Physiology & Emotional Freedom

"Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one's better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk, and to act." - Dr. Maxwell Maltz

When people are emotionally and physically low, we often say that they are in "an awful state." In the same way, we recognize that to make the most of a challenge we must be "in the right state of mind."

What is a state of mind? Quite simply it is all the thoughts, emotions and physiology that we express at the moment; the mental pictures, sounds, feelings and all the patterns of physical posture and breathing. Mind and body are completely interconnected, so our thoughts immediately influence our physiology, and vice versa.

Our state of mind changes continually and this is one of the few things about it we can rely on. When you change your state, your whole world changes too (or seems to). We are usually more conscious of our emotional state than of our physiology, posture, gesture and breathing patterns. In fact, emotions are often considered to be beyond conscious control, they are the visible tip of the iceberg.

We do not see the whole physiology and thought process that lies underneath and supports the emotions. These are the submerged nine tenths of the iceberg. To try to influence the emotions without changing state is as futile as trying to make the iceberg disappear by sawing the top off. More will simply surface, unless you spend an inordinate amount of energy holding it underwater, and this is what we often do; with drugs or willpower.

For us, the mind leads, and the body follows obedient. Thus habitual emotions can be stamped onto a person’s face and posture, because the person does not notice how the emotions mold his or her physiology.

Try this experiment. Take a moment to think of some enjoyable experience, a time when you felt really good. When you have thought of one, think yourself back into that experience. Spend a minute or two re-experiencing it as fully as you can.

As you enjoy these pleasant feelings, look around you and notice what you see and what sounds you are hearing as you re-live this memory.

Notice how you feel, and when you are ready, return to the present.

Notice the impact this has on your present state, especially your posture and your breathing.

Past experiences are not gone for ever; they can help you feel good in the present. Although the sights and sounds of the past are gone, when we mentally re-create them the actual feeling is still as real and as tangible as it was then. So regardless of what you were feeling before you read this, you have just put yourself in a more resourceful state.

Now, by contrast, think back to a slightly uncomfortable past experience. When one comes to mind, imagine yourself back in it again.

Back in that situation, what do you see?

What are you hearing?

Notice how you feel.

Do not stay with us experience for very long, return to the present and notice the effect this had on you. Become aware of how you feel after this experience compared with how you felt after the previous one. Notice also, your different posture and breathing pattern.

Now change your emotional state. Do some kind of physical activity, move your body and switch your attention from the memory you just accessed to something completely different. Look out of the window, jump up and down, run to the other side of the room and touch the wall, or bend down and touch your toes. Pay attention to the physical sensations of moving and to what you sense in the here and now.

This is known is changing state were breaking state in NLP terms, and is worth doing whenever you notice yourself feeling negative or unresourceful. Whenever you remember unpleasant memories and access unresourceful states, your entire body takes up these negative states and holds them as patterns of muscle tone, posture and breathing.

These physically stored memories can contaminate teacher experiences for minutes or hours. We all know what it is like "get out of the wrong side of the bed." People who suffer depression have unconsciously mastered the ability to maintain an unresourceful state for long periods.

Others have mastered the ability to change their emotional state at will, creating for themselves and emotional freedom that transforms the quality of their lives. They fully experience the emotional ups and downs of life. But they learn, move on, and not dwell on emotional pain unnecessarily.

As we go through life, we continually move through different emotional states, sometimes quickly, sometimes more gradually. For example, you may be feeling quite low and a friend telephones with some good news. Your spirits lighten. Or maybe it's a bright sunny day and you open your mail to find an unexpectedly large bill. Mental clouds can cover a real sun.

We can choose to influence our states, rather than simply to react to what happens on the outside. In the past few moments, you have felt good, then uncomfortable, then... however you feel now. And nothing has actually happened in the outside world. You have done this all yourself.

Your mind is your most powerful ally, how you choose to use it is uniquely up to you.

Joining me in creating a revolution for your mind, because the Best is yet to come!

David Martin
Answer Concepts, S.A.
answerconcepts@msn.com