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Is the Power to Heal ourselves increasing?

10/27/2015

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By Jacob Devaney  on Monday October 26th, 2015

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New studies are showing that placebos are becoming more effective in treating illness.

​Researchers are perplexed by recent studies that have placebos performing very well compared to new and experimental pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile the science of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is echoing what mystics and shaman have been saying forever which is that we have untold powers to heal ourselves!
Spirit and science convergingThis coming together between the spiritual and scientific communities shows an unprecedented opportunity for humans to embrace vibrant, healthy, thriving lives. Recent research on placebos comes from a McGill University and is published in Pain, the Journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain. I first learned about this in a wonderful article by Carolyn Gregoire in Huffington Post titled, Placebo Effect Puzzle Has Scientists Scratching Their Heads.
I highly recommend reading the entire article which shows how the placebo effect is exploding in the United States, but nowhere else. This may have something to do with the fact that the United States has 5% of the worlds population yet consumes 75% of the worlds prescription drugs (more here).

     The analysis revealed that in U.S. trials conducted in 1993, pain medications were rated to be an                             average of 27 percent more effective than placebo pills. In the 2013 trials, however, the                                               pain medication was only 9 percent more effective than the placebo. The difference wasn’t                                      attributed to decreased effectiveness of the medication, but instead to a greater response to the placebo. In        other words, the sugar pill has become nearly as effective as medication in alleviating pain. – Carolyn                  Gregoire in Placebo Effect Puzzle Has Scientists Scratching Their Heads.

The above study focused on pain-killers, but similar results have been observed for anti-depressants. With more than 1 in 5 Americans taking mental health drugs the number of people seeking alternatives and preventative measures continues to grow. Yoga, meditation, healthy diet, and exercise do not come in the form of a pill but tend to address the larger picture of wellbeing that is too often overlooked by the medical establishment

     Although placebo may not be a viable treatment option, there are other treatments that on                                      average work as well as antidepressants, [such as] physical exercise and cognitive behavioral                                  psychotherapy. As far as we know, these alternatives don’t make people worse. – 

     Irving Kirsch,  Time Magazine

Tuning into our trauma 
All of this points to the innate ability our bodies have to self-regulate, seek balance (homeostasis), and heal. You would think that we would be eager to listen to our own bodies when they speak to us through symptoms, yet we usually do the exact opposite by numbing the pain or ignoring what we feel. Peter Levine, author of Waking the Tiger, is an expert in trauma resolution and a lead voice in field of Somatic Experiencing, which invites us to tune in to our bodies as well as our emotions in order to reclaim our health.
Through hundreds of hours of client sessions, Levine began to witness how clients’ bodies told their stories of trauma, even if the clients had no specific memories. Once Levine guided them into the sensate experience of trauma, the body then took over and finished what was unprocessed, or incomplete. Clients receive the added gifts of increased body awareness, a stronger connection to self, a shift in deep-seated patterns, a more regulated nervous system, and a sense of mastery.

       Why do humans need to be guided at all? The biggest obstacle is how inattentive and unfamiliar we are              with our physical sensations. Our big, sophisticated brains constantly out-think and override our bodily              needs. We are trained to ignore signs of hunger, pain, discomfort, injury, danger, as well as pleasure,                   saturation, and fulfillment. What’s astonishing is how forgiving and responsive the body is. As soon as we          tune into it, shifts begin to happen. – Peter Levine

Prescription for the future

The mind, our beliefs, emotions, and lifestyle play a much larger role in our wellbeing than we tend to recognize. While researchers are wondering how to avoid the dreaded monkey-wrench of the placebo effect in testing new drugs, the general public is recognizing that taking charge of ones health doesn’t need to always start with a call to the doctor or a new prescription.
As Carolyn Gregoire underscores in her Huffington Post article, “If the placebo effect continues on its current trajectory, American pharmaceutical companies may find it increasingly difficult to get consumers to buy new drugs.”

       By learning the bodymind language of symptoms and illness you can learn what is being repressed or                  ignored in your psyche and emotions and the affect this is having on your physical body. – Deb Shapiro,              author of Your Body Speaks Your Mind

Popular books like Your Body Speaks Your Mind are a significant indicator that a new paradigm in health is upon us. Science and spirituality, like the brain and body have lots to gain by embracing the wisdom that the other has to share. We are evolved enough to know that the answers we seek aren’t always either/or.
A balanced and holistic approach is a prescription for well-being.  So keep your doctors number close by but also take the power of your health into your own hands. Your body will thank you for listening to it, your emotions will release freely when they feel welcome and your quality of life will increase. Placebos may not be the miracle cure after all, but what they might be showing us is that we already possess an untold capacity for self-healing.

