How Do You Feel (in Your Body)?

How Do You Feel (in Your Body)?

Discover Magazing blogger, Gemma Terlach describes a new study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which included more than 700 participants from Sweden, Taiwan and Finland. (A solid cross-cultural sample!) The researchers explored where emotions register in the body and asked participants to map the physical correlates of a variety of emotions.

The intention of the study was to find out whether there is consistent "body mapping" from person-to-person. For example, when someone says they feel grief in their heart, or anxiety in their gut, is this experienced in a similar place for each of us? That's what the researchers found! This is regardless of national or cultural differences.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2013/12/30/body-atlas-reveals-where-we-feel-happiness-and-shame/#.UsJTTPRDuSo

Those who participated in the study were exposed to stories, words, and facial expressions that prompted an emotional response. They then drew -- mapped -- where in their bodies they felt the emotions. While pride appears most in the head and anger tends to be felt in the chest area, HAPPINESS is felt throughout the body.

So the next time something happens and

you can't figure out how it's impacting you,

check where you're experiencing it in your body.

You can shift how you feel emotionally by shifting the sensations in your body.

Try mindfulness-based practices or any other tool in this Toolkit series, notice the effects, then take you next "right" step.

Get Back to Nature

Get Back to Nature

If you're feeling down or need a shift in perspective, why not spend a little time getting back to nature? 

Recently, I was talking with my 21-year-old nephew about what he does in his spare time. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he loves to go hiking and camping. He said he tends to sleep better than he does in his own home AND he has THE BEST dreams!

Which made me think about how little we're in contact with nature these days, yet how healing it can be to connect with it. Each morning, I walk my dog around my neighborhood. My favorite place is a road that winds around a little lake. It transports me beyond the city I live in and into another dimension. (At least until my dog spies a squirrel or another dog and then I'm right back into the here-and-now!)

A few years ago, I was introduced to the concept of earthing. The website and book (see www.Earthing.com) present information based on research that shows just how much we are positively affected by connecting -- literally! -- to the earth and nature. These days, we're buffered so much by rubber-soled shoes and other non-organic material that we've lost an intimate connection with the earth. And what an amazing connection this can be!

Just 15-20 minutes of direct contact (think: going barefoot) with the earth, our immune system is bolstered, our moods can change for the better, we sleep better and we're more vibrant overall. Spend more time and the effects increase, too.

Here's an article I discovered:

Nature Nurtures Creativity After Four Days of Hiking

Dec. 12, 2012 — Backpackers scored 50 percent better on a creativity test after spending four days in nature disconnected from electronic devices, according to a study by psychologists from the University of Utah and University of Kansas.

     "This is a way of showing that interacting with nature has real, measurable benefits to creative problem-solving that really hadn't been formally demonstrated before," says David Strayer, a co-author of the study and professor of psychology at the University of Utah.

Cont. at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121212204826.htm

More good news:
Just LOOKING at a photo of nature can have similar effects! So, if it's too cold or wet or hot outside, consider pulling out your favorite photo of your favorite place in nature. It can work wonders!

Notice how you feel after spending 15-20 minutes connecting with nature and bring its natural, vibrant energy back with you to your current situation. What has changed?

Journaling for Transformation

Journaling for Transformation

 Becoming more authentic and aware of what we are thinking and feeling requires change. Change takes work and it is through self-examination and reflection that we can make sense of the situations we face and information we access. Journaling just 20 minutes daily has many positive benefits; if you want to use it to tackle a difficult situation you’re now facing, try the following approach:

Use a “What? So What? Now What?” model of exploring the events of your life to access the wisdom of the connection between your head and your heart:

What? = What happened? What was the event that you experienced? What did someone say or do?

So What? = How did the situation/event affect you? What thoughts/feelings/reactions are you left with? What else does this remind you of?

Now What? = Focusing on your actions or beliefs or feelings, if you could replay the event/situation, what would you change? What did you learn? What was the good that came from this?

Writing about your experiences can be helpful and healing. AND, there's new research that shows how to edit your personal history which leads to more healthy coping in the end.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/01/01/258674011/editing-your-lifes-stories-can-create-happier-endings?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=DailyDigest&utm_campaign=20140104

Don't have a journal? 

Don't worry! 

It doesn't take much. Open a document on your computer and just start typing. Or, take a notebook and start writing. You might be surprised at the results.

Let me know what you discover.

Dr. Suz

Just One Thing

Just One Thing

To transform your current situation, really,

only one thing has to change for it to be different.

What is ONE THING you can do, think, or feel differently?

It needs to be something YOU (not someone else) can do, think or be.

DO (think or feel) that one thing now!

Rick Hanson has a new blog and e-letter that highlights this strategy. 
http://www.rickhanson.net/writings/just-one-thing

Rick's book, Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom serves as the inspiration for his more frequent writing in the blog and his new book, is a compilation of (get this -- sound familiar?) 52 different practices for assisting you with reaching a deeper sense of well-being and resilience.  

Transformation has many different voices and avenues. Choose just one that suits you IN THIS MOMENT.

Let me know how it goes!

Suzan

Suzan K. Thompson, Ph.D., LPC

Allow Yourself to Fail

Allow Yourself to Fail

What would you do if you ALLOWED yourself –just this one time – to fail?

Make room for failure.

Celebrate it.

Have fun with it.

Redefine “failure” as “steps toward progress” –a means of learning.

How are you going to choose to fail

in one small aspect of your current situation?

I've just discovered this beautiful song, posted on Ruth Buczynski's NICABM blog:
http://www.nicabm.com/nicabmblog/if-i-were-brave/

The song highlights women who made a decision to be courageous, risking failure.

If you were to take that risk, what would YOU do?

Keep it Simple (and Clean)

This tool comes from Robert Powers, a counselor/therapist who has wonderful ideas:

Hi,

I enjoyed going through your card set, and I have an exercise to add. When anxiety flares up pick any simple activity you can finish in less than 30 minutes: empty the dishwasher, sweep the porch, take out the trash. Completing any task gives us the feeling that we have power and are in control, and action breaks the stuck feeling that often comes with anxiety.

Best,

Robert

 

So, the next time you're feeling stuck or when anxiety tightens its grip, get busy. Get clean and clear!

 

Be well!

 

Suzan

Pray

Pray

What prayer appeals to you at this moment?

 

If you can’t think of one, try this:

Mother/Father/God/Infinite Oneness,

I release this concern/ person/ situation into Your Hands.

There are really four parts to praying, from my experience: Ask (pray for what you want/need). Listen (for the whisper or urge or guidance). Take action (on what has been provided without hesitation). Receive (with gratitude!).

So, today, I prayed, asking Spirit to show me sweetness in my life on the emotional, mental and spiritual levels. I was in a minor funk, needing "something extra". I asked, listened, then took action by continuing to move through my day, trusting that what I asked for would come. 

And they ALL came. These are the ones I noticed (I'm sure there are ones I missed):

My colleague wrote in an email, "That's why I think you're the bees knees" in response to a quick email I'd written, acknowledging that I was taking care of a request from a student.

In reflecting on playing the Transformation Game (It's quite a revealing and inspirational "game" -- unlike any other. See http://www.findhorn.org/workshops/game/ for information about it.) yesterday, I "get" how much time and energy I spend in the mental realm -- an easy place for me -- yet when I suspend attachment, life gets sweeter and easier.

And my friend Nita called. We talked briefly to catch up. When I told her I was in this funk, she offered to do some remote energy healing for/on me. Sent by Spirit, I'm sure.

Look what happens when you/I ask, then listen... and receive.

In MWM,
Suzan