My Experience at 40 years of Zen

14 Dec My Experience at 40 years of Zen

For those of you who are not aware of the 40 years of Zen program, I will provide a quick background. 40 Years of Zen is an intensive week of neurofeedback and emotional work designed by Dave Asprey, owner of Bulletproof Executive. Dave is a professional bio-hacker and has used neurofeedback and other tools to upgrade his mind and body to almost superhuman levels. Out of the 300k+ he’s spent on upgrading himself, he claims neurofeedback to be one of the most beneficial tools he’s used to date. To find out more information about the 40 Years of Zen program you can go to: https://40yearsofzen.com.

Before I go into my week of 40 years of Zen I first want to start off with a little bit of information about myself and how I was feeling prior to the program. Every individual is very unique with their own story to tell and results will vary from person to person.

Throughout my life I have been a very motivated individual and have done very well in my career. In fact, my career at one point was the only thing that mattered to me (to the detriment of my relationships at the time). I’ve always seen myself as the strong female type and took on a very masculine energy. I wanted to succeed at any cost.

I am now 31 and during the last 6 years of my life I realized that my die-hard attitude was not working for me and I started to seek a different approach towards life. I began to work on and develop my spiritual and feminine side. I went to workshops, studied hypnotherapy, NLP and past life regressions. I practiced yoga and even went to Sedona for a long weekend to open my heart chakra. To date, I have spent over $50,000 on my self-development and continue to spend more every day. I have also done almost 80 sessions of NeuroOptimal (a form of neurofeedback you can do at home).

This year (2016) started off great. I joined the Bulletproof coaching training program, started NeuroOptimal and began the development of a smart phone app that I had in mind for years. 2016 has been a very lucrative year financially and I decided to pour my resources into further self-development. Hence why I chose 40 years of Zen.

Prior to going to 40 years of Zen it seemed as if things were starting to fall apart. I started to feel anxious in my sales job. I was depressed and didn’t know how to kick the feeling. I would come home and reach for wine and collapse on the couch with my boyfriend and dog and settle in for a night of TV and Facebook scrolling. I was struggling. I felt as if NeuroOptimal should have SOLVED all of my problems. Although I felt great at times it almost seemed to exaggerate and amplify my discontent in my sales position and with corporate America.

I was struggling with the fact that I wasn’t following my passion, that I wasn’t living my dream. It seemed as if I was battling myself every day to remain in my sales position, a job that I knew in my heart left me unfulfilled. Working on my side projects did not bring the satisfaction and fulfillment that I was desperately seeking. At one point I felt as if it would be better to just disappear or even worse, die.

I wanted 40 Years of Zen to be exactly what I was seeking to overcome this battle within.

And this leads me to my experience….

I arrived in Seattle very excited about the week ahead of me and to get away from the corporate grind for a week. My boyfriend and I decided to start the trip off by staying in downtown Seattle and seeing the sites. While I mainly stuck with a Bulletproof diet, my boyfriend strayed a bit and enjoyed some of the eclectic food that Seattle had to offer (including gluten, terrible!).  As a present to him I decided to pay for him to come to 40 Years of Zen with me. I wanted us to do this as a team.

On the first day I felt like a kid on Christmas day as we pulled up to the beautiful 8000 square foot home surrounded by a sprawling landscape of trees in Kent, Washington. As we walked into the home we were greeted by a fire and a warm cup of Bulletproof decaf coffee, a welcome treat on a cold winter’s day. We were warmly introduced to the facilitators, Dr. Drew and Isvari who were there to guide us throughout the entire week.

The first day went by quickly. We first started with alpha wave training. Dr. Drew uses customized systems by Cygnet specifically designed for 40 years of Zen. During the alpha training I felt calm. The session consisted of a gravity chair, red LED lights above and headphones strapped tightly around our heads with white noise and gongs chiming in the background. The increase in white noise meant our alpha waves were increasing and the gong bells indicated our brain waves were synchronized.

I was very disappointed with my first alpha training. My alpha seemed low, especially compared to some of the others in our group. I quickly realized that my disappointment was my ego seeking to compete and feel superior to others. I decided to let go of that feeling and stay open minded to the process. Every person was there as an individual and had their own unique brain and history. I recognized I needed to be gentle with myself and let the process unfold naturally without seeking to compare and compete.

