04 Apr Connect to the enjoyable part of your brain–”Wake the fun up”
There are times when our emotions, such as happiness or depression, joy or anxiety, can control our lives.
But there are also times, if we master the skills, when we can use our emotions to live better lives!
Connecting more with the “good feelings” we have can be energising and motivating, can help us be healthier and even more productive.
Keep reading more about this idea from David Hanscom in Psychology Today …
KEY POINTS
- Your brain is incredibly neuroplastic and can change quickly in whatever direction you choose.
- We automatically know how to feel pain. What about feeling pleasure? It gets buried in the stresses of life.
- Play and social connection are inherent in all of us; connecting with pleasure creates a rapid shift in physiology that lessens pain..
When you are experiencing relentless pain, life becomes heavy. You are just trying to keep your head above water from dealing with stress. Your life devolves into surviving in addition to carrying a pain burden. You may have forgotten what it’s like to live your life with deep joy and excitement.
We have suggested that creating a positive vision for your life and pursuing it shifts your brain onto more pleasant circuits. Another path is connecting to feelings of freedom and pleasure from your past. It may initially take some effort to find them, but they are there. I would suggest an ongoing process that I have personally found helpful.
Source: sunpt/AdobeStock
Connecting
Find a quiet time and place where you can just think and possibly go into a meditative state. Think back to an event in your life when you felt carefree and joyous. It could be any number of situations from any point in time. Visually take yourself back there, remembering as many details as you can. Possibilities include:
· The weather/ temperature
· Conversations
· Attitudes
· Friends/ who you were with
· Activities
· Specific feelings and emotions
· What music, movies, sports, and art did you enjoy during this period?
· Are there songs and artists that you were particularly connected to?
… keep reading the full & original article HERE