thought pattern it can be hard to see any other perspective. It happens more to people who isolate themselves because an outside perspective is the best way to break free of that record groove of habitual negative thinking, combined with our strong genetic urge to want to be part of something. I've found Leo's audio combined with "theredpill" subreddit to be some of the most useful information in my life, along with information on how the limbic brain works, the dopamine reward system, and evolutionary psychology.

I find it's a balancing act between self discipline and letting go and just being... like the ying and the yang. Leo talks about needing to accept yourself as you are, and this is the part a lot of development junkies forget because they are always striving to be something different than what they are. This ironically will get the sympathetic nervous system fired up and can lead to burnout and anxious behaviors. It's a paradox that you just have to finally say "fuck it" and accept your monkey mind before you can hope to achieve change. For me it's all about building new habits and the best way to do this is to print out a list of what I'm going to do so then it automates the process and I spend less time debating, ruminating, and trying to resist cravings.. here's what the list says, so this is what I'm doing. Rewiring the limbic brain is about repetition.. taking a new activity and repeating it until it's a habit.

I was late to the personal development game and finally after years of anxiety I'm managing to wire my nervous system and limbic brain to relax, cultivate my sense of humor by exposing myself to humor, and grow myself, but for me it's always been about being part Aspie and not good with women, not having "game" or any of the attributes in that video Leo has about 5 things women want, which is 100% true by the way. I do have enough money I could quit my job now and move to the Philippines and take a mid 20's wife and have 4 kids, but I still have a few years of earning power and self improvement yet before I'll go that route. I'm growing and bettering myself by the day, but like that Pink Floyd song says, I missed the starting gate. I do have 9 nieces and nephews so it's not like my genepool is going to die, not that it really matters anyways... we are largely genetically identical and 99.9% of us will be forgotten in 100 years.

Interesting. I've been meaning to plan to attend one. I appreciate your input. Also I just realized something as I sit here making my first posts... trying to give people advice is a trap.. it's my ego trying to get juice out of giving advice.. I made a rule I was going to stay off reddit and other forums because they are time wasters. Though this forum is arguably the most useful one I've ever visited, spending too much time posting when I have such a long way to go in my own journey is just a trap.. so I've instituted a no forums rule to include this forum for now. I'll be back when I've accomplished some of my goals. Take care!

That is interesting. I admit to not having researched hyperventilation breathing and will look into it out of sheer curiosity. I always look to expand my knowledge base. I would say that people should work on the core material first though before they try looking into things like this or psychedelics. The mental work.. mindfulness, visualization, acceptance, affirmations, thought monitoring.. these are the core things that produce results and should come first.. if you feel like you've reached a point in your life where you've nailed all these things down, then perhaps expand outward and try other avenues. Honestly I have a goal this year of listening to every single video Leo has made so naturally this video would be included. I'm starting at the oldest first though so it will take awhile to get to this one.

Everything the OP said is accurate.. breathing exercises don't accomplish anything particularly useful in most people.. the body regulates pH by breathing, you want a certain level of CO2 in the blood because without CO2 oxygen levels paradoxically go down. Likewise alkaline diets are mostly bunk because you don't alkalize your body through diet... if anything the diet is healthy because it gets rid of refined carbs and processed garbage like frozen pizza and Hot Pockets. The body keeps it's pH in check by breathing... like how when CO2 escapes soda it's pH rises, the body regulates pH through CO2 levels. There are some people who could possibly suffer from chronic hyperventilation syndrome, however. It would effect a pretty small percentage of the population. However, having your body oxygen levels drop a bit is not the end of the world. Mine will drop into the low 90% range while I sit around watching TV. People with sleep apnea will drop down to the 50% range at night in spurts. If anything buy a monitor that will log your oxygen levels while you sleep. Some people have sleep apnea they don't know they have that can negatively effect their life.

Whatever clicks with the way you are wired to think and gets you results. My first glimmer of personal development was David Hawkins and a Course in Miracles, Gary Renard's book, and more enlightenment focused books, but I found I preferred a more science minded approach which hacks the human brain and explains why we act the way we do by analyzing the brain structures and human evolution, which I found with Leo and a few other sources. I don't necessarily believe in spiritual enlightenment aside from it simply being a state of mind you can achieve with the right inputs (or lack of inputs as the case might be) I've found the book "your survival instinct is killing you" to be quite informative, but really Leo's work is more than adequate for my goals. He took all the best content and did a lot of the sifting through it for me, which is why I did throw 50 bucks his way in a donation and got the nice little picture that I saved kittens from a cauldron of boiling acid Even with these books, videos, gurus, etc, without the discipline to get rid of the hedonism in your life and set goals designed to rewire your subconscious mind with better habits, all the knowledge in the world will be useless because intellectual knowledge doesn't translate into a better state of being unless you apply it in a way the limbic system can understand, which is actions and experiences. If I watch one of Leo's videos and then get stoned and play video games, not much progress is achieved versus watching his video and going and lifting weights or having a more productive hobby that gets me out of the house. I'm not the type to worship any guru as some sort of "special" figure anyways.. people are people and nobody is really more "special" than anyone else. They might be more advanced spiritually, but if they are they'd be the first to agree with me on this point.

Neurotic behavior is basically behavior driven by our monkey mind, the limbic system, or behavior driven by our emotions when we let emotions control us. Fixing neurotic behavior? Read the book "Your Survival Instinct is Killing You" and listen to Leo's videos.. everything you need is there. The best things to fix neurotic behavior are things like mindfulness, acceptance, and visualization. What you focus your attention on and repeat over and over will eventually create new neural connections in the brain.. new habits. Keep in mind the old habits will still be there so it will take some level of work/effort to maintain your new habits and state of being once you achieve them. Leo's video on the Happiness Spectrum will give you a good idea of what kinds of goals to focus on... basically avoid hedonism and short term gratification, things you think will make you happy but really just leave you feeling more empty after you're done. Nofap, a clean diet, and lifting are things a man can do that create long term goals that leave you with a sort of satisfaction you can't really "buy" .. the satisfaction that comes with goal setting and the work it takes to achieve those goals. These are just three examples.. there are others. Listen to Leo's happiness spectrum video. Along with this mindfulness allows you to accept your emotional ebbs and flows without letting them control you. Your emotions are basically habits formed through time by repetition.. say you get irritated at a long stoplight or other drivers.. this is an easy one a lot of people have.. mindfulness lets you observe your reaction without judgment and from acceptance you can come to make a change to your behavior.. modify your thoughts so over time you no longer get upset when driving. Again just one example... other examples would be encountering resistance when you try to make a new habit.. say you don't really "feel" like working out but you observe this feeling and do it anyways.. or you have a craving for a bad food, and you observe the craving without acting on it.... by not giving into cravings and temptations but mindfully accepting they are there, over time you will form new habits and reap the rewards of your personal development work.