After my first pod session we were taught a powerful forgiveness exercise and this is where the true transformation started.

During the forgiveness exercise I went through countless situations in my life that deeply affected me. Growing up I had a very troubling relationship with my father that affected my ability to trust men. As I went through the forgiveness exercises my alpha waves began to grow in size. At one point I discovered a broken child inside of me that was waiting to be released and as she healed, she grew into my adult body. This was one of the most profound experiences I had at 40 years of Zen. I truly believe the forgiveness work was worth the full amount of the training plus more.

After the session my heart was feeling completely raw. Shortly after a de-briefing session I was treated with acupuncture to allow the energy to move through my body and felt lighter as a result.

During the week we also worked on releasing fears and re-writing many of our life stories. As we re-wrote each story and released our fears our alpha waves increased dramatically.

40 years of Zen provided some amazing technology. One of the tools included was a spider cap that allowed us to work very specific parts of our brain. After getting a full scan of my brain Dr. Drew revealed to me that I have a “high” beta point in my brain near the frontal cortex. This high beta point caused me to experience anxiety and irritability and also made me more prone to violent tendencies. The spider cap allowed me to work on this very specific region of my brain so I could down regulate the beta waves and allow that area to fire together properly (excuse my lack of “scientific language,” I am repeating it as I remembered it).

Throughout the week we were treated with great care. Our chef, Gil, prepared fantastic meals for lunch and dinner and we were provided with every supplement we needed to maintain focus and energy throughout the day (including tons of collagen bars!).

Our week was filled with emotional work, heart rate variability, acupuncture, targeted brain work, neurofeedback and I was also delighted to discover that we were able to train higher frequencies throughout the week (brain waves above alpha).

It has only been 24 hours since ending the program and I am feeling calm, motivated and looking forward to returning to my normal life. My brain definitely seems to be working overtime and integrating the training. I was also surprised to see that my alpha waves doubled over the course of the week, a remarkable change!

I am so thankful for the team at 40 years of Zen, they were stellar! Isvari is an absolutely fantastic facilitator who always puts you at ease and makes you feel truly listened to. Dr. Drew is also a remarkable man with many talents and I would not be surprised to see his name in history books one day.

Some tips for the week:

-Make sure to stay OFF all caffeine the week prior to 40 years of Zen. Caffeine suppresses alpha waves. In general, if you are feeling depressed or agitated in your normal life it is a good idea to reduce or eliminate caffeine and include L-Theanine in your supplement stack to raise alpha waves. The staff also advises to stay off caffeine the week after.

-Clear your work schedule for the week during 40 years of Zen. The facilitators are VERY serious about you staying off your phone during the program so you can stay in a calm state throughout the week.

-Try and eat as Bulletproof as possible before attending the program.

-Don’t be afraid to ask for things! I was able to train some of the higher frequencies because I asked for it. The staff won’t always agree but they will usually try and accommodate your requests.

-Keep in mind the full effects of the program can take up to 6 weeks or even longer to manifest. The facilitators encourage you to eliminate all alcohol after the program (for 6 weeks at least) to allow your brain to integrate and build new neural networks and promote neurogenesis. Alcohol and sugar kill brain cells and it is important to stay Bulletproof and follow their supplement plan after the program.

-And last but not least do not expect this to be a cure all! Yes this program is amazing but you HAVE to do the work and continue to bio-hack after the program. Self-development is a life long process and it’s never ending. I believe we are unlimited beings and that’s what makes life so much fun.

Update on my progress (two weeks after ending the program):

Since returning home I have noticed a few major changes in my behavior and habits. My meditation practice has deepened. I am less reactive and anxious, especially when I am driving in traffic. I have a new zest for life and find myself using affirmations and visualizations again. I am setting HUGE goals for 2017 and I feel motivated to accomplish them. I also have an intense drive to continue to upgrade my brain. I will be getting a full Brain Map and testing done on January 10th and will follow this testing with 20 sessions of intensive and targeted neurofeedback to enhance the changes I’ve made at 40 years of Zen.

Overall I would highly recommend 40 years of Zen. Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions at Sarahowensaz@gmail.com