FOR THE LINK TO THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK HERE





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The Science of the Heart   

10/23/2015

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By Jacob Devaney

Understanding the secret frequency of Love.  

It does more than pump blood, it started beating before your brain was formed, and it has an electromagnetic field that can be detected across the room. It’s time that we explore the heart of the matter.
Science is hard at work de-mystifying the role of the heart in our lives and seeing beyond it’s function of pumping blood is perhaps the first step in unlocking the potential of living in the frequency of love.
This is not romantic love, it is a state of resonance (instead of discord) with your own mind, with the people around you, and with nature. The key to living in flow involves tuning in to your own center and letting your heart lead.

The new frontier of heart research
In my previous article, Beyond the Confines of Intellect we took an honest look at the limitations of only engaging with the world through our thoughts, thus opening the door to understanding the wisdom inherent in feelings. The heart is actually part of our cognitive system, sending more messages to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. Electrically, the heart is 40 – 60 times stronger than the brain and is many more times stronger than any other electrical impulse in the body.

       "The sciences of psychology and medicine are in midst of a  major paradigm shift as research                                    findings have uncovered that the heart is a sensory organ that can learn, hold memory and                                      make independent functional decisions. Even more surprising is the fact that the heart displays qualities            of neuroplasticity, and that it can reorganize itself by growing new neural connections, just as the brain              can do. – Applied Consciousness International

Understanding our Heart Intelligence
Any Google search regarding heart and science will show a long list of links from the leader in this field of research, Heartmath. They have pioneered in scientific study, but more importantly they have created practical applications to this research that are helping individuals thrive. Increasing one’s Heart intelligence can have a profound effect on personal relationships, productivity in the workplace, reduce stress, while increasing optimism and problem-solving abilities.

     "By using your heart as your compass, you can see more clearly which direction to go to stop self-                           defeating behavior – Doc Childre and Howard Martin, HeartMath

I think we all know what it feels like to do something we really don’t want to do, whether it’s taxes, a job we aren’t satisfied with, or acting out of integrity with our own beliefs. Naturally this creates discordance and stress. Many times we are experiencing these feelings beneath the surface of our consciousness, yet our body is still responding to the dissonance.


Finding coherence within ourselvesWhen our thoughts/brain are not in harmony with our feelings/heart this creates strain and resistance within our own system on a physiological level. Bringing awareness to this process helps us to make choices that have our system working in harmony with itself, thus increasing energy and producing heightened states of wellbeing. This efficient, optimal, and harmonious functioning of the various systems within the body is known as coherence.

​Want to experience flow? Increase coherence within yourself. Take this same principle and now apply it to your family, community, and ultimately the planet. The curse of competition has all of humanity, states, nations, religions, working against each other and against natural systems. The best way to increase global coherence is to increase it on an individual level.

Thankfully HeartMath has a very simple and effective exercise called Freeze-Frame to help us develop greater coherence. It is a one-minute technique that allows a major shift in perception. More than positive thinking, it creates a definitive, heartfelt shift in how we view a situation, an individual or ourselves. When under stress:
  • Shift out of the head, and focus on the area around your heart.
  • Keep your attention there for at least ten seconds.
  • Continue to breathe normally.
  • Recall a positive time or feeling you had in your life, and attempt to re-experience it.
  • Remember, try not simply to visualize it, but rather to feel it fully.
  • Ask a question from the heart: “What can I do in this situation to make it different?” or “What can I do to minimize stress?”
  • Listen to the response of your heart.
Taken from PBS Body and Soul
Hopefully this short blog will help send you on your way to increasing coherence within your system. Take some time to learn more about Heartmath and if you’d like to read more research on the topic, you will enjoy this online PDF. The first step in healing the discord in the world is to heal it within ourselves. The science of the heart has the capacity to undo our stress and overwhelm as we transition to a more coherent, peaceful world.



