Change From the Outside In

We've been having some spectacular weather here in the Pacific Northwest. Sunny, warm days with gentle breezes. Perfect.

We so rarely have this much sun in Western Washington that when we do get it, we don't know what to do. We start to act like goofballs - making excuses to leave work early or not show up at all, putting the tops down on convertibles that were bought during the last sunny day, and buying new sunglasses to replace the ones we can't find which we last used only a month or two ago.

Yep, when the sun shines everyone's energy goes up and they are happier

In coaching, one of the strongly held beliefs is that the important stuff happens on the inside and then is reflected on the outside. Stuff like:

When you live your life from the inside out, your life is easier and flows more smoothly. True changes in your life happen from the inside out. The most effective way for you to experience your full power is by living your life from the inside out. Well, if this is so, then how come something as simple as a brighter light shining on our outside can have such a profound affect on our inside? I believe that both inside and outside are deeply connected and no matter where you apply a change, inside or outside, it will affect the other.

Here's a great example of how you can use change on the outside to affect change on the inside:

Change can't happen when you are in fear because when you are experiencing any form of fear, such as anger, depression, or stress, you move into survival mode. Your thoughