Inner Sense

23/11/2022

Rangan and Howard changing the way we view pain...

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18/02/2022

Usually, when we see someone tremor or shake we assume they are in distress or maybe suffering from some unfortunate condition. But what if these movements could be a pleasurable or therapeutic exercise?

I enjoyed speaking about this with George Horlock as he described his experience of practicing TRE - which stands for Tension or Trauma Releasing Exercises. TRE was developed by David Bercelli. Here's our conversations 👇

George Horlock is personal trainer based in Brighton, UK. In this interview we talk about his experience of practicing TRE - which stands for Tension or Tra...

13/12/2021

In his book, Inner Engineering, the spiritual teacher, Sadhguru reminds us that the fulfilment we’re looking for in life depends on something very simple: a sense of pleasantness within us.
By ‘engineering’ this pleasantness from within we don't have to rely so much on external situations to provide us with happiness.

10/12/2021

The festive season can feel stressful.

Getting jobs done on time whilst staying cheerful is a challenge.

So, we come bearing good news to help master your mood.

In the words of eminent neuroscientist, Lisa Feldman Barrett, you can ‘be the architect of your experience’…even at festive family gatherings!

Expectations are powerful….but if they aren’t helping you, remember it’s possible to alter them.

Here are our suggestions for what to do when you feel pressure building.

(1) PAUSE – take a breath and aim to untangle the components of your present moment experience. Can you notice the difference between these three aspects:

• Your situation – what are the facts about what’s going on around you? (I’m stuck in traffic, late and still have jobs to do)
• Your bodily sensations – what’s happening throughout your body. Observe with a non-judgemental curiosity (my stomach is gripping, or my breathing has become shallow)
• Your mental functions – what meaning are you attaching to the situation and the sensations you are feeling? (I hate this, or so and so, is no good)

Once you have a handle on the crafty ways that thoughts, bodily sensations and situations are woven together into what seems like a single experience you have an in-road into changing things. Time for the next step.

(2) ASK – How could I feel differently about things?

Check out our previous post on the top five ways to influence your physiology.

By creating a gap between ‘noticing’ your experience and ‘reacting’ to situations you have the chance to avoid triggering knee-jerk emotions.

This reveals new possibilities for thinking differently and acting differently.

Above all, remember to be easy on yourself

07/12/2021

Finding a state of happiness.

This quote by Sylvia Plath is taken from the novel, The Bell Jar. It hints at the familiar idea that viewing beautiful landscapes can lead to a gasp of air and sensation of happiness.

Indeed, for better or worse, signals and images from our environment do influence the way that we feel.

Although let’s not forget - in the absence of beautiful scenery we can use internal tools to improve our mood. By changing how we breathe and ‘imagine things to be’ it’s possible to direct our physiology towards a more pleasant state of being.

Wishing you a pleasant day!

29/11/2021

For centuries, philosophers and sages such as Henry David Thoreau have placed great value on the practice of developing self-awareness.

New technology is allowing a robust science to develop around self-awareness. This includes the field of interception research.

It turns out that through striving to 'Know Thyself' we may be able to make better decisions and live more effectively.

You can find out more about the science behind this topic from Stephen Fleming's new book, 'Know Thyself'.

https://buff.ly/31en3QM

26/11/2021

24/11/2021

Finding the right words to explain how we feel can be tricky.

Especially if things ‘get emotional’. Emotion words can mean different things to different people and may end up being directed towards people or objects in seemingly blameful ways.

But what if there was a simple way to link real changes inside your body to your emotional state?

Enter valance and arousal!

In psychology, valence simply describes how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ something feels. Is it pleasant or unpleasant? Positive or negative?

Arousal is a measure of how excited or calm we are. Is your body revved up to go, or wound down, ready for sleep?

Emotions can be nicely mapped against valence and arousal. From here we can link how we feel to our basic physiology.

Can you start to see how each emotion you feel links to how activated or calm your nervous system is and whether the level of activation feels good or bad?

This way of looking at our emotions still allows for individual differences between people based on their personal experience at the same time as helping us find a shared way of understanding how we feel and behave around each other.

Maybe you can tune in to your body to find out what’s driving thoughts and actions.

22/11/2021

Lovely quote from the novelist and essayist, Lesie Jamison.

She points towards the idea that paying attention to bodily sensations can help us savour the good things in life.

Wishing you a pleasant, embodied week ahead 🙂🙏

17/11/2021

Do you consider yourself a gambler?

Maybe not. Although, a growing number of neuroscientists might disagree.

For years, scientists believed that your brain and the wider nervous system throughout your body works in a ‘stimulus–response’ way. In other words, we sit around resting until we’re stimulated by something.

According to this view, our experiences, including feelings of anxiety, are simply driven by events going on around us.

Nowadays there’s a growing understanding that your brain constantly builds a picture of what it expects is going to happen – based on past experiences. It gambles in this way, with the intention of keeping you alive and to manage your valuable energy and resources efficiently.

This usually works well!

However, there’s a downside to this guesswork if predictions about how to prepare your body for action aren’t updated properly. Bodily feelings created by unhelpful ‘guesses’ can lead to chronic anxiety.

Understanding this guesswork game helps shed new light on mental distress. It can help your feelings feel less confusing!

15/11/2021

Today's quote comes from renowned neuroscientist, Antonio Damasio.

Like many other scientists, Damasio is helping us understand the body's important role in shaping our thoughts.

Bodily sensations provide our mind with useful facts that allow us to own our experience...they are "the first enablers of consciousness."