The Most Important Things to Remember From This Tutorial

• If the brain doesn't get what it needs, the mind won't do what you want. Try to identify this rule in the information about violent behavior and war above.
• You become more like whatever you are surrounded by. Try to identify this rule in the information about personality above.

Paste your assessment sheet into your Captain's log; it will be needed to refer back to. You can wipe your original results now if you want to; just keep the figures on the sheet, your notes and your template.

It can take a while to get the hang of a routine for regular NH, so take your time and look at your template and the NHA guide again if you get confused. Having the information there on the template s the most important thing, because we’ll look into each individual network in greater depth as we go along and relate it to your results, so just start the first stage and let yourself get used to doing something new. This is walking the path.

The information and ‘mini’ self assessments in future tutorials will help to narrow down and fine-tune exactly what you personally should concentrate on in each network as you are going along.

Don’t forget; if you need any help at this stage don’t hesitate to contact us. Use a nickname for confidentiality.

 DO IT NOW

Hacks For Improving & Balancing 'X' Network

Certain hacks work best with certain combinations of networks, and sometimes you can use your strengths to upgrade weaknesses. This has been indicated wherever it applies so you can look at your template and see if they apply to you. If so, they are likely to give you the fastest results.

Using Gestures and Speech to Enable Faster Learning and More Efficient Planning (works especially well for N2, N4 or N5)

The drive to gesture when speaking is fundamental to human nature. If you have thought about this you probably assumed that we gesture to help others understand what we are saying. But gesture also serves another purpose. Moving your hands can help you think.

Researchers have become increasingly interested in the connection between the body and thought – in the ways that our physical body shapes abstract mental processes. Previous research has shown that students who are asked to gesture and speak aloud while solving math problems are better at learning how to do them.

Saying aloud what you want to do (even as simply as “I want to find the answer to this”), and making an accompanying gesture (we find the 'peace sign' “v” gesture works very well) involves the whole body in learning. The brain associates the problem, the speech and gesture in a way that makes other associations easier, and this speeds up its processing.

The same hack can work in any situation where the person who is speaking and gesturing is also trying to understand or learn.

(This discovery and others have instigated important changes in the field of cognitive psychology. The old notion of Cartesian Dualism is now being replaced by Embodied Cognition. Embodied Cognition views concepts as bodily representations with bases in perception, interaction and emotion. There is much evidence supporting the Embodied Cognition view; we have detailed, experimentally supported accounts of how embodiment through gesture plays a role in learning new concepts.)

Kit List Planning (works especially well for N1, N2 and N4, bonus if you have a strong N3)

Make three lists, for what you would include in a household first aid kit, a going to an unexpected party kit, and an emergency kit for unexpected outdoor survival. Imagine you are making up these lists for someone else, and include everything they might need, like food, any special clothing or tech.

Now ask yourself how many of these kits you could actually assemble from what resources you have already, and begin to assemble them, in three bags or boxes or different shelves in a cupboard. If you cannot afford items that were on the original lists, replace them with items that serve a similar purpose but are less expensive. Each time you do this hack, try to add another item to one of your kits. When you have all three assembled think how cool that will be; you are ready to respond to any emergency, even sudden parties when none of your clothes are clean! If you really enjoy this hack, make up kits for other circumstances (for example, someone really cool unexpectedly staying overnight, emergency munchies, things you often run out of, or whatever you like)

Input Control Practice - Using Cognition and Creativity to Enable Faster Learning and More Efficient Memory (works especially well for N3, bonus if you have strong N4/N5)

People with strong front nets often have good cognitive skills and good ability to think objectively. Pessimistic, paranoid or obsessive attitudes greatly slow down learning and inhibit memory, because they increase the level of anxiety we experience in a given event, and even cause more anxiety with their self sabotage thought and behavior patterns. If you are consciously aware of any of these tendencies, you can significantly improve your memory and learning speed by hacking rear nets using cognitive behavioral therapy.

