Your Ultimate Self

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Tag: Health

  • Perception and Emotion

    When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

    —Max Planck

    The way we look at things tends to define how they appear to us in our reality. The most used example of this is looking at a glass half full or half empty. Usually it is a way to create a distinction between the perception of those who are optimistic vs those who are pessimistic. The problem with this example is that it is emotionally neutral and so we can clearly understand how people can see it either or. 

    Emotions change the entire meaning of perspective. When we perceive situations in our life that we cloud with emotions it becomes very hard to see a clear objective picture like in our glass half empty half full example. Emotions introduce a sense of rigidity in our thought patterns and even the meanings we make behind the events in our life. 

    In this way our emotional foundations are what assigns positivity or negativity to a circumstance or situation in our lives. For example the way we view challenges; some people can look at a challenge positively as a means of growth through the lens of optimism, hope, gratitude. Take the same challenge, a person can view it negatively as if it were a problem that they need to avoid using the lens of pessimism, fear, shame. I’m sure you can come up with many examples in your own life where you have seen this but an easy example for us to sit with is the idea of public speaking. Just reading those words may have spiked some of your heart rates; positively for some – negatively for others. 

    Regardless of how we are emotionally tuned to create meanings and stories about the challenges we experience and face, we all have the power to change the effect and outcomes in our lives. The first step requires awareness of our own internal processes; whether it is through self reflection or having someone skilled in reflection shine a light on how your emotions influence your stories which ultimately influence your outcomes. 

    Once we introduce consciousness into the emotional machinery of our behaviors, thoughts, and actions we can understand the choices we make that lead to where we are in life. Nothing in life is static or fixed, we only believe that because we are unaware of the background programs running in our mind that guide our decisions; for the better  or worse. This should be good news to those who want to change where their life is and give some framework on how changing our perception of the events and circumstances in our life can be used to transform our lives for the better. 

    Dr. Shaikh M.D

  • Interoceptive Awareness, the 6th sense

    We spend most of our days with our bodies functioning in tandem with our minds, a kind of autopilot that allows us to focus on more complicated tasks. However, some type of internal disturbance may break our focus or flow we engage in. This disturbance can range from the hunger pangs of an empty stomach to the feelings of urgency of a full bladder. Our ability to sense these internal states within our own bodies is what is referred to as interoceptive awareness. 

    To clarify, the way we sense the outside world is through the 5 senses of taste, touch, hearing, smell, and vision. That is how we process information external to our own bodies. Interoception, however is the means in which we process information within our body; signals from the gut, lungs, heart, musculoskeletal system, etc. Think about the the last time you had a “gut feeling” or felt off about a new person you just met. 

    Of course, it wouldn’t be of much use if all of our internal sensations were being brought to the forefront of our conscious awareness 24/7. However, being able to tap into the more nuanced signals our bodies send can serve those that have the awareness. Research has shown that some of us are intrinsically better at others when it comes to interpreting and receiving signals from within. This would serve to explain how some of us are better at regulating our food intake when we look through the lens of the obesity epidemic in the U.S, or how some are able to understand the triggers of anxiety when it comes to self management. 

    With all this being said, interoception is still a phenomena being studied and current understandings are being expanded upon. Whether scientists perform research on the vagus nerve and its connection to the stomach or the areas of the brain such as the insula, we can be assured new insights into the 6th sense that allows us to remain in communication with our own body as time goes on. 

    If you’d like to learn more about how I incorporate interoceptive awareness into my transformational coaching practice and how it can be used to increase your cognitive, physical, and emotional health use the contact form to send me a message and lets connect.  

    Dr. Shaikh M.D