Mindset. Some think it’s a “woo woo” concept. A hippy dippy thing, “peace, love, happiness...” For me, it’s science. It makes sense. Thoughts manifest physically in the body. Think about your greatest fear. What are you scared of? What makes you anxious? Your brain just produced adrenaline. Notice that your heart rate speeds up, your breath becomes faster and more shallow, your eyes dilate to be able to detect and see better, your hearing gets sharper. You might shrug your shoulders up towards your ears, creating neck and shoulder tension. Fists clenched. Frozen yet ready to run or attack at any minute.
Think about something or someone you love, that makes you smile and laugh. Your shoulders drop, a great big sigh slows the breath, your muscles relax, you’re unknowingly grinning. Your brain just produced oxytocin and dopamine. The feel good hormones. We produce them anytime we feel good, and I talk about this A LOT in pregnancy, labor, and birth.
Even in the moments we feel out of control, we can control our thoughts. We can begin to change the conversation in our head the way we want it to go. What stops most of us, is that we don’t believe it. How we can tell ourselves something that isn't true? Guess what?? It doesn’t have to be true. Our subconscious mind doesn’t decipher what’s true or not. It doesn’t have the ability to reason, therefore, it believes whatever it sees or hears. Subliminal messages, anyone?
Every little things we hear, see, feel, smell, all day, everyday...triggers us in some way. Triggers don't have to be all bad. We have positive triggers too! So why don't we focus on those? Write yourself notes, leave yourself reminders, set alarms on your phone, place things about your environment that are happy and positive and start to rewire the brain for positivity. I have post its on my fridge, in my cabinets, in my car. I have dry erase love messages written on every mirror in my house. It is my screen saver on my phone. So go! Feed the subconscious positive thoughts and the body will respond. Read here for a great explanation and daily habits to help you do this.
What are you feeding your brain? What is your mental diet? Let's chat!