In cognitive orientated therapies techniques vary, but commonly may include keeping a diary of significant events and associated feelings, thoughts and behaviors; gradually facing activities which may have been avoided; trying out new ways of behaving and interacting; monitoring thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors and identify those which are dysfunctional, inaccurate, or unhelpful (the aim is to replace or transcend them with those which are more realistic and useful.) Relaxation, mindfulness meditation and distraction techniques are also commonly included. (We will explore CBT in greater depth in future tutorials, but if you wish to look into it further now consult the “Disorders & problems” section of the Library).

Input Control Practice - Off the Racket (good for N2, N3 or N4)

Get sound-wise. You live in a sonic world, constant vibrations stimulate microscopic hair cells deep inside your ears. These frequencies can influence our neurochemistry and our brainwave patterns, and hence our mood, learning, and health.Some of it we can put to beneficial use; as inspiring or relaxing music, as interaction in speech, as part of the beauty of nature, but what we don't usually notice is the racket of noise pollution we get as an unfortunate side effect of much technology. We usually ignore it as a background ambient in our lives, but biology doesn't ignore anything that is able to influence it.

The main thing noise pollution does is overaccustom us to distraction -so that we are distracted when it is no longer there (in the same way we notice a ticking clock only when it stops). This decreases your awareness, so if you live in the 'average' noisy environment where you can hear computers humming or traffic or household appliances, try to find or set up a 'sound free zone'. You might find an outdoor place where nobody goes if you live near a rural area, you might build a 'retreat pod' or a REST chamber as your soundproof zone, it might be that your neighborhood is really quiet between two and five in the morning, you might find it's really quiet in the attic or in the cellar, but wherever it is find the quietest place you know and go there at least once a week for thirty minutes.

Accustom yourself to silence and listening to the faint sounds you can still hear, and relax. If you feel uneasy in the silence, it's likely that you are overaccustomed to distraction and you should practice until silence seems just as 'normal' as your usual environment. At this point your overall awareness will increase and your attention will improve.

We also use sound in ways that harm ourselves; for example you wouldn't start the day by giving yourself an injection of anxiety hormones, would you? But the rude awakening that alarm clocks produce gives us exactly that each morning -what a charming way to start the day!The technical term for the unpleasant shock of awaking to an alarm is acoustic startle response. As well as giving us that squirt of anxiety it raises our blood pressure and heart rate (all loud, sudden unexpected noises do this).

If you've been living with this kind of rude awakening there are some things you can do. You can swap a noisy alarm for one that's more musical but just as insistent, you can arrange your life so that you can live without the alarm at weekends, you can go to bed earlier so that you awake naturally. Later on in NH you will learn how to be your own alarm clock, and then the problem will solve itself.

Input Control Practice - Fung Shui For the Laid Back (good for N1, N2, N3 and N4)

Do you lead the sort of laid back lifestyle where you like to get things done very simply without wasting any time or energy? A chaotic environment can literally drain your energy, cause additional anxiety, and waste your time, especially when you can't find things! Conversely, a beautifully organized, 'everything-to-hand' environment can be a haven where you can escape from the hassles in your life (plus it looks really cool when you can find everything, and you are ready to go and party at a moment's notice).

Working on de-chaosing your space, doing some creative decorating or simply moving things about are all ways you can work toward the goal of having a beautiful and expediently organized living space, and it saves you wasting time that could be better spent on enjoying yourself.

By 'chaotic' we do not mean messy; messy is the sign of activity and life, and it's fine as long as you know where to find everything. By 'organized' we do not mean tidy; prisons are tidy!

Take these simple steps to make life easier for yourself and prevent wasting time:

Stand in the middle of your room. Move the things you use the most closest to where you are likely to be sitting when you need them. Put things you hardly ever use in the least accessible areas, and the things you use regularly somewhere you don't have to bend, crawl or stretch in order to reach them or to put them back. Develop the habit of putting things back in their 'areas' (even if this is just a different pile in each corner), then you always know roughly where to find what sort of things.

