What is a habit? It is a “redundant set of automatic unconscious thoughts, behaviours and emotions that is acquired through repetition,” said neuroscientist Dr Joe Dispenza.

If the brain is a record of the past, when people start their day by thinking about their problems, they are already thinking in the past, Dr Dispenza argued. “People wake up in the morning, they begin to think about their problems. Those problems are circuits, memories in the brain. Each one of those memories are connected to people and things at certain times and places…The moment they recall those memories of their problems, they all of a sudden feel unhappy,” he said.

What we think or feel influences our state of being, said the neuroscientist. “So now, 95 per cent of who we are by the time we are 35 years old, is a memorised set of behaviours, emotional reactions…that function like a computer programme,” he said.

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So, how does one get out of this cycle? “You have to get beyond the analytical mind because what separates the conscious mind from the subconscious is the analytical mind. And that’s where meditation comes because you can teach people to practise how to change their brainwaves, slow them down,” he expressed.

Through meditation, one gains some control over the mind and can begin to make important changes in life. Most people wait for a loss or a tragedy to change but Dr Dispenza emphasised that one could also learn in a state of joy and inspiration.