Reach for the Sun, Partner!

Reach for the Sun to Feel Better

Reach for the Sun to Feel Better.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have discovered that when you are involved in movements in an upward direction you are more likely to have positive emotions and thoughts; and conversely, working in a downward direction tends to elicit more negative emotions and thoughts – metaphoric movements that match our language, feeling “up” or feeling “down.”

“These [study] data suggest that spatial metaphors for emotion aren’t just in language,” researcher Daniel Casasanto says, “linguistic metaphors correspond to mental metaphors, and activating the mental metaphor ‘good is up’ can cause us to think happier thoughts.”

I’m reminded of the Yogic Sun Salutation exercise in which one stretches one’s arms upward toward the sun as far as he/she can reach in a gesture of acknowledgement of the sun. The movement is also used to elevate mood and elicit more positive emotions during times of depression.

Perhaps one way to beat depression is to simply salute the heavens by reaching up as far as you can often during the day – while simultaneously elevating the thoughts and emotions. It’s certainly worth a trial run, I figure.

Study Source: Daniel Casasanto, Ton Dijkstra, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Who Am I Really?

Am I morphing into some kind of monster?

Am I morphing into some kind of monster?

It’s a little-known or at least little-appreciated fact that a rather large percentage of my biomass is not human. Let me repeat that just for emphasis -

I am NOT ALL HUMAN!

About 99% of the outer covering of my body is NOT human. Rather, it is a “coating” of bacteria – mostly feeding on my dead skin – while some feed on my living skin cells. That’s just my skin! Within my gut are many more species of bacteria. Some help and some hinder my digestion process.

The point is – my body is not just “mine”. It is home to a large number of single-celled plant and animal life – as much as 90% of my biomass!* Each of those microscopic creatures has its own “mind” – with its own volition, decision making processes, and behaviors – maybe thoughts, too.

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Feeling Low? Maybe It’s OK

It's perfectly normal for humans to have mood swings.

It’s perfectly normal for humans to have mood swings.

Feeling a bit low or blue during the winter months? Or maybe just feeling a little depressed now and then? Well don’t despair or feel anxious over it – adding to the feeling. It’s perfectly normal for humans to have mood swings – and to have negative moods that can last for days or even weeks.

The slightest shift in the balance between serotonin and melatonin, adrenalin and noradrenalin, and other chemicals in the body can affect our moods – and it is NORMAL for us to do so and feel that way when we do.

According to University of East London psychologist Professor Mark Rapley, “Bottling up anger and sadness is never a good way of dealing with things; problems tend to come back and bite us harder further down the line. The trouble is, we’ve become so obsessed with being happy that we now see being down as a real problem – when, in fact, it’s perfectly normal.

We’re constantly encouraged to be anxious about whether we are happy or depressed, yet these feelings are not illnesses, simply part of regular human experience. Life would be so much duller if we just muddled along in the middle without feeling any emotions at all. Learning to recognize that it’s normal to feel angry or sad is a good thing for our mental health.”

Balance is boring!

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Memory Restructuring

Research is showing that sleep seems to reorganize memories, picking out the emotional details and reconfiguring the memories.

Research is showing that sleep seems to reorganize memories, picking out the emotional details and reconfiguring the memories.

“Sleep is making memories stronger,” says Jessica D. Payne of the University of Notre Dame. “It also seems to be doing something which I think is so much more interesting, and that is reorganizing and restructuring memories.”

Wait a minute! Did she just say what I think I heard her say? That memories are “reorganized” and “restructured”? And here I thought memories were true and accurate recordings of events! Ok, if you’re a long-time reader you know I’ve written about false memory syndrome before; and this is yet another study confirming my belief that memories are far from accurate.

Knowing that memories are fallible and subject to errors, maybe I can reconfirm that memories may be manipulated – molded to help support how I want to feel today. Remember that someone who did you wrong? Yeah? Well, maybe you can change the details of your memories of that person to support a new you – perhaps rehearsing the memory with you WINNING instead of coming out the victim. Especially, say the study authors, sleeping on a memory can change it – so why not reconsider your memories of the day just as you’re drifting off to sleep? Reconsider in a way that supports a stronger emotional you. It’s called reframing – or “spinning” memories. If politicians can get away with it, why not me, too?!

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Sheeple?

Is your fear useful to you?

Is your fear useful to you?

“I was just wondering if it is possible for a person to intentionally surrender his will in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility… is this evil? or maybe the person is hypnotized? How do you explain a situation where a person convinces himself that the blood of another man has been used… and will continue to be used to wash away his transgression? Meanwhile, the man in question says, “What you sow you shall reap.” How do you explain a situation where a person convinces himself that a man CAME TO DIE FOR HIM… when the man in question CURSED whoever it was that would betray him! How do you explain a situation where a man goes to explode his life… taking the life of others as well with the belief that he would get a better life?”

The short answer is that everyone is under a form of hypnosis of some description. Everyone is acting from some form of trance-installed belief and posthypnotic suggestion. The trick is to determine what those are and decide whether they are truly ‘useful’.

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