Happiness Secret #2: What is blocking you from being happy?
What is blocking you from being happy? Negative and positive thoughts are fueled by different regions of the brain and are strengthened when you activate those regions.
Basically you have to see it as an internal war for domination between different parts of your brain.
You have to imagine you have internal enemies.
They are a set of automatic and habitual mind patterns, each with its own voice, beliefs, and assumptions that work against your best interest.
These negative thoughts are fueled by the reptilian and limbic brain, that are the parts of the brain connected with survival.
Once you are in survival mode, you are only focused on seeing signs of danger.
Survivor brain fuels negative thoughts and negative thoughts fuel the survivor brain back. This is a vicious circle until you quiet your survivor brain.
We each develop these patterns early in childhood in order to survive the perceived threats of life, physical and emotional.
By the time we are adult, we don’t need them anymore, but they have become invisible inhabitants of our mind. We often don’t even know that they exist.
The neocortex brain, on the other hand, regulates other functions like observing yourself, pausing before action, staying centered, having empathy for yourself and others.
As children we have more balance. As we get older our survivor brain is continuously exercised, rewarded and strengthened, while the neocortex atrophies. In the majority of adults the survivor brain muscles are stronger than the neocortex.
The positive and uplifting feelings of peace, joy and true happiness are impossible to feel when the survivor brain is in charge
In other words … HOW YOU FEEL DEPENDS ON WHICH REGION OF YOUR BRAIN IS ACTIVE, RATHER THAN ON YOUR SITUATION.
Go ahead and watch video #2.
Assignment:
1) Dr. Jill Taylor is a brain researcher from Harvard. She suffered a stroke which shut down much of her survivor brain regions and left the neocortex mostly in charge. She experienced a complete cessation of her anxiety and felt peace, joy and compassion despite the fact she was almost totally paralysed. Listen to her wonderful speech about her experience.
2) Whenever you are feeling negative emotions STOP! If you stay in your negative emotion for more than 1 minute you are hijacked by the survivor brain. Be aware when the negative emotion is coming. Try to react the opposite way of what you would do normally. Do it for a certain period of time constantly. This will help you shift your neuropaths.
Homework inquiry:
1.Where do I give my power away? To whom? When?
Take a moment for yourself and think about situations when you are not in control, when you get hijacked by negative emotions. Are they recurrent? Does it happen with the same people? When and where does it happen?
I hope this information will inspire you to get the wonderful life you deserve.
Love,
Daniela
Go watch Happiness Secret #3