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Harvard Unveils MRI Study Proving Meditation Literally Rebuilds the the Brain's Gray Matter in 8 Weeks   

10/21/2015

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BY FEELGUIDE • NOVEMBER 19, 2014 • HEALTH, SPIRITUALITY, THE HUMAN BRAIN • 




Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University.  The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the team’s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain’s gray matter.  “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”
Sue McGreevey of MGH writes: “Previous studies from Lazar’s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.”  Until now, that is.  The participants spent an average of 27 minutes per day practicing mindfulness exercises, and this is all it took to stimulate a major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.  McGreevey adds: “Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.”
“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” says Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany. You can read more about the remarkable study by visiting Harvard.edu.  If this is up your alley then you need to read this: “Listen As Sam Harris Explains How To Tame Your Mind (No Religion Required)”


TO READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT "FEELGUIDE.COM PLEASE CLICK HERE
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Embracing Radical UncertaintyBy Even Dawn on Monday October 5th, 2015

10/13/2015

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Embracing Radical Uncertainty
By Even Dawn on Monday October 5th, 2015
How to live passionately when we’re not sure how the story will end Environmental activist and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy, is an inspirational figure for many in the ecological movement. As part of the Deep Ecology tradition and throughout her Despair and Empowerment work, Joanna has voiced her vision of The Great Turning; which is the shift from the industrial growth society to a life-sustaining civilisation. Admitting that even though she talks ‘so convincingly’ about knowing the great turning is happening, at the same time she knows that we’re not sure how the story will end.’ ‘I want so much to feel sure. I want to be able to tell people ‘don’t worry – it’s going to be ok’. And you know what? I realise that that wouldn’t be doing anyone a favour.’
– Joanna Macy
Dwelling in the dark Novelist Anna Luke has also come to appreciate the importance of radical uncertainty. During her presentation at Breaking Convention in London, Anna shared her perspective on what makes it so difficult to say those three simple words ‘I don’t know’. ‘Darkness and uncertainty have been deeply undervalued by our patriarchal culture, which favours that which can be measured and seen.’
– Anna Luke Being in the dark is generally seen as something to be avoided at all cost, especially in a professional context. Anna has identified that ‘instead of admitting we don’t know – we hedge, we bluff, we retreat behind our defences, we split. Or we feign certainty; we shout louder in the hope that nobody’s going to see the fear behind our eyes. Why all this need for certainty?’ This attitude towards uncertainty has significant cultural implications, and it seems that being able to ‘tolerate uncertainty might be an increasingly urgent social and environmental need.’ After an extended time working with plant medicines in Peru (and working through her childhood fear of the dark) Anna likens the experience of facing the unknown to that of a psychedelic experience: ‘It is a liminal zone, where the calcified ego, the logic of identity breaks down; and we can find something new in an intermediary space, where the straight lines of linear time are replaced by something much more interesting.’ Where the logic of identity breaks down.
Finding something new in the unknown I myself am familiar with feeling on the brink of the unknown. Just as I feel myself letting go of my sense of certainty I turn to face the vast and humbling magnitude of my own ignorance. In a recent fireside conversation with Michael Maso Ellis, a writer and therapeutic arts practitioner, he described the moment when the grip of certainty loosens its hold. ’That’s the point of fear, the point of crisis that the mind comes to where its like “I hope somebody knows!”… So we delegate authority to the experts out of this need for security.’ Rather than continually giving away this power to an external force Michael encourages individuals to cultivate their own relationship with the mystery through creative and contemplative practices. I asked him what kinds of practices might be useful for developing a deeper relationship with the unknown. First and foremost a well-developed meditation practice, using a technique such as Vipassana is considerably beneficial. Meditation techniques which involves witnessing one’s thoughts, feelings and sensations without judgement assist us in dropping past the ‘story’ the mind keeps up about what is happening in any given moment. Other ways of embracing, rather than fighting the unknown include creative improvisation practices such as dancing, free-styling, jamming, dynamic life drawing and stream of consciousness writing. Engaging in this process in a safely held space is another important aspect of an ‘art as medicine’ practice. Living on the edge Living on the edge Perhaps our ability to tolerate uncertainty comes from being able meet each opportunity of venturing into uncertainty as a mysterious source of creative fire and inspiration; as Joanna Macy described it ‘that knife-edge of uncertainty where we come alive to our truest power.’ Even in our reluctance to venture beyond what is familiar and known it is worth wondering, what is there that is ever truly certain? ‘To live with sufficient realism and dignity to know we are right with that knife-edge of uncertainty. We don’t know how it’s going to come out; there are no guarantees. Wait. There are no guarantees anyway.
– Joanna Macy
​FOR LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE - PLEASE CLICK HERE

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Your Physiology is Designed to Experience Bliss

10/10/2015

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Your Physiology is Designed to Experience BlissCandace touched on a wide range of topics—the mind-body connection, science and spirituality, the role of discrimination on health and wellbeing and the path to vibrant health, in a short interview with Mitch Rustad*.

