Health & Wellness

HARNESSING THE POWER OF YOUR MIND!

BY KIM RAAIJMAKERS

Ever stepped into a meeting and already begin to feel irritated when you see who is there?

Is there a song that you hear takes you right back to high school? DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO FEEL OR HOW YOU WANT TO RESPOND.

So you could choose to feel excited or motivated. Or maybe you want to calm yourself down and remember to breathe.

Maybe it’s a smell, that takes you right back to a specific place and time? These are natural ways your brain has associated certain sounds and smells with a memory or feeling. Within neuroscience this is called anchoring. You’ve anchored a specific sensation based on something that you see, hear, smell, touch or feel. This happens when you in a heightened state of emotion, both positive and negative; your brain takes note to remember, so that next time it is easier for your brain to know what to do. So now each time you hear that song, smell or feeling, your trigger an automatic reaction in your brain which creates a specific feeling or behavior.

This is a reason why if you don’t like conflict, you may go into a state of avoidance.

Same as each time I hear “Time of Your Life” by Green Day I’m taken back to my high school graduation and prom. The feelings mixed of relief to have graduated, nervous about what comes next, excitement to start a new journey, sadness to the ending of a community in which I had spent so many years. Just this one song triggers so many feelings and thoughts.

Why does any of this matter? CHOOSE IF YOU WANT IT TO BE SOMETHING YOU HEAR, SEE, FEEL OR SMELL. All that upbeat music that plays before a sports game is meant to pump up the audience, you can do the same. Pick your favorite song that gets you feeling energetic and motivate.

Or do you want to calm down when you’re irritated or stressed? You could choose to take a deep breath (or three) before you respond. As a side note, this has worked so well that my children now know that I’m calming myself down when the inevitable complaints over dinner begin, because I’ve trained my brain to just breathe rather than to react.

GET STARTED AND PRACTISE.

This does not happen all at once, you will have to take the steps to put the feeling you want with the anchor you want to create. Put on a song that gives you that sense of energy and play it loud, dance to it and create an experience from it. Do it every day and you will notice you walk away with the energy and motivation you wanted.

Each time you start to feel stressed, take a deep breath. And if you can’t remember to do this in the moment, practise by imaging yourself in that situation and then seeing yourself taking a deep breath.

It is not about getting this perfect, it will take time for the anchors to take hold and become as automatic as the ones that you have accumulated naturally over your life. How awesome is it when you know you have the power to get your brain to work for you! The possibilities are endless on how and where you can use this.

You can make these anchors yourself. You can use them to pump yourself up in the morning with energy, confidence and motivation. You can use anchors to calm yourself down in moments when you need it.

Up until now you have been accidently creating anchors which trigger automatic behaviors. Like when you hear the name of your high school bully and begin feeling that sense of dread or stress. Or how when some says there is a test or exam at the end, you already tensing up and thinking I hope I can remember the answers. And honestly, it doesn’t matter what the test is, this is just what happens every time!

So what can you do to create the anchors that you want? So what are you ready to try today?