Imprinting & Power of Opposites

Hello, my name is Darren Bennicke, and this is *Non-Ordinary Living*. Today I want to talk to you about a single week that changed my life. Not just my habits—but how I understand and approach change itself. It started when I quit smoking. That decision came out of trying to heal a chronic back condition, which led me into deeper body awareness, and then deeper mind awareness. Looking back, this was really the beginning of Non-Ordinary Living—my exploration into Mind–Body Awareness and how to use it to change the conditions of your life. At the time, my partner and I were about to have our second son. We both smoked, and she obviously had to stop. I decided I’d quit as well—and I’d go first—so we weren’t both tearing strips off each other. I was working as a gardener on a blueberry farm and quit cold turkey. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know—but I can tell you it was brutal. Smoking had been my main coping mechanism, the thing that held life at bay. Removing it all at once sent me into a spiral. Depression, rage, anxiety—everything came up. But I’d already been experimenting with energy awareness, so instead of running from it, I decided to explore it. Not by design—just with what I had available. I started paying attention to what was actually happening in my body during withdrawal. Everything was intense. My whole system was contracted. And I asked a simple question: “What if I strip away the story? The reasons. The justifications. What’s actually here?” And what I noticed was this: it was just energy. That realization changed everything. If it’s just energy, can it be used? At first, it was way too much—far more than what my day-to-day life required. That level of energy might be useful for surfing, playing sport, or heavy physical work—but not for normal life. So I experimented. “What happens if I turn the volume down?” And when I did, something clicked. The phrase *The Power of Opposites* came to me. No matter what energy you’re experiencing, there’s a way to flip it and use it—once you learn how to regulate it. At the same time, I noticed something else. My thoughts were constantly retriggering the energy. By this point, I already understood something fundamental: You’re always experiencing life through your nervous system first—but then you interpret that experience with thought. And that interpretation generates emotion. Thought → emotion → state. So I wondered: “What if I could interrupt that process with a single word?” I noticed that every word carries a felt sense. If I think of something I like or dislike, I can feel the shift in my body instantly. So I chose one word. Peace. The moment I brought that word to mind, I felt a shift. So I began practicing it—regularly, throughout the day. I didn’t try to define peace. I didn’t try to force it. I simply invoked it and felt it. I did this for about a week. Then one day, something happened. I don’t even remember what triggered it—but I noticed something immediately. I didn’t react. There was a gap. And I knew, instantly: “I would have reacted here before.” There was another field present underneath the trigger—calm, steady, available. Just for a moment. But that moment changed everything. That’s when I knew this worked. Eventually, I turned this into a simple technique I call *imprinting*. It works like this: * Choose a word. * Drop into your body. * Bring that word to mind. * Feel what it generates. * Then continue with your day. I call it “tapping the gong.” There’s no effort. No forcing. No holding the state. You just notice it, feel it, and move on. You won’t remember every time. You’ll still react sometimes. That’s normal. But if you practice—over a week, two weeks—something will change. One day you’ll notice a shift in your internal conditions. And when your internal conditions change, your external life follows. That’s the essence of my work. Not forcing change. Creating the conditions that allow change to emerge naturally. One technique changed my life. Technically two—the other was learning to regulate energy—but that’s a more advanced layer. Still, you can play with it. That’s all I’ve ever done. Notice something. Play with it. Map it to a principle—energetic or physical. And when I say “play,” I don’t mean childish. I mean unattached. Responsive. Present. So—go play.