Patterns of Emotion: Physiology

On my last post I talked about Tony Robbins, a life coach. He talked about "Triad: the three patterns that create emotion." Last post I focused on Language, now Physiology, so what your body does. 

Tony Robbins uses an example. He says something along the lines of: If behind curtain number one there is someone who is depressed. What is their body doing? How would you know they are depressed? Of course we can all answer that. They would be slumped over, shallow breathing, to themselves, etc etc. 

He then explains a study in which the patients with clinical depression smiled at themselves in a mirror 20 minutes a day. After 4 weeks every one of the participants were not clinically depressed anymore. I don’t remember if he stated the university that did the study and I have been unable to find it. Sorry! But even though I haven’t found it I know it would work and have read many amazing studies and insights about the power of smiling. 

This Ted talk explains a lot of amazing studies:

Ron Gutman: Hidden Power Smiling

I know it may all seem hooky, but what would it hurt. :D 

“I never will understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish.” - Mother Teresa 

Much love! 

Rachel 

Challenge Your Believe's

I have been listening to Tony Robbins a lot lately. He is truly amazing. As I was watching one of his inspiring lectures yesterday I was struck by what he was teaching and wanted to share it. He calls it the “Triad: The three pattens that create emotion.” There are only 3 categories, but so much amazing information in each category that I decided I would spilt it up between the next few days. 

Your Language:

Tony explains that the language patterns we have change how we feel. For example: if we say things in our head like, "Why does this always happen to me" or "I am stupid/dumb for thinking I could do ____",  you literally wear yourself out emotionally.  You start to believe them.  If you want to change your life, pay attention to the words you repeat to yourself. 

In Christa Black's book "God Loves Ugly" she challenges you to write down your primary emotions. To be completely honest, dig deep down. Write it all down where you can see it! She explains that there are no rules, you can write paragraphs, write a key word, even draw a picture if it helps you really release these emotions or “language”. You need to recognize what you believe about yourself before you can even begin to change it. Christa goes in to more detail explaining to "pay attention to your thinking. What strolls though that brain of yours everyday? What do you allow yourself to dwell on, feed on? What consumes your mind?" 

She once again points out the importance of writing these questions down and answering them throughout the day. Acknowledge the hard, horrible, painful, wrong, happy, exciting things your believe about yourself. Your mind doesn't think of things randomly, it has learned what to think or believe by your language pattern. Once your start to challenge these thinking pattern it will finally begin to change. 

Ways you can challenge what you think is using the list of your primary emotions and beliefs, once you have listed these down in front of you, you can take one at a time and challenge them. 

Christ black recommends challenging it like this: "I challenge the core belief that I am ________ and do not accept it in my mind and heart anymore. I am _________, regardless of what I see or feel. "  

You are better than you think. Stop telling yourself otherwise. Put it to the test. And remember one challenge one day at a time. By changing the language you speak to yourself you can change your destiny.

Is He Your Best Friend?

Happy New Year!

So with the New Year here it is a tradition to make New Years goals. However, this year I was able to recognize something. I set myself up to fail; I think we all do it sometimes.

I realized this while reading Jon Acuff’s book Start. He describes the reason we all have a hard time setting and keeping goals.  He explains our mindset when we have something that we want to accomplish.  We either think, “I need to do it perfectly.” or “I can’t do it at all.”  For some reason we tend to go to either of these two extremes when we want to set a goal or do something new.  He explains how there really does need to be a middle ground.  Honestly we can’t ever expect ourselves to do anything perfectly but for some reason when we set goals and can’t accomplish them perfectly 100% of the time we get discouraged and give up.  While on the other hand we can also be afraid of failing and convince ourselves that we are better off not trying at all.

On k-love (a Christian radio station) one of the host talked about the stress of New Years goals. She went on to suggest instead of picking so many goals that we rather pick a theme for the whole year. She picked happiness.

I loved her idea. At first I wanted to pick happiness too, we all could use more of it! Then I felt the spirit prompt me. I had these words come to mind “Choose the Savior as your theme”. As I thought about it I decided a theme for year could be:

“Coming To Understand That

Christ Is My Best Friend”

I hope that we can all remember the Savior in our life and His importance. He is our best friend and I am so excited to get to know Him even more this year.

Much love,

Rachel 

When Was The Last Time Did Nothing?

I have almost the same routine every day. 7:30am-10pm pretty much have a set schedule. I am a busy Wife and Medical assistant. Along with that I have church calling, Physical Therapy, Meeting with therapist, doctors appointment (and more of them), grocery shopping making, dinner...and blah blah. And yes, I don't even have kids yet. Regardless of what time we are at in out life it is BUSY!

Our world is running at a fast pace, and I have been going at that same pace (or attempting to).

We have fast food, fast phones, fast freeways, fast access to multiple things!

The other day I watched a TED talk:

It reminded me of Elder Utchdorfs talk in which he says:

"Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.

Is it?

I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.

I can’t see it.

Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time."

“Life is made up of Moments. Moments create Days, days create Months, months create Years, years create LIFE. Lose the Moment and you lose Life.”

