Living in a physical and energetic soup laced with fear has enormous consequences to our health and well-being. Such is our reality these days. Fortunately, each of us has the capacity to change the soup to calm. Last week’s blog focused on the Biology of Calm. CLICK HERE to read that blog. Today we focus on the enormous power of the mind and mindset to create or hinder a state of calm.
In 2007, Ali Crum and Ellen Langer published a study on the power of the mind over the body in “Psychological Science.” They describe how they divided the cleaning staff of seven different hotels into two groups. The first group was told how much their work was like a cardio workout. They learned how many calories their work burned every day and so on. The second group, as a control group, was told nothing. Several weeks later, the staff members were tested and measurements were taken. The staff in the first group had actually lost weight and their cholesterol had dropped. There was no change in the second group. Even though both groups had done the same work, the only difference was how they thought about their work. Crum and Langer concluded that “The mental construction of our daily activities, more than the activity itself, defines our reality.”
Here is another, and perhaps a more important reason to mind your perceptions. This is a quote from Dr. Bruce Lipton, author of “The Biology of Belief”. He has a PhD in Developmental Cell Biology.
“The chemistry of the body’s culture medium determines the nature of the cell’s environment within you. The blood’s chemistry is largely impacted by the chemicals emitted from your brain. Brain chemistry adjusts the composition of the blood based upon your perceptions of life. So this means that your perception of any given thing, at any given moment, can influence the brain chemistry, which, in turn, affects the environment where your cells reside and controls their fate. In other words, your thoughts and perceptions have a direct and overwhelmingly significant effect on cells”
As you can see, mind and body are inextricably linked. Let’s take a closer look. If I asked you to point to your brain – where would you point? Well, that’s pretty obvious. If I asked you to point to your mind – where would you point? That’s not so obvious, is it?
In our journey to becoming wiser human beings, we need to understand that there is a big difference between the factual information our senses gather and our interpretation of these events.
We tend to treat our interpretations as fact! The truth is – they are not!
Perception is the process of gathering information through our senses, organizing and making sense of it. Let’s take a moment to dive into the process of gathering information and the interpretation of that information.
Let’s use a cup of coffee as an example. Here is how each sense might gather information about the coffee.
See: What is the colour of the cup? How much coffee is still in it? Is there cream in the coffee?
Smell: Here you experience the odour of the coffee. The memory and interpretation areas of your brain add to your understanding and experience of the smell of coffee.
Taste: Did you put sugar in to sweeten the taste? Does the coffee taste weak or bitter?
Touch: Fresh coffee is usually too hot to touch. The beans or grounds, however, have an interesting texture and feel.
Hearing: Imagine the sound of a cup of coffee being poured. You can almost tell the size of the cup by the sound of the coffee being poured into it.
What the senses have gathered so far is simply information about coffee and a cup of coffee. This process happens naturally without any effort on your part.
As we process this information with our knowledge, memories and attention, a new picture is formed. Here is an example from our breakfast table.
Ed, my husband, does not like strong coffee. I like strong coffee. When we make a pot of coffee in the morning, we have agreed to move the setting on our coffeepot about halfway between medium and strong.
Ed perceives his coffee compromise as a little strong, but ok and I perceive my coffee compromise as a little weak, but still flavourful. It’s fascinating that two cups of coffee from the same pot can have such different responses.
You have a perception that is as unique as you are. Everything that happens to you during your day is perceived in a certain way.
Actually, these are called perceptual filters. They are running unconsciously 24/7. Perceptual filters behave like sunglasses. We change their colour as easily as we change our mood or our thoughts.
What I mean by ‘filter’ is that it is part of our process of perception. That is, how we view our life and everything happening within it. Filters are based on expectations, assumptions, and experiences we’ve learned through life.
Some perceptual filters can also contribute great chaos and strain to your relationships both at home and at work. Some perceptual filters create ease, calm and happiness in your world.
This brings us to the concept of Perceptual Intelligence. Marissa Broughton discussed this ability in her article, Perceptual Intelligence.
“Perceptual Intelligence is the knowledge and understanding that everything we experience (especially thoughts and feelings) are defined by our perception. It’s important to realize that this is an active, not passive, process and therefore we have the ability to control it or change it.”
Perceptual intelligence means that you know you have a choice.
What perception are you choosing? When you are aware of what perceptual filter you are using, you now have the option of changing it. You can choose to view things in a different way. This is the beginning of wisdom.
Am I going to tell you how to create a mindset of calm? No, that is for you to create. Every one of us has our unique version of what it means to be calm.
Here is an exercise and three questions to help you to create that for yourself.
- Think of an example over the past week that triggered you emotionally. It could have been at work, at home or even on errands around town.
- As you recall this situation and how you responded to it ask yourself the following three questions:
- What filter am I using?
- Does this filter serve me, or this situation?
- What way of understanding this situation will serve me better?
- Journal your responses to these questions and any insights you gained from this exercise.
Creating a mindset of calm is an ongoing practice that has great rewards for your health and wellbeing. Stay tuned for next week’s blog as we dive into the emotional landscape of calm.
In Health and Harmony,
For personal and spiritual growth.
For Fun and recreation.
For your career and to boost your focus and productivity
Sound and music has been an integral part of creating community since human beings have been on this planet.
Let’s take a look at the software that handles stress or relaxation. The autonomic nervous system has 2 divisions that work like a teeter-totter. One division takes control, and the other yields. And then the other takes control.
Perceptions are most often formed in our childhood, and often before age 6. They are like sunglasses that filter our responses based on our experiences, and largely on messages from those we trust, including who we trust. When faced with a situation, our stored memories, and our interpretations of them are the foundation of our perceptions. It is important to note that not all of our perceptions serve us. A memory of a dog chasing you as a child make place a fear of dogs in your memories, yet it may be that the dog simply wanted to play. 
In 1998, Robert F Furchgott, Louis J Ingnarro, and Ferid Murad won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery that our cells puff and release nitric oxide. Nitric oxide, is a gas that acts as a signalling molecule in the body. Since its discovery, the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical medical complex have spent hundreds of million of dollars investigating this gas. As a result, medications are now widely available to support cardiovascular disease, and others.