MENTAL HEALTH MENTORSHIP > SWITCHING ON HEART-MIND INTELLIGENCE

Through Part 2 and 3, let’s take a look at stress from the perspective that our human biology and human technology are one.

Human Biology: Running Our Old Amygdala Fear/Reactive Caveman Software > Freeze, Flight, Fight, Fawn

Caveman – Fear > Reaction: Now we are more aware of stress and the vulnerability to reactive mind programming and social conditioning in this technology information age. let’s look at our human biology and how through fear and stress, many of us can be struggling to deal with our thoughts and feelings, our ability to respond, responsibility, processing through our e-motions, energy in motion. Unaware we are running our old amygdala reactive caveman software; Freeze, Flight, Fight and Fawn on our internal hard drive and operating system. Whilst hunting to survive and feed the family, when facing the saber tooth tiger or woolly mammoth, the caveman would experience potential fear and danger. Triggering the amygdala reactive part of the brain, the caveman would experience Freeze: feeling overwhelmed, powerless and shutting down, consumed and shutting down he would get eaten up in the situation. 

Flight: the caveman would run and get away, avoiding the stress of dealing with the situation, living to hunt another day. Fight: the caveman would use aggression but could often lose control, caught in a fight for survival. Fawn: is a common reaction in today’s world, known as people pleasing, avoiding uncomfortable conversations, hiding behind our emotions, giving our power and control to appease a person, situation or an authority. Biology of Belief: In this technology information age of media mind programming and social conditioning, it’s clear to see that many of us can be running the fear based reactive caveman software on our internal hard drive and operating system.

Caveman – Moving From Reaction to Response: Looking back in time, when experiencing great stress and danger, through experience the caveman would learn to stay calm and present, using strength, strategy and skills to overcome the challenge of the sabre tooth tiger or woolly mammoth. Developing their ability to respond, over time they would successfully harness the skills to live, hunt and survive. Even though in today’s world there is no sabre tooth tiger or woolly mammoth, it’s a good analogy to realize no matter how great the fear, stress and pressures are in life, we can learn to develop our ability to respond, moving from reaction to response, using our emotional awareness and heart-mind intelligence.

Our Left & Right Brain Hemispheres:  Now let’s look at our left and right brain hemispheres that control separate aspects of our cognitive functions and can dictate certain personality traits. Many of us can be more dominant in the left or right brain, unaware of how to active both left and right brain, and all brain function. More dominant left brainer’s are logical, analytical, linear thinkers, good with math, often in a career such as an accountant, scientist or computer programmer. More dominant right brainer’s are spontaneous, creative and more emotional than left-brainers, intuitive, good at problem solvers, comfortable with the unknown, compassionate and more connected to the heart.

Headucation > Can Switch Off Our Right Brain: The education system emphasizes the left-brain dominance of logic and language, over the right brain’s more intuitive and creative faculties, those that are activated through rhythm and movement. The right brain absorbs sensory information and is more connected to the heart, helping us integrate reasoning, manage our emotions, address deeper issues and problem-solve from a holistic perspective. Without a Positive Release for Stress: Every emotion we feel has a direct effect on our physical body, and without a positive release and process, our stress and emotions can build up inside. The overload of information, stress and programming, along with lack of movement and exercise can cause the right brain to be overridden, effectively switching it off.

Right Brain Switching Off > Blocked Pathways in The Brain: When our right brain switches off, we can experience blocked pathways in the brain, poor concentration, degraded listening skills, poor memory, becoming more left brain dominant, experiencing lack of process and negative reactions to stress. Emotionally Withdrawn: Without a positive release for stress, we can become emotionally withdrawn, experiencing fatigue, feeling anxious, overwhelmed and disengaged. Looking to escape or comfort the way we feel through junk food, alcohol, drugs or prescribed to take medication. Emotionally Acting Out: Negative stress can build up inside, showing through our body language, effecting our energy, attitude and behaviour. Many of us struggling to keep the lid on our emotions, frustration or anger, emotionally acting out, passing on the way we feel. Lacking the ability to process through life experience, becoming emotionally withdrawn or emotionally acting out can lead to mental health issues, a negative mindset, prescription drugs, longterm addictions and ill health.

Becoming More Left Brain Dominant: Becoming more left brain dominant can lead many of us to get stuck more in our heads, running our reactive caveman programming and software, freeze, flight, fight or fawn on our internal hard drive and operating system. Vulnerable to reactive programming and social conditioning, lacking the willingness or ability to process through our thoughts, feelings and emotions, we can experience cognitive dissonance, challenged too critically think, changing our beliefs, often struggling with alternate perspectives and outside views. Left brainers can often be controlling and bullies, lacking empathy and compassion. Sensitive to conversations that don’t align with what we have been taught. We can experience the ego, self absorbed in a material world of want, taking ourselves serious and easily offended, we can be over thinkers often caught in a reactive mind loop, developing reactive patterns of behaviour, stuck in the left brain conditioning of think, feel, do, rather than feel, sense, be.

Left, Right > Whole Brain Function: When the left and right brain is more in balance, we can feel more connected to our hearts, sensing a deeper knowing in our inner world of feel, sense, be, exercising our emotional awareness and heart-mind intelligence. It’s interesting, when somebody say’s ‘you’re not in the right mind’,

THE CHOICE > TO REACT OR RESPOND 

Reaction > Response: So now we are more aware about life’s stress, the demands, press, problems and issues, dealing with our thoughts, feelings and emotions can be challenging. Life can test us everyday in many different ways, lack of healthy communication can lead to stress building up. There’s no doubt it’s better out then in, sometimes things can blow out, challenging us to contain a situation in the heat, managing the situation with honesty, good values, integrity and compassion. Whether it’s going through the process with somebody or learning to self process through experience, we always have the choice to react or respond, or moving from reaction to response, thinking and feeling it through, dealing with emotion, energy in motion, going through the process. Below: Let’s get a little insight in to our behaviour patterns when it comes to stress, as an exercise, ask yourself the questions below to get some self awareness.

Q: Check Yourself! When Managing Stress, Which Do You Do More?

NEGATIVE REACTOR

The Biology Of Behaviour: Our Reactive Caveman Software – Left Brain Dominant > Freeze / Flight / Fight / Fawn

Are You a Reactor: Are you a stress collector, often struggling to process your thoughts, feelings and emotions, letting stress build-up inside?

POSITIVE RESPONDER

Our Human Technology – Switched On and Tuned In: Our Bright Response Software > Emotional Awareness – Heart-Mind Intelligence.

Are you a Bright Responder: When experiencing stress, do you deal with the way you feel, exercising your ability to respond, processing your thoughts, feelings and emotions, using your emotional awareness and heart-mind intelligence?

THE STRESSWIZE GUIDE – QUESTIONNAIRE 2 

Now you are more aware, reading, downloading and integrating Part 2, it’s time to go through The StressWize Guide Questionnaire 2 – About our human biology, stress and our old fear/reactive caveman software. How the right brain can switch, many of us becoming more left brain dominant.

ACCESS PART 3

THE ONLINE STRESSWIZE GUIDE: INTRO – PARTS 1 > 4