In
the past few decades, there has been a revolution in how we perceive the body.
What appears to be an object, a three-dimensional
anatomical structure, is actually a process, a constant flow of energy and
information.
Consider
that in this very moment, your body is changing as it reshuffles and exchanges
its atoms and molecules with the rest of the universe – and you’re doing it
faster than you can change your clothes. In fact, the body you’re using right
now as you read this article is not the same body you woke up with or even the
same body that you had a few minutes ago.
The
fifty trillion cells in your body are constantly talking to each other as they
keep your heart beating, digest your food, eliminate toxins, protect you from
infection and disease, and carry out the countless other functions that keep
you alive. While these processes may seem out of your conscious control,
hundreds of studies have shown that nothing holds more power over the body than
the mind.
To
think is to practice brain chemistry. Every thought, feeling, and emotion
creates a molecule known as a neuropeptide. Neuropeptides travel throughout
your body and hook onto receptor sites of cells and neurons. Your brain takes
in the information, converts it into chemicals, and lets your whole body know
if there’s trouble in the world or cause for celebration. Your body is directly
influenced as these molecules course through the bloodstream, delivering the
energetic effect of whatever your brain is thinking and feeling.
When
you say, “I have a sad heart,” then you literally have a sad heart. If we
looked inside your heart, we would find it affected by molecules that cause
stress and damage, such as excessive amounts of adrenaline and cortisol. If you
say, “I’m bursting with joy,” a scientist could analyze your skin and find it
loaded with neuropeptides that may have antidepressant effects and that may
modulate the immune system. If you say, “I feel exhilarated, unbounded, and
joyful,” and I were to examine your blood, I would find high levels of
interleukin and interferon, which are powerful anticancer drugs.
Expanding
Self-Awareness
One of the keys to harnessing this
potentially unlimited power of the mind is to expand your level of
self-awareness. When your awareness is contracted, the flow of energy and
information throughout your bodymind is hampered. You tend to stay stuck in
toxic emotions such as regret, resentment, and self-pity. Non-nurturing habits
such as overeating and not exercising take hold. The feedback loop between your
mind and your body turns negative, and stress can hit you instantaneously or
grind away at you day after day.
On
the other hand, when you expand your awareness, your energy flows freely.
You’re more flexible, balanced, and creative. You view yourself and the world
with more compassion and understanding. You have more energy and are open to
new possibilities. At this level of awareness, you have all the power you could
possibly need to create a new reality — a reality of vibrant health and
wellbeing.
There
are many practical tools that can help you expand your awareness, including
meditation and mindfulness. In addition, a self-aware approach to life would
include the following prescriptions, which I developed with Dr. Rudy Tanzi when
we co-wrote our new book, Super Brain:
- Be passionate about your life and the experiences you fill it with.
- Remain open to as much input as possible.
- Don’t shut down the feedback loop with judgment, rigid beliefs, and prejudices.
- Don’t censor incoming data through denial.
- Examine other points of view as if they were your own.
- Take responsibility for making conscious choices
- Work on psychological blocks like shame and guilt – they falsely color your reality.
- Free yourself emotionally – to be emotionally resilient is the best defense against growing rigid.
- Harbor no secrets – they create dark places in the psyche.
- Be willing to redefine yourself every day.
- Don’t regret the past or fear the future. Both bring misery through self-doubt.
Awareness
isn’t passive. It directly leads to action (or inaction). As you take
steps to expand your awareness, you will naturally find yourself harnessing
your mind’s infinite power to create greater health, happiness, and love in
your life.
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