Moments of calm
You might have heard of the Chimp Paradox, a book by Professor Steve Peters? He talks about our instinctive animal brain the ‘Chimp’ brain, which evolved first, and our ‘human’ brain, which is the rational thinking part of our brain, that developed later.
The constant wrestling that goes on between these two parts of our brain can leave us exhausted, the Chimp brain is where our emotions lie, and our human brain tries to deal with our emotions by thinking rationally. Sometimes emotion ‘wins’, sometimes thinking.
A moment of calm comes when we align the two parts of our brain and take a much needed break.
This really simple exercise is frequently a lifesaver for me – so let’s give it a try.
- Close your eyes
- Focus in on your sense of hearing
- What can you hear that you hadn’t been listening to until this moment?
- Listen to it for a few seconds or minutes.
- Move the focus to your sense of smell
- What can you smell that you hadn’t been paying attention to?
- Move your attention to your body, with your eyes still closed.
- What can you feel? How do your feet feel in your shoes? How does your body feel on whatever you are sitting on? Have you got any tension anywhere in your body?
- Now open up your eyes.
- What can you see that you hadn’t been paying attention to? Really look around you like you’re seeing wherever you are for the first time, appreciate the beauty that you see, notice the details.
This exercises only needs to take one or two minutes, but it aligns both parts of the brain and brings true moments of calm into your day.
I encourage you to try it whenever you need a moment of calm.
For my next ‘getting back on track’ tip I’ll be talking about what I mean by drops of gratitude and why this is one of my favourite strategies.
Best wishes,
Cat
P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 4 ways we can help…
Access our free hypnosis download 'Ultimate Confidence' which gives you a 15 minute audio where you will be guided towards achieving ultimate confidence for yourself.
Find out more about our ‘Minimising Stress and Maximising Resilience Programme’ and it’s ‘hot air balloon’ analogy of resilience which is designed to enrich your knowledge and understanding of the vital skill of resilience and give you a roadmap of tried and tested methods to help you face anything life throws at you CLICK HERE.
Uncover your strengths – book a ‘'Strengths Discovery'’ session to discover your unique personality strengths and how to apply them to achieve your goals.
Contact us to talk through a customised 121, group or team session tailored to meet your specific needs.