“Our physiology is perfectly designed for bliss and this perfection is dynamic, so taking responsibility for your own health is important.” Candace Pert

You’ve mentioned that bodywork, meditation and guided visualizations are effective methods of healing. But is it really that simple?

All of these healing modalities are effective. The ultimate solution is really simple—love yourself and love others. A lot of the projections we make to the outside world are actually what we’re projecting inwardly about ourselves. If you’re angry, take a look at whom you’re really angry at, because that angry vibration inside could mean you’re actually reacting against yourself. Love is an integrator and a healer, but you have to do the work to love yourself and you can start by loving others. That’s the core of human health.

But some people have a very difficult time with love.

The punch line in substance abuse treatments—also in many types of complimentary treatments to therapy—is that if you can’t love yourself, then at least realize that God loves you.

My own life journey has led me to not only not dismiss a spiritual approach, but to embrace it. I’m a scientist and I feel very strongly about that; I realize that there are a lot of answers there. Studies have shown that in overcoming alcoholism, appreciating a higher power really works better than anything. That’s a key aspect of 12-step programs, so there’s science around the spiritual. You’re not really alone and isolated, that’s an illusion. But often spirituality gets confused with religion. I came to spirituality through science, while trying to explain my scientific work and then putting it all together with my own life experience.

How can this reinforce or enhance someone’s ability to love themselves?

There’s a divine order and you wouldn’t be here unless you were part of this natural law, and you’re here for a purpose. Louise Hay suggests something simple, which she calls mirror work, where you just look into you own eyes in the mirror and say, ‘I love you.’ If that’s difficult for you, treat this exercise like you’re taking your daily meds. Just do it. There are studies that prove how affirming this work can be.

It seems like a lot of people just get ‘stuck’ in their lives, even after much therapy or treatment.

The key is to recognize that we’re all a multitude of different people; we all have a number of personalities. I’m excited about this term I coined which I call ‘selves-esteem’ and I think this is at the root of feeling well adjusted, happy and blissful. We need to acknowledge all of our different personalities.

Being stuck merely means you’re stuck in one of your personalities, such as a depressed personality, or stuck in a personality consumed by self hated and blame, and you’re not yet able to access a healthier personality. I greatly believe in the healing powers of music and movement when you’re stuck. Stop thinking about everything and get out and move, if that’s possible. If you can’t get out, listen to guided imagery tapes, or healing affirmations with background music. This can tweak and nudge things and move you towards a healthier self.

Can you explain how this works physiologically?

We’re not static beings, we’re always making new cells, even as we’re just sitting here. At any time, no matter how much old training and programming you may have, you always have the potential to literally change your mind.

Each cell in our body is constantly vibrating, often in several different shapes, and our receptors vibrate as well. It’s a dance that’s constantly taking place in our bodies, and every cell is talking to every other cell in a rhythmic, ongoing way. In fact, the frequencies of your cells are even in sync with the audible sounds around you, which is why music and words can be very healing. Every cell is a mirror. One great way of feeling good is to eliminate the excess static in your life, and the antidote for negativity in our lives is positive affirmations. Research has shown that neurons are strengthened by repeated phrases and empowering words.

How can someone overcome the damage many, especially in the LGBT community, often face because of religious discrimination and persecution?

It might be that you have to reject that old religious training in order to love yourself. Affirmations work, whether you bring God into it or not. Forgiveness is very huge. An affirmation like, I know forgiving myself and others for errors of the past allows me to heal, is a good example.

It’s the difference between spirituality and religion. Some religious practitioners have been hypocritical and negative about gays; it’s just grotesque. So people shouldn’t confuse that with spirituality-that has nothing to do with one religion or another. It’s more free form, where science meets intuition. What is the definition of God? God is a field that is completely in line with the physical laws of the universe, not someone who says who’s bad and tells you what you’re supposed to do. That’s how I’ve come to it and this approach works for me.

It’s interesting to hear a scientist talk so openly about God.