Do you constantly have to get up and go into another room to get stuff when you're working in another? Consider moving whatever it is into the main room. Possibilities include a kettle and tea bags or coffee maker actually next to your desk (you're at home; you can do what the fuck you like!); land line telephones or mobiles closer to hand, diaries and reference books etc on shelves right next to you, , DVDs right next to the DVD player; a munchies box of dried fruit & nuts on the desk, garbage bin close by, and remote controls have a designated “home” where they live at all times after being used (very close to where you are sitting). Get into the habit of putting them back there.

You can apply this kind of control to all areas. For example if you hate wasting time washing up, use paper plates (its more hygienic anyway). Think about what other time-and task-saving changes you could make. 

You will find more hacks to choose from in previous and forthcoming tutorials.

Exercises for improving & balancing 'Y' and 'Z' networks

Order Out of Chaos (works especially well for N1, N2 or N4, bonus if both your strongest networks are down one side (N1+N5 or N2+N4) or you have strong hemispheric dominance)

Throw on some music and attack the clutter in a drawer, a room, or your whole house. Pick a mundane, uncomplicated task such as window cleaning, polishing metal, cleaning tech or washing up, and turn it into a concentration exercise -Repetitive movements of cleaning or dusting can loll you into a near-meditative state, the physical activity of washing up or vacuuming your carpets can change your chemistry and reduce anxiety. Even if it doesn't work, you’ll be rewarded with a cleaner space and more soothing surroundings when you’re done.

Judging Direction of Sounds (works especially well for N1 & N2 or N4, needs assistant)

You need to be blindfolded; Sit In a chair in the middle of a large room. Block one ear with a hand or an earplug. Now get a friend to move about quietly making sharp sounds in different parts of the room. Repeat the experiment with both ears open. Which directions are the hardest to be sure of? Make a chart and check the response several times in each position.

If your sense of direction with two ears open is not excellent repeat this as an exercise at regular intervals.

Neurokinetic Body Imaging (works especially well for N1 & N2 or N4, bonus if you have a strong N3)

Start off any imaging session with relaxation and a general sensory focus. Stand erect with feet apart and sense how your body feels now. Accept things as they are, without value judgments.

Now imagine you are an android. You weigh about he same because your skeleton is a strong light metal or carbon fiber. You have just been built and you are currently attached to a 'center line' that is calibrating your posture. The center line goes all the way up inside your spine from your pelvis and comes out the top of your head, it is attached to a support high above and it holds you in perfect postural balance (this line can be imagined as made of laser light, monofilament, steel wire, or as an abstract - anything that feels light.)

Allow your weight to hang from this line (relax your arms and shoulders). Sway slightly as though a breeze is blowing you, forwards and backwards, left and right, and feel your skeleton's center of balance. Notice that when you are lined up with this center line, your posture feels more comfortable. Imagine yourself as supported; as though you are held up and balanced by the line from the top of your head.

Once you are able to imagine this, begin slow movement. Learn how to remain aligned with your center support line and move about (this can feel uncannily like being a puppet -but don't worry; you're the puppeteer). Finding your center line is of fundamental importance to all movement and posture including breathing. If you do a martial art you may know this technique already by some other name.

With the center line image established in a standing position, swing the arms around the axis, turning from the waist so the hips do not move. Swing back and forward in an easy manner. The slower the movements can be done in image work the more useful information you are likely to be able to pick up. Another useful movement is bending the knees. Let the sacrum drop just a few inches, then slide up the long center line. Repeat.

Gradually incorporate this image into tasks such as going up and down stairs, walking around your home, or outdoors.

