The Shift
The story of 'Blind men and the elephant' illustrates the fact that we interpret life situations based on our conditioning and beliefs.
Everything we experience filters through our individual lens of perception and this shapes our unique personalities, influencing our response and the ability to cope with life.
The interesting dichotomy of the human race is that while each one of us is unique, we are united in our limitation to experience life from our singular perspective. By acknowledging this fact we allow a multitude of possibilities to open for us. And seeing through this kaleidoscope, we broaden our scope of experience and interpretation. Allowing us to view our situation and struggle in a different light, and create a shift towards wellbeing , as is done at Mind Based Therapy (MBT).
The Shift towards well being is achieved by understanding the Mind - Body connection. Our body is like a unique factory manufacturing various chemicals essential for our survival and wellbeing. On an evolutionary level these two are very distinct phenomenon.
For survival there is a fight/flight response which triggers a cascade of bio-chemical reactions in our body, through Sympathetic nervous system. This response, also called the Stress response , has helped our species to survive since we were hunter gatherers. For eg, running away from a predatory animal.
Over the centuries, the sources of threat in our life have changed tremendously, but our biochemical responses have stayed exactly the same. The flight- fright- freeze response still kicks in with as much fury, but is now triggered by our mental and emotional states of chronic stress, fear, anxiety and many more. Our thoughts and emotions have a direct affect on our wellbeing, as the brain can't differentiate a perceived threat from an actual one, highlighting the power of mind- body connection.
Relaxation response, on the contrary, is triggered by the activation of Parasympathetic nervous system and is marked by the surge of feel-good hormones, key to body’s repair and wellbeing.
During hypnosis, deep states of relaxation are established, and using imagination and other therapeutic modalities beneficial suggestions are given to the subconscious mind to achieve desired results.
Mindfulness further strengthens this by bringing awareness to our thoughts, feelings and to the present moment, thereby preventing the automatic downward spiral into unwanted emotional and mental states.