If you are someone who gets angry by getting cut off in traffic, practicing alternate perceptions and positive emotions beforehand could program a different response. (Photos.com)
A lifetime of “assuming there is nothing that can be done” about one’s stress levels sets one up for chronic stress. If one really believes nothing can be done, it makes it difficult to change. Psychologists and other talk counselors use talking and logical analysis to bring new mental clarity and hope for change over the long term.
However, mental imagery, guided visualization, or even daydreaming can effectively teach us to respond to potentially stressful events in a more positive way. Dr. Kirsten Harrell, PsyD. says, “Vivid imagery can stimulate the cerebral cortex, which then relays a message to the lower brain centers, including the [emotional] system … thereby affecting many bodily functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and the release of neurotransmitters.”
Imagery works by closing your eyes, drawing upon all your senses, and spending several minutes detailing common interactions that may cause you stress, but using your mind to positively re-write your responses. Mental imagery is most effective when all senses are evoked in great detail.
For example, if you are someone who gets angered by getting cut off in traffic, practicing alternate perceptions and positive emotions beforehand could program a different response. Finding hopefulness within any potential stressor means becoming an optimist, and it’s also at the heart of the Buddhist philosophy—release your attachments and expectations. The important step in using imagery to change perception is to literally practice positive, useful responses to normally stressful situations. It’s not that you don’t care. It’s that you are aware of the consequences of caring too much.
Finding optimism may require a visit to your subconscious. “We all have the ability to be positive. It’s just a matter of accessing and practicing it,” says Todd Goodwin, founder of the Miami Hypnosis Center, in an interview. Drawing on what Freud called “the unconscious mind” and what Jung called “the collective unconscious,” hypnosis (like meditation) is a state of relaxed concentration that helps a person reprogram their subconscious mind. Goodwin said, “The subconscious mind is considered to drive virtually everything we do every day.” As a person learns to achieve this state more easily, he is better able to program his mind to make better choices in the future.
“Our level of stress isn’t caused by the people and events in our lives. It’s how we perceive them and respond to them. Fortunately, this ability can be learned,” affirms MiamiHypnosis.net. So basically, thoughts are the underlying cause of stress.
Performing mental imagery on your own is something that can be practiced almost anywhere, though hypnosis may speed up the results. Daydreaming is something that everyone has experienced and likely still experiences from time to time. Mental imagery is much the same, only more directed at a particular result, like feeling calm and confident despite inconsiderate drivers.
Though a few minutes of daily practice will achieve greater results, it need not be time-demanding. Guided imagery under a hypnotist often works after the very first session.
Using mental imagery, you can prepare a positive perception of any typically stressful event, preventing the creation of negative stress hormones. You can practice altering your perceptions about waking up cheerful in the morning, happily sitting in traffic, enjoying the sight of your boss, patiently interacting with your spouse and kids, handling money better, and imagining that being short on time is not always a life or death situation. With a little practice, responses of anxiety, worry, sadness, fear, anger, guilt, or shame can be turned to calm, peace, happiness, confidence, joy, excitement, and eagerness.
As Dr. Joe Dispenza, a neuroscientist, puts it, “Change means modifying our behavior enough that it’s permanent.”
Tune in the next two weeks to discover the scientific physiology of healing thoughts—The Biology of Harmful Belief and then The Biology of Positive Belief.
James is a certified holistic life coach who currently assists new parents and pregnant moms to achieve optimal health. He can be contacted at FitForBirth@gmail.com or through Your SuperBaby.com
