When I was six years old I was hit by a van that almost killed me. I was stuck in bed for several months in a body cast recovering. There wasn't much mental stimulation during this recovery. My father brought me a new toy every week to try to stem the boredom. I also watched TV non-stop.

Recovery was BORING, the mind needed its mental junk food —the TV. Through TV I learned that I had to see “dancing monkeys” to be entertained.

We are never taught how TV works on the brain. It is aptly called a TV program for a reason. TV works by taking us below thoughts. When we are below thoughts we are at the mercy of the TV programs. The TV programs plant all sorts of things into our minds. The commercials are building brand loyalty. They start out when we are young and 50 years later you are still loyal to Coke, McDonald's, Ford, and Chevy. They have planted programs in the brain — “Buy coke”, “Buy McDonald’s”, “Buy Ford”, ”Buy Chevy.” The TV programs themselves shape our opinions and views of the world. The TV shows plant additional programs “Democrats are idiots”, “ Republicans are idiots”, “Men are stupid”, “we need dancing monkeys to make us laugh”, “Kim Kardashian is pretty and I’ll never look that good.”

We are never taught how the brain learns and develops conditioned responses — programming. TV is not the only culprit for programming. Everything we see and do has a potential to become a program — “walking”, ”making love”, “picking up a bottle”, “taking out the trash.” Some programs are useful, I had to learn the “walking” program three times and that wasn't fun. That is one program that I need. Over time we have thousands of programs stored in the brain that we do now know that we have. These unkown programs have a dramatic effect on your life.

I was a sickly child and as an adult I suffered with various incurable diseases (bipolar, MS, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis) . I had a bunch of programs — “see doctor if sick”, “get medicine to heal”, “there is no hope — suffering is a way of life.” I never knew that these were programs — I saw them as factual thoughts.

From birth to age 2 our brain waves are in a delta state. This is the brain pattern of deep sleep. At this age we learn everything through observation. We look around to see how things work. We see all things with wonderment —- nothing is boring. It’s all new and it’s all amazing.

From 2 to 13 the brain is in a theta state. This is a highly suggestive state — a waking dream mode of operation or daydreaming. It is easiest to learn in this state — this is why kids learn faster than adults. Kids sitting in front of a TV are sponges — absorbing everything they see. After the age of 13 we move to an alpha or beta state. Beta is the normal state as we move though the day. Alpha is a more focused state when we are reflecting on the day. We stay in alpha/beta are whole life, unless we practice meditation where we can access theta states. In theta we can change the programming.

When your kids watch TV then make demands — it’s not their fault. Don’t get mad at them. They are following the program that was placed into their brain. You were not aware why your kids are mimicking the TV program. They are following a program “Buy McDonald's”, or “Buy Coke”. If they do not get McDonald's or Coke they become upset and cry.

In time things are no longer new. If we have seen something before than we retrieve that program — the program contains this memory along with the opinions and judgments. Things are becoming routine. We become bored.

I used to say “I’m bored.” Boredom occurs when the mind is following a story /program and has left the present moment. The mind has a set of expectations through the programming that need to be met.

The problem with the programs is that they run on the subconscious. People who do positive affirmations (self-talk) will see that they do not work if you do not address the subconscious program. If you have a program “I am ugly” than you will also consider yourself ugly unless you remove that program. Or if you have a program “I am meant to be poor” than you will always have money issues no matter what happens — you could win the lottery and still feel that you do not have enough.

If you go against any program that is deeply embedded into the brain you suffer. Suffering is any emotion (anger, fear, jealously, etc.) that causes any reaction in the body — perspiration, increased heart rate, increased muscle tension, etc.

Programs are similar to an addiction and steps are needed to remove them. Program removal takes practice, and patience. The brain has invested a lot of time in writing these programs and does not want to give it up. The mental noise of the mind keeps us trapped. We have a strong inner critic that likes to maintain control over us.

If you find yourself saying you’re bored then you need to use that as a pointer to bring yourself back to his moment. It is easy in the case to spot the boredom program but in most cases we are unaware of the program. The programs that have to be removed are the ones that take us out of this moment — they are pulling us into the past of projecting a possible future.

Every moment is a teaching moment. Life is always providing us with something to assist us — to get out of our story created by thoughts (the programming). Whatever you are doing in this moment is exactly what you need at this moment.

To remove the program we have to practice mindfulness activities or meditation. Through practice we can learn to stay in the present moment and bypass the programming. When living in the present moment you will find that life is more rewarding — no mental noise from the programming that is causing you to suffer.

Through practice I no longer suffer. I have dropped the programming that did not serve my best interests. Something miraculous happened along the way. All my various “incurable” diseases had disappeared. The medical community is puzzled, and the term they use is spontaneous healing as there is no scientific explanation for it. It defies logic.

You are more powerful than you imagine — don’t allow the inner critic to maintain control.

What would your life look like if you removed all the programs that cause you to suffer?