Playing Rule #1 of the Mind to Your Favor

Note from Michelle: Today I’m sharing an article from Heather Meglasson.  I met Heather last year in California and what struck me most about her was that she just radiates a confident, happy, relaxed energy.  She’s one of those people that makes you feel good just standing near her.  Her relaxation audio (below the article, get your free copy by visiting her site) is fantastic and one of my not-so-secret weapons for fighting migraines and insomnia.

I am not a very good chess player and when it comes to rules and survival I have to work especially hard to stay a few extra steps ahead of my oldest daughter. She really needs to become a lawyer because she can point out every possible loophole to any rule that I come up with just to prove that I can not keep her entirely under my control. You know someone exactly like that don’t you. Well it’s not always a bad thing to have rules, especially if you can get them to work in your favor.

For a good starting point in becoming proactively happy, let’s look at rules of the mind that can get us on the right “path” (pun intended) and see how we can make them apply to creating more happiness in your life.

RULE 1

Every thought or idea creates a physical reaction.

Thought: I hate driving in heavy traffic

Physical response: Heart races, tension in neck, stomach knots up What’s happening Thoughts and ideas are driven by an emotion. Consider anger and anxiety, two emotions with similar physical responses. When either is triggered by a thought or idea, you immediately feel your body respond in any one or more of these ways: The problem sometimes occurs when we feel stuck in a strong unresourceful emotion.

* Shortening of breath
* Heart racing
* Mouth dries up
* Feeling butterflies in the stomach
* Arms and legs tremble from muscle tension
* Hot and flushed feeling

An emotion in motion does tend to remain in motion unless attention is diverted to a different focus. A different thought or idea needs to counteract it. So how do you counteract the flood of epinephrine (adrenaline) released by the adrenals when the brain causes physical responses by telling the body: it’s time to fight or run-away?

Technical Answer: Use the body’s natural adrenaline-extinguisher hormone, acetylcholine. It is produced by the parasympathetic nervous system, which can be activated through relaxation techniques.

PLAYING RULE #1 TO YOUR FAVOR

Use thoughts and ideas to create good physical reactions.

Try this technique.Look up and smile. This will stop the flood of emotion-filled hormones. Continue until the feelings are tolerable.

If your emotions are just too strong to reverse so easily, first look upward with your eyes. This gets your mind out of the processing areas of the brain that are producing the chemical-flood of feelings. Combine it with an ear-to-ear smile (even a fake one) contracting the muscles. This stimulate nerves that lower the stress hormones cortisol, adrenalin and noradrenaline, and produce hormones which stabilize blood pressure, relax muscles, improve respiration, reduce pain, accelerate healing and stabilize mood.

When you look up and smile while keeping your chest area open and expanded, thinking of anything that might bring you down is extremely challenging. This exercise will give your mind and body a break until you can distract yourself into a happier mood.

“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.” ~ Woody Allen

Heather Meglasson CMT, Relaxologist and author of Happiness On Tap: Go From Blah to Brilliant in 60 Seconds, is the owner and founder of Wave Shore Harmony – Hypnosis for Deep Relaxation and Weight Loss, in sunny San Diego, CA. Learn more about hypnosis and it’s benefits when you visit http://www.waveshoreharmony.com and try a relaxation hypnosis audio for Free.

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