Ninja (good for all rear networks and N4)

a) Find two positions in which you can balance for one whole minute on one leg. One on the right, one on the left. Make a note of them or draw stick figures in your Captain's log. The next day, find two different positions until you have found four for each side. Continue practicing these for another ten days, choosing a different pair of your positions each day. How much has your wobble reduced? When it has reduced noticeably, proceed to the next stage.

b) Stand. Move up onto tip toe. Keep balanced, lower slowly through stand to crouch and on (if possible) to sitting on your haunches. Then slowly up again. Arms may be held in different positions each time. Out to front, to side etc. This is a difficult exercise and to do ten up and down without overbalancing may take you some time. When you can do this consistently, move on to the next stage.

c) Create something that you can walk along and balance on, close to the floor. A plank or beam of wood is perfect, a very low thin table or row of bricks or even books (of the same size) is fine. Don't make it higher than one row by piling things up. Walk along it forwards without looking. Walk backwards. Balance on one leg. Become confident on this 'plank' then move on to the next stage. (If you use walking in a straight line as a test for sobriety, remember that this test may now be screwed.)

d) Using your awareness of the whole body find the place that your body balances over this supportive plank. Then begin to move arms and legs and notice how the center of gravity changes position depending on the shape you are making. Try and pin point this center in your body and notice how it shifts in relation to changes in body form. Don't worry about losing your balance in this part; just play around with it in an aware frame of mind. You will gradually internalize and embody an awareness of your center of gravity.

At first large movements are OK. Then as you get the hang of it reduce the size and speed of movements until movements are very slow and small. The most important information will be found on this fine-tuned level of perception.

Syncopation (works well for N2 & N4)

Sit down and raise your right arm in front of you. Pretending you are drawing anti-clockwise circles on a wall and move your hand/arm accordingly. Now begin to rotate your right foot/lower leg in a clockwise direction.

What happens?

For most people it becomes impossible to do both at the same time, much like the childhood game of rubbing your tummy with one hand while patting the top of your head with the other. Consciously we desire to do both actions, but the unconscious part of our processing confuses the unfamiliar mixture of sensory input. You will find though, that with practice both feats can be accomplished. We advise you to master these kinds of sensory motor tricks because they too are good for your intelligence. You’ll find that the sensory motor tasks you already do, such as typing or playing a musical instrument or driving, will all improve, as will your overall hand/eye coordination. Most importantly, this is one of the paths towards hacking into the unconscious, so it’s good practice for later fun.

Note: some people find this really, really hard to do. If you’re one of them, or if you just want to cheat and take a shortcut, ask a good friend or member of your family to hold onto your arm and ‘make’ your hand do the anticlockwise movement, then concentrate just on the leg. Your body will learn the overall task without your having to work so hard, although your assistant might think it’s a peculiar request.

Mission Possible (especially good for N3 or N5)

Copy this list below or print it, leaving a gap between the lines:

• Get in touch with a friend that you haven’t seen for a while.
• Watch a funny television programme or film.
• Exercise physically for about five minutes.
• Cut your television viewing by half this week.
• Go somewhere new -A concert, movie, unusual place, museum, library, forest or strange restaurant.
• Start a new hobby, join an online or offline social group, or learn a new skill.
• Go for a 20 minute walk next time it's sunny.
• Spend ten minutes listening to relaxing or uplifting music
• Take a luxurious hot bath
• Stop watching and reading the news this week.

Take your copy of this list and cut it up so that each suggestion is a strip of paper, fold up the strips and put them inside a hat or a (clean) sock.

Once a week, pull one out at random. Your mission is to complete the request as best as you are able. Note which suggestions you had problems with and consider why. Return the paper to the hat if you fail the mission, if you succeed, throw it away.

Finally, write or print one more suggestion and add it to the hat. Make it something reasonably simple like the others. Things that you keep forgetting to do could be good choices.

Your overall mission is to empty the hat.

Through a Glass Darkly (especially good for N3, N4 or N5)

Take a printed page of anything fictional that you haven't read before and hold it in front of a mirror so that the writing is reversed. Read it.

Was it more difficult to keep track of the story? If so, you are a 'rescanner' and you will be able to speed up your reading ability and improve your imagination with this exercise. Choose a different page every time, and it must be something you have not already read.