Over the last month and a half, I have been coming back to my normal routine after getting sick. I spoke about the last few months and the lack of a journal entry regarding my mental journey in my last blog post -- located here. After returning to my normal routine (whatever that is) which changes weekly with my continuous education/search for a solution toward better health and wellness in my life, I have realized a change that I can make that has resulted in a positive change in my life. Let me tell you about the revelation and the change associated with that revelation below.
I had the chance to write a couple of blogs on mental awareness for our blog site -- http://kaiserwellnesscenter.blogspot.com/. Researching the content for the blogs has been extremely helpful and insightful for me to say the least. Whenever I write a blog post, I learn a tremendous amount myself. What do I mean by this? In the first blog titled "Mind Over Matter: If You Don't Mind, It Does Not Matter," I explored the stress response in the body.
Part of handling stress in our bodies is to understand the process that plays out in the body when we experience stress. Since we are all human beings, I thought that most of us might experience a portion of these physiological and mental responses. I know that I identified with a large amount of responses listed in that blog. In light of that, a first lesson for me was the response from both a mental and physiological response. Included in that blog post was the aspect of stress that is commonly disregarded -- stress can kill. Chronic stress is terrible and can have an adverse effect on our bodies that will result in a lifestyle that is a 'downward spiral.' Rather than live with this chronic stress, what can be done to counteract that stress?
Capitalize On Stress: Use Stress Positively
On method that was discussed in the post was to capitalize on the stress in a positive way. Dr. Kelly McGonigal suggested that laughter would counteract the stress by releasing the chemical hormone 'oxytosin'. That is great if you choose to laugh. When I am stressed, often I will feel somewhat paralyzed by fear and anxiety. Sound familiar? Well, after writing the blog which meant listening and reading all about the physiological and mental responses along with possible solutions, I decided to try them. One solution or counteraction to stress was to move or accomplish a task (like dishes or laundry) when I felt stressed. Rather than feel paralyzed, I got up and moved to make my body utilize the increased cortisone levels in a positive way. That way, if I was stressing still, at least I would accomplish a task.
Further, I realized that as I was washing dishes and "de-stressing" -- I was actually coming up with solutions to other problems that I had. This was a great revelation for me. In the past, I have done this probably a few times while just sitting around a stressing the other times. Lesson learned: when stressed, get up and move to utilize the stress or increased awareness -- use that energy.
What Is Your Mental Dialogue Composed Of?
That was the first revelation for me. Remember, having a revelation is the first step. Next, one must follow this revelation by change and action. Part of taking action for me was noticing when the stress was approaching. Be proactive. I started practicing proactivity in changing my mental dialogue. The second post titled "What Kind Of Mental Dialogue Do You Have?" was focused on optimizing the mind through changing both the environment and the mental dialogue that each of us hold.
This was a relatively new concept to me. Although, the quote above regarding "Mind Over Matter..." suggests that if I have the correct thoughts in my mind, I should be able to accomplish whatever task is in front of me. Additionally, I had not thought of the environment playing such a large role in success. Of course, as mentioned in the blog post, who we surround ourselves with says alot toward our success. But really, looking at the "Stanford Prison Experiment" by Dr. Philip Zimbardo opened my eyes to the efficacy of the environment in our success toward change in our lives. Therefore, surrounding myself with the appropriate people engaged in success should be a good layer of motivation toward success. Has it worked?
Yes, it works. I have typically surrounded myself with people who are willing to argue or constructively engage in conversation geared toward success and wellness. We are fortunate in this regard -- Kayla and myself are getting better at the process. Still, the process is a daily effort balanced against the desire to help those who are suffering or experiencing trouble. Taking care of ourselves is number one.
Last but not least, the role of mental dialogue plays crucial in regard to success in obtaining health and wellness. Mental success is obtained by learning how to control my mind. I have realized this. Since I have been writing about getting control over my mind with the process of recognizing stress, I will talk about the realizations that I have experienced recently. These are little changes that have had an enormous effect on my health. That is -- changing my mental dialogue is critical toward change. Until next time, have a great day.