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(…continued from last week)

Emotional Connection

A third aspect of the mind-body connection is emotional connection. You’ll perform at your best, you’ll have the most impact, you’ll feel better about things, when your emotions are connected in a positive way to what it is you’re doing. Whether what you are engaged in is work, athletic performance, healing your body, dealing with other human beings, communicating, speaking in public, whatever—you will do best when there’s an emotional connection.

We need to think about the pieces of self direction—awareness, choice and control.

I need to be ongoingly aware of what’s going on in the world around me and I need to be aware of what’s happening inside of myself, what I’m thinking and what I’m feeling.

Through the awareness of the world around me and how I’m feeling inside, I can make better choices about how I’m going to interact and think and perform in the world as I’m doing whatever it is that I’m doing. Whether what I’m doing is writing, or as I’m speaking, or doing sports. I will make better choices about what I’m going to be doing, because I’m aware of what’s going on around me. And through my choices, I can gain better control over what’s I’m doing and what I’m engaged in.

So, as you maintain your awareness of the world around you and what’s going on within you, as you make choices about who you are, what you want, where you’re going, what you will and will not have, you’re gaining control over your world around you. This makes a giant difference in your ability to be a creator of your own destiny.

Apathy vs. Passion

There’ve been major studies done on the difference between apathy and passion. It seems fairly obvious when you think about it. Apathy – don’t want to anything; don’t care. Passion—fired up, pumped, going where you want to go. But if you look at it, what is the difference in a person experiencing apathy versus passion?

Well passion in and of itself is self-rewarding, apathy also is a reward but the reward for apathy is feeling down, depression, listlessness, lack of energy. A survey of over 200 high schools across the United States found that the students in the top 20% were all self-acknowledgers and self-rewarding.

Yes, they may have had bribes along the way to do well in school. Like sometimes parents would say if you do well then you can have _____. (get your drivers license, have the car to use on weekends, have a special day.) Sometimes there were those kinds of rewards, but most of the time the students did what they did and they worked hard and achieved the goals they did, because it made them feel good inside.

When they would study hard and perform well on tests, in their mind they would think, “Yeah I did it! Look what I achieved!” They would feel good about themselves. The primary reward was inside, not outside. It was nice to hear other people say “Congratulations “ “Good job” “Nice grades”, but the real reward was within themselves. The top 20% were all self-acknowledgers and self-rewarding.

Creating Your Positive Center

For just a moment I want you to play along with me.

I’d like you to imagine a place in nature, maybe a vacation you’ve been on, somewhere that makes you feel really good. You can call it your “happy place” if you want to.

See what it looks like there. Notice the surroundings. If it’s inside, notice what the color of the walls were, and if there were any paintings, or if there are any plants in the environment, or where things are located inside of the structure.

If you’re out of doors notice the trees, or the water, or the sand, or the grass, or whatever is around you. Just notice your environment in detail. See it. Hear the sounds of that place. What it would be like. Are there waves on the beach, music in the background, breeze blowing through the trees, whatever it happens to be—see it, hear it and feel inside of yourself the positive that connects you to that environment.

Notice right now, how you can breathe easier. You feel more quiet inside. You’re more relaxed and at ease. That’s right, calm and quiet automatically right now. As you think about this place you really like, it makes you feel good. Notice how it warms you up within.

Right now you relive that positive place as if you were there. You just make it come alive in your mind.

Research has shown that if you do this for five to ten minutes, there are neuro-chemicals that will be released that physiologically relax you as if you were deeply asleep—though you are wide awake.

Using Your Happy Place

If you use this when you want to learn, research documents it takes learning and remembering to a more effective level. Calmness is one of the states that really assists whole brain functioning. When you’re calm it opens up your brain so the neurons fire more easily. You’re more easily able to access the information you desire.

The second state is being positive. It is a feeling that things are okay, things are moving forward in a way that’s appropriate. That positive feeling of okayness corresponds in the brain to a similar feeling of gratitude. The feeling of gratitude causes a release of neuro-chemicals that cause whole brain functioning—allowing more of your mind to be put into play.

So when you’re taking a test, or you want to learn or study something—feeling calm, feeling this positive relaxed sensation like the feeling of gratefulness, stimulates your brain to work better. This makes a deeper connection in your neurology.

Remember that one of the best things that you can do for yourself prior to any learning experience is take a few minutes and go to this positive place and relax—feel grateful for that wonderful place. It opens up and triggers whole brain functioning so your brain will input information easier.

Or if you’re in a situation where you need to remember something, when you go through this process, it allows the information to feed back more easily out of your subconscious memory bank.

This positive process is helpful and healthful. Awareness, choice, and control make that positive emotional connection. See, hear and feel it from the positive, because that positive enhances your whole brain functioning and energizes your physiology.

(to be continued…)

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