I have been so distracted that there are time that My husband will ask me if I am okay I say, " Of course". Without skipping a beat. I am so not in tune with my emotions or with the spirit. I have so much going on in my head to keep we busy. I have been so "busy" that I haven't even blogged for a month!!

Whether you have an addiction, are in recovery from one, or don't have one at all. We need to be aware of Satan, He is using busy. In all of us. and 'Busy' literally means we are 'yoked with satan'

B-being

U-under

S-satan

Y-yoke

Let us take a moment this week to have silence. To drive without music blasting or talking on the phone. Instead of playing games, checking your Facebook/Instagram/twitter etc. get our your knees. Don't let busy ruin your week.

Much love,

Rachel 

Sinking In His Grace

David Crowder Band. How He Loves Us. 

Just wanted to remind everyone how much God loves you. No matter what you are going through, no matter what you have done, He loves you. He made you. You are His. I love this song. Thankful for this reminder today. 

“If His grace is in ocean we’re all sinking in it… I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, when I think about the way… He loves us”

Much Love, 

Rachel 

Not Abandoned

On Saturday my husband had the day off, which NEVER happens. I was so thankful. We had a fun day planned. But first we had to take my car to get an oil change. blah!

As we sat down in the waiting room I realized I had not put on my ring that day. A horrible feeling, but I knew right where it was. We got home and I eagerly went into my bedroom to my night stand to put it on. I couldn’t find it. I then began to look around the night stand…thinking it may have fallen.

Then I went into the bathroom thinking, maybe I took it off to wash my hands in the morning. Nope not there. As I searched the kitchen and it was not there my anxiety grew stronger. I told my husband I couldn't find it and he started helping me search for it. 

And let me tell you it was quite the search. I had done laundry that morning, so we dumped out every laundry basket and searched every cranny of the laundry room. I had taken recycling out. So yes, my lovely husband emptied thee entire garbage bin and literally crawled inside to double check the bottom to make sure it wasn’t there. 

Our house was literally torn apart. We thought it might have fallen in the couch, so we cut the fabric lining underneath the couch only to find a marble and some fake money (which was not so funny at the time). 

By this point I was sobbing. We said another pray together. I remember telling God that I was angry because the reason my ring fall off is because it is to big. The reason it is to big is because I have been sick. And being sick is unfair. My heart was broken. 

I begged Him to fill me with faith. As I continued searching a thought came to me “God cares about what you care about”. The whole 2 hours I searched I held on strong to that. 

I began calling every place I had been starting with Jiffy Lube all the way to yesterday at Savers.  No place had they seen it. I had a feeling that we needed to go to Jiffy Lube ourselves and look for my ring. 

As we arrived at Jiffy Lube I was trying to remember which parking spot I had parked in. We began walking from spot to spot…all of the sudden there it was. Yes! In the parking lot, on the ground, sparkling in the sun. 

The odds of finding such a tiny thing were definitely not in my favor. I have never been so grateful! Not just because of the actual cost/value of the ring, but that the Lord did not give up on me. He guided me, He helped me every step of the way. He cares about what I cared about. He knew how important my ring was to me. And He knows what is important to you, no matter how big or how small. I know it!!!

“I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.” On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.” -Elder Holland Oct. 2008 Conference. “Ministry of Angels”

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Much Love,

Rachel 

Pride: Misunderstood Sin

I work at a doctor’s office. Every now and again we get some patients that we consider will not follow the physician advice. They will recommended a “plan of treatment”. Sometimes it may include a medication of some sort. When I call the patient to notify them of their abnormal blood work (or lab of some sort) they decline the “plan of treatment”. They state that they heard that the medication doesn’t work, or that someone that had that placed got worse, or someone that took that medication got fat, or they read on a website X,Y,Z etc. etc. etc. 

The physician has worked their life researching and studying this. He or she (usually) has your best interest. But many patients come in requesting something that we know will not help them. They are not interested in medical advice at all. They know what they want and they are get what THEY want. 

I know I am guilty of this with the Lord. He tells me to do _____ and I tell him that the “side effects” I will have will be to bad. Or the “surgery” won’t work well enough, OR, OR, OR.

I know that the great physician KNOWS all our needs. He KNOWS exactly the treatment we need. (I know that comparing Him to an earthly physician is not reasonable, for he is perfect)Yet, how we treat Him or react to His counsel is very prideful. 

“Pride is a very misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance. In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride-it is always considered a sin. Therefore, no matter how the world uses the term, we understand how God uses the tern so we can understand the language of holy writ and profit thereby. 

Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, are still missing. 

The central feature of pride is enmity- enmity toward God and enmity toward fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to region over us. 

Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God’s. When we direct our pride toward God, it is in the spirit of “my will and not thine be done” “- Ezra Taft Benson Conference April 1989.

In October 2010 conference Elder Utchdorf stated,”Pride is a deadly cancer. It is a gateway sin that leads to a host of other human weaknesses. In face, it could be said that every other sin is, in essence, a manifestation of pride.”

Let us all be more full of humility. We can choose humility by receive counsel from the Lord, forgiving others, and putting Him first in our lives. 

I am trying this week particularly this week to put the Lord first to do His will. He loves me and will not lead me astray. He is the perfection physician. 

“Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.” (Alma 32:16.)