I’ve had people say ‘her PhD should be sent back because she believes in God!’ There’s this strong reaction against the right wing religious people who have been politically idiotic. Some react and think that people who believe in God are stupid. It’s all rhetoric and it’s silly.

Any parting advice?

You’re a very active participant in how good you feel, it’s a scientific fact. Our physiology is perfectly designed for bliss and this perfection is dynamic, so taking responsibility for your own health is important.

*Originally published by Mitch Rustad (2007)  
​PLEACE CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO ORIGINAL WEBSITE POSTING


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A neuroscience researcher reveals 4 rituals that will make you a happier person

10/3/2015

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Willow Springs Retreats staff thought this blog was worthwhile sharing.  Hope you enjoy it!

Reposted from Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker
​via www.businessinsider.com
 Additional site details are listed at the end of the article.

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You get all kinds of happiness advice on the internet from people who don’t know what they’re talking about. Don’t trust them.

Actually, don’t trust me either. Trust neuroscientists. They study that gray blob in your head all day and have learned a lot about what truly will make you happy.

UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb has some insights that can create an upward spiral of happiness in your life.

Here’s what you and I can learn from the people who really have answers:

1. The most important question to ask when you feel downSometimes it doesn’t feel like your brain wants you to be happy. You may feel guilty or shameful. Why?

Believe it or not, guilt and shame activate the brain’s reward center.

Via The Upward Spiral:

Despite their differences, pride, shame, and guilt all activate similar neural circuits, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and the nucleus accumbens. Interestingly, pride is the most powerful of these emotions at triggering activity in these regions — except in the nucleus accumbens, where guilt and shame win out. This explains why it can be so appealing to heap guilt and shame on ourselves — they’re activating the brain’s reward center.

And you worry a lot too. Why? In the short term, worrying makes your brain feel a little better — at least you’re doing something about your problems.

Via The Upward Spiral:

In fact, worrying can help calm the limbic system by increasing activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and decreasing activity in the amygdala. That might seem counterintuitive, but it just goes to show that if you’re feeling anxiety, doing something about it — even worrying — is better than doing nothing.

But guilt, shame and worry are horrible long-term solutions. So what do neuroscientists say you should do? Ask yourself this question:

What am I grateful for?

Yeah, gratitude is awesome … but does it really affect your brain at the biological level? Yup.

You know what the antidepressant Wellbutrin does? Boosts the neurotransmitter dopamine. So does gratitude.

Via The Upward Spiral:

The benefits of gratitude start with the dopamine system, because feeling grateful activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine. Additionally, gratitude toward others increases activity in social dopamine circuits, which makes social interactions more enjoyable …

Know what Prozac does? Boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin. So does gratitude.

Via The Upward Spiral:

One powerful effect of gratitude is that it can boost serotonin. Trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.

I know, sometimes life lands a really mean punch in the gut and it feels like there’s nothing to be grateful for. Guess what?

Doesn’t matter. You don’t have to find anything. It’s the searching that counts.

Via The Upward Spiral:

It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful.

And gratitude doesn’t just make your brain happy — it can also create a positive feedback loop in your relationships. So express that gratitude to the people you care about.

(For more on how gratitude can make you happier and more successful, click here.)

But what happens when bad feelings completely overtake you? When you’re really in the dumps and don’t even know how to deal with it? There’s an easy answer …

Point out the things that upset you.

2. Label negative feelingsYou feel awful. Okay, give that awfulness a name. Sad? Anxious? Angry?

Boom. It’s that simple. Sound stupid? Your noggin disagrees.

Via The Upward Spiral:

… in one fMRI study, appropriately titled “Putting Feelings into Words” participants viewed pictures of people with emotional facial expressions. Predictably, each participant’s amygdala activated to the emotions in the picture. But when they were asked to name the emotion, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activated and reduced the emotional amygdala reactivity. In other words, consciously recognizing the emotions reduced their impact.

Suppressing emotions doesn’t work and can backfire on you.

Via Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long:

Gross found that people who tried to suppress a negative emotional experience failed to do so. While they thought they looked fine outwardly, inwardly their limbic system was just as aroused as without suppression, and in some cases, even more aroused. Kevin Ochsner, at Columbia, repeated these findings using an fMRI. Trying not to feel something doesn’t work, and in some cases even backfires.

But labeling, on the other hand, makes a big difference.

