I’ll have some placebo please…

Ponder for a minute the cliché … mind over matter.

The placebo effect is a very real thing.

The power of the mind to affect the body at physical and even genetic level has been studied and documented significantly.

Have you ever woken up scared from a dream or nervous just thinking of a test that’s a week away? The power of your mind and its thoughts are astounding.

Time and time again, study after study, neurosciences have proven that thought can directly cause physiological improvements to vision, fitness, and strength.

Subsequently, the same “mind over matter” emotional response can adversely affect you, causing fatigue, digestive upset, sleeplessness, and lowered immune response.

The same as your brain can release a flood of adrenaline through the body of a mother trying to save her child, it can release Oxycontin when that child is born and she falls in love with them.

Those are both emotional thoughts that had measurable physiological impact on the body. Neither of which are meant to be sustained for extended periods of time.

How long do you think staying in that oxytocin or adrenaline-fueled state is sustainable before the body crashes? The flood of chemicals seriously taxes the systems of the body impairing its ability to process normal functions and immune response to infections or injury.

The key is to find balance and live in clam in between.

In extreme cases people often seek help from a professional to utilize techniques like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help change thought patterns and behaviors to overcome difficulties. An example would be meditation or controlled breathing techniques to cope with anxieties.

Making a conscious decision to change your focus every day, or even by the moment, can have significant impact on your well-being as well as those around you.

Are you Fight? Flight? Or Calm?

Is your brain stuck in Fight mode? Being hyper focused on “saving the world” one donation or act of kindness at a time?

Or is the opposite Flight, or what I call fear mode crippling you in lock down not wanting to face the fears of the world.

How are you using your down time?

Are you hyper focused on the News and Social Media? Are you pacing the floors or staring in your fridge in a mindless daze?

Are you referring to the news for information or obsessively searching for answers to justify the perceived facts in your mind? Are you relying on one news source as it reflects your views simply because you can’t stand listening to an alternative opinion? Or worse yet, relying on Social Media for your news and facts?

By getting news and information from both sides of a view point you then have a basis point to research the facts and data behind the story being reported. With a calm mind you can actually listen to someone and either learn something new or take an opportunity to educate them.

It’s much like screaming at someone that one plus one is a stupid question and they’re an idiot for asking, versus choosing to understand that maybe they were never educated on the subject and you have an opportunity to do so.

Have you ever tried having an educated conversation with a drunk person? That has the same result as two hate fueled opinionated hearts trying to have a debate. Neither one actually listens to the other resulting in catastrophic failure.

Focus, breath, and reflect on your thoughts and we’ll being. Make a genuine effort to allocate a portion of your down time to yourself. It will allow you to see if your focus is to far one side or the other. This gives you an opportunity to work on your balance and help find your calm.

The power of the calm.

The obvious is that it allows you the ability to mentally live a happier more peaceful life. Physically it gives your body the ability to fight infection and injury more efficiently. Finding that calm has a direct perceivable effect on your sleep, anxiety, energy levels, and gut health.

Where is your focus? Is it Fight, Light, or Calm?

There is so much beauty in life… Focus on what truly matters.