Don't Let It Get To You
Remember sitting down to write an exam and you knew you knew the answer to a question but you couldn't recall it. Then when the exam was over you stood up and it came to you?
Have you ever had trouble remembering a person's name or a specific fact and you became stressed by it that the conversation ground to a halt while you struggled to recall it?
Ever had something bothering you at night and then the answer seemed obvious to you by morning?
You're not alone.
The brain is divided into right and left hemispheres, with essentially the same structure but different functions. This is called lateralization. The right hemisphere is creative, random and emotional while the left is logical, linear and verbal.
When one side of the brain is dominant it has waves in the beta range… the extremes of which bring about feelings of stress, lack of balance and worse.
When we train our brain to operate in the alpha range, a more holistic and positive view of the world is possible. Our world appears balanced, friendlier and less threatening.
Alpha brain waves are acquired from a state of light meditation and relaxation. Learning and solutions are readily available to us.
The deeper the level of our mediation or the more we enter into the dreaming state, the more we enter into the theta range of brain waves and the more heightened our creativity becomes.
There are many ways to regain balance - meditation, motion, deep sleep, aromatherapy, music (I use solitudes), do something different, read, go and talk with someone, tactile stimulation (pet an animal), slow your breathing rate, forget it and move on (it will come to you)…
Here is an image I use to relax…
First get comfortable. Focus on your breathing – slow it down. As you begin to relax feel your eyelids getting heavier… try to keep them open. Feel your hands, forearms and arms getting heavier. Feel your feet anchored to the floor and the heaviness in your legs. While you're in this relaxed state imagine…
You are walking along the beach. It's mid July – very, very hot. The sky is a brilliant blue – the sun a blazing yellow. Feel the heat of the sun on your face –feel the warmth of its rays on your skin.
You are barefoot… feel the dry, hot loosely packed sand beneath your feet and between your toes. Walk closer to the water… feel the wet, cold firmly packed sand.
Hear the beating of the waves, the rhythmic lapping, the to and fro of the water against the sand. Hear shrill, high cries of the gulls' overhead.
As you continue your walk you come to a sand dune, a mound of white sand covered with green grass and yellow buttercups.
You sit on the sand and stare out over the water. The water looks like a mirror of silver reflecting the sun's rays. It's a mass of pure white light. As you continue to stare at the reflection you see flecks of purple and violet.
The sun is beginning to set… it appears closer and closer to the water. The sky is turning crimson, scarlet and then gold. You feel engulfed in the sounds, color and warmth… at peace with yourself and the world.
What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?