Via Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long:

To reduce arousal, you need to use just a few words to describe an emotion, and ideally use symbolic language, which means using indirect metaphors, metrics, and simplifications of your experience. This requires you to activate your prefrontal cortex, which reduces the arousal in the limbic system. Here’s the bottom line: describe an emotion in just a word or two, and it helps reduce the emotion.

Ancient methods were way ahead of us on this one. Meditation has employed this for centuries. Labeling is a fundamental tool of mindfulness.

In fact, labeling affects the brain so powerfully it works with other people too. Labeling emotions is one of the primary tools used by FBI hostage negotiators.

(To learn more of the secrets of FBI hostage negotiators, click here.)

Okay, hopefully you’re not reading this and labeling your current emotional state as “Bored.” Maybe you’re not feeling awful but you probably have things going on in your life that are causing you some stress. Here’s a simple way to beat them…

Make decisions to do things you enjoy.

3. Make that decisionEver make a decision and then your brain finally feels at rest? That’s no random occurrence.

Brain science shows that making decisions reduces worry and anxiety — as well as helping you solve problems.

Via The Upward Spiral:

Making decisions includes creating intentions and setting goals — all three are part of the same neural circuitry and engage the prefrontal cortex in a positive way, reducing worry and anxiety. Making decisions also helps overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls you toward negative impulses and routines. Finally, making decisions changes your perception of the world — finding solutions to your problems and calming the limbic system.

But deciding can be hard. I agree. So what kind of decisions should you make? Neuroscience has an answer …

Make a “good enough” decision. Don’t sweat making the absolute 100% best decision. We all know being a perfectionist can be stressful. And brain studies back this up.

Trying to be perfect overwhelms your brain with emotions and makes you feel out of control.

Via The Upward Spiral:

Trying for the best, instead of good enough, brings too much emotional ventromedial prefrontal activity into the decision-making process. In contrast, recognizing that good enough is good enough activates more dorsolateral prefrontal areas, which helps you feel more in control …

As Swarthmore professor Barry Schwartz said in my interview with him: “Good enough is almost always good enough.”

So when you make a decision, your brain feels you have control. And, as I’ve talked about before, a feeling of control reduces stress. But here’s what’s really fascinating: Deciding also boosts pleasure.

Via The Upward Spiral:

Actively choosing caused changes in attention circuits and in how the participants felt about the action, and it increased rewarding dopamine activity.

Want proof? No problem. Let’s talk about cocaine.

You give 2 rats injections of cocaine. Rat A had to pull a lever first. Rat B didn’t have to do anything. Any difference? Yup: rat A gets a bigger boost of dopamine.

Via The Upward Spiral:

So they both got the same injections of cocaine at the same time, but rat A had to actively press the lever, and rat B didn’t have to do anything. And you guessed it — rat A released more dopamine in its nucleus accumbens.

So what’s the lesson here? Next time you buy cocaine… whoops, wrong lesson. Point is, when you make a decision on a goal and then achieve it, you feel better than when good stuff just happens by chance.

And this answers the eternal mystery of why dragging your butt to the gym can be so hard.

If you go because you feel you have to or you should, well, it’s not really a voluntary decision. Your brain doesn’t get the pleasure boost. It just feels stress. And that’s no way to build a good exercise habit.

Via The Upward Spiral:

Interestingly, if they are forced to exercise, they don’t get the same benefits, because without choice, the exercise itself is a source of stress.

So make more decisions. Neuroscience researcher Alex Korb sums it up nicely:

We don’t just choose the things we like; we also like the things we choose.

(To learn what neuroscientists say is the best way to use caffeine, click here.)

Okay, you’re being grateful, labeling negative emotions and making more decisions. Great. But this is feeling kinda lonely for a happiness prescription. Let’s get some other people in here.

What’s something you can do with others that neuroscience says is a path to mucho happiness? And something that’s stupidly simple so you don’t get lazy and skip it? Brain docs have an answer for you…

Business InsiderHave fun with friends.

4. Touch peopleNo, not indiscriminately; that can get you in a lot of trouble.

But we need to feel love and acceptance from others. When we don’t it’s painful. And I don’t mean “awkward” or “disappointing.” I mean actually painful.

Neuroscientists did a study where people played a ball-tossing video game. The other players tossed the ball to you and you tossed it back to them. Actually, there were no other players; that was all done by the computer program.

But the subjects were told the characters were controlled by real people. So what happened when the “other players” stopped playing nice and didn’t share the ball?

