Let’s face it – EVERYONE wants to feel better, but few of us know how to do that right NOW. And the truth is counter-intuitive, to be sure.
We all know the value of “positive thinking” and it’s true – happy, uplifting thoughts do GREAT things for your body, relationships, productivity, and general health and well-being. But it’s also true that thinking positive thoughts can be very difficult to DO when you’re already down or worried about a problem. And why? Because we are hardwired to be creatures of habit. Literally hardwired for it.
Neurologists have a saying: the neurons that fire together, wire together. And those neurons form networks that, with repetition, become anchored to a wide variety of triggers. SOME of those triggers are actually bodily movements, postures, and routine behaviors that we can EASILY alter.
These are called “pattern interrupts” and they can be things as simple as sitting up straight and dropping your shoulders every hour or so until it becomes a habit to check your posture. Set an alert on your phone to remind you every hour to just check in with your posture. You’ll be surprised at how quickly that new habit forms. And if every time you hear an alert for some other thing and you just happen to realign your spine and get out of that defensive crouch, there’s certainly no harm there.
Here’s another quick pick-me-up: Smile and wave at random strangers.
No, I’m not kidding.
Just make a game out of it to see how many people smile and wave back. You’ll be surprised at how many do. Some of them will look at you like you’ve got 6 heads, which is really pretty amusing. But the vast majority will naturally smile back and make some sort of gesture; a nod, a wave, a movement of the shoulders. And you’ll feel GOOD because we’re also hardwired for cooperation and social safety. We’re also hardwired to respond, not just to the smiles of others, but to ANY smile, including our own. When your face smiles, it sends a signal to YOUR brain that you are happy. Whether or not you actually are happy is irrelevant. If you hold that smile for as little as 15 seconds, you will feel significantly more relaxed, peaceful, and even – you guessed it – happy. And your thoughts will naturally shift in response to the tide of neurotransmitters and hormones that instantly emerge in response to that smile.
Of course, the best news is that when you’re feeling relaxed and happy, you’re also measurably more creative. Which is a very worthwhile attribute when you’ve got a problem to solve.
Cliff Notes: When you’re trying to pull yourself out of a funk, pay attention to your posture, breathing, muscle tension, and facial expression and CHANGE THEM. Set a soft chime alert on your phone every hour to remind you to check in with your body and make sure that the signals your body is sending to your brain match the direction you’d like to move in mentally.
It works.
At Hypnosis Frederick, we’ve got DOZENS of simple techniques to help you take back control of your life. You only get to be here for such a short time, why not make it a GOOD time as well?
We all know the value of “positive thinking” and it’s true – happy, uplifting thoughts do GREAT things for your body, relationships, productivity, and general health and well-being. But it’s also true that thinking positive thoughts can be very difficult to DO when you’re already down or worried about a problem. And why? Because we are hardwired to be creatures of habit. Literally hardwired for it.
Neurologists have a saying: the neurons that fire together, wire together. And those neurons form networks that, with repetition, become anchored to a wide variety of triggers. SOME of those triggers are actually bodily movements, postures, and routine behaviors that we can EASILY alter.
These are called “pattern interrupts” and they can be things as simple as sitting up straight and dropping your shoulders every hour or so until it becomes a habit to check your posture. Set an alert on your phone to remind you every hour to just check in with your posture. You’ll be surprised at how quickly that new habit forms. And if every time you hear an alert for some other thing and you just happen to realign your spine and get out of that defensive crouch, there’s certainly no harm there.
Here’s another quick pick-me-up: Smile and wave at random strangers.
No, I’m not kidding.
Just make a game out of it to see how many people smile and wave back. You’ll be surprised at how many do. Some of them will look at you like you’ve got 6 heads, which is really pretty amusing. But the vast majority will naturally smile back and make some sort of gesture; a nod, a wave, a movement of the shoulders. And you’ll feel GOOD because we’re also hardwired for cooperation and social safety. We’re also hardwired to respond, not just to the smiles of others, but to ANY smile, including our own. When your face smiles, it sends a signal to YOUR brain that you are happy. Whether or not you actually are happy is irrelevant. If you hold that smile for as little as 15 seconds, you will feel significantly more relaxed, peaceful, and even – you guessed it – happy. And your thoughts will naturally shift in response to the tide of neurotransmitters and hormones that instantly emerge in response to that smile.
Of course, the best news is that when you’re feeling relaxed and happy, you’re also measurably more creative. Which is a very worthwhile attribute when you’ve got a problem to solve.
Cliff Notes: When you’re trying to pull yourself out of a funk, pay attention to your posture, breathing, muscle tension, and facial expression and CHANGE THEM. Set a soft chime alert on your phone every hour to remind you to check in with your body and make sure that the signals your body is sending to your brain match the direction you’d like to move in mentally.
It works.
At Hypnosis Frederick, we’ve got DOZENS of simple techniques to help you take back control of your life. You only get to be here for such a short time, why not make it a GOOD time as well?
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