Subjects’ brains responded the same way as if they experienced physical pain. Rejection doesn’t just hurt like a broken heart; your brain feels it like a broken leg.

Via The Upward Spiral:

In fact, as demonstrated in an fMRI experiment, social exclusion activates the same circuitry as physical pain … at one point they stopped sharing, only throwing back and forth to each other, ignoring the participant. This small change was enough to elicit feelings of social exclusion, and it activated the anterior cingulate and insula, just like physical pain would.

Relationships are very important to your brain’s feeling of happiness. Want to take that to the next level? Touch people.

Via The Upward Spiral:

One of the primary ways to release oxytocin is through touching. Obviously, it’s not always appropriate to touch most people, but small touches like handshakes and pats on the back are usually okay. For people you’re close with, make more of an effort to touch more often.

Touching is incredibly powerful. We just don’t give it enough credit. It makes you more persuasive, increases team performance, improves your flirting… heck, it even boosts math skills.

Touching someone you love actually reduces pain. In fact, when studies were done on married couples, the stronger the marriage, the more powerful the effect.

Via The Upward Spiral:

In addition, holding hands with someone can help comfort you and your brain through painful situations. One fMRI study scanned married women as they were warned that they were about to get a small electric shock. While anticipating the painful shocks, the brain showed a predictable pattern of response in pain and worrying circuits, with activation in the insula, anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. During a separate scan, the women either held their husbands’ hands or the hand of the experimenter. When a subject held her husband’s hand, the threat of shock had a smaller effect. The brain showed reduced activation in both the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — that is, less activity in the pain and worrying circuits. In addition, the stronger the marriage, the lower the discomfort-related insula activity.

So hug someone today. And do not accept little, quick hugs. No, no, no. Tell them your neuroscientist recommended long hugs.

Via The Upward Spiral:

A hug, especially a long one, releases a neurotransmitter and hormone oxytocin, which reduces the reactivity of the amygdala.

Research shows getting five hugs a day for four weeks increases happiness big time.

Don’t have anyone to hug right now? No? (I’m sorry to hear that. I would give you a hug right now if I could.) But there’s an answer: neuroscience says you should go get a massage.

Via The Upward Spiral:

The results are fairly clear that massage boosts your serotonin by as much as 30 percent. Massage also decreases stress hormones and raises dopamine levels, which helps you create new good habits … Massage reduces pain because the oxytocin system activates painkilling endorphins. Massage also improves sleep and reduces fatigue by increasing serotonin and dopamine and decreasing the stress hormone cortisol.

So spend time with other people and give some hugs. Sorry, texting is not enough.

When you put people in a stressful situation and then let them visit loved ones or talk to them on the phone, they felt better. What about when they just texted? Their bodies responded the same as if they had no support at all.

Via The Upward Spiral:

… the text-message group had cortisol and oxytocin levels similar to the no-contact group.

Author’s note: I totally approve of texting if you make a hug appointment.

(To learn what neuroscience says is the best way to get smarter and happier, click here.)

Okay, I don’t want to strain your brain with too much info. Let’s round it up and learn the quickest and easiest way to start that upward spiral of neuroscience-inspired happiness…

Sum upHere’s what brain research says will make you happy:

  • Ask “What am I grateful for?” No answers? Doesn’t matter. Just searching helps.
  • Label those negative emotions. Give it a name and your brain isn’t so bothered by it.
  • Decide. Go for “good enough” instead of “best decision ever made on Earth.”
  • Hugs, hugs, hugs. Don’t text — touch.
So what’s the dead simple way to start that upward spiral of happiness?

Just send someone a thank you email. If you feel awkward about it, you can send them this post to tell them why.

This really can start an upward spiral of happiness in your life. UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb explains:

Everything is interconnected. Gratitude improves sleep. Sleep reduces pain. Reduced pain improves your mood. Improved mood reduces anxiety, which improves focus and planning. Focus and planning help with decision making. Decision making further reduces anxiety and improves enjoyment. Enjoyment gives you more to be grateful for, which keeps that loop of the upward spiral going. Enjoyment also makes it more likely you’ll exercise and be social, which, in turn, will make you happier.

So thank you for reading this.

And send that thank you email now to make you and someone you care about very happy.

Join over 205,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.

Read the original article on Barking Up The Wrong Tree. Copyright 2015. Follow Barking Up The Wrong Tree on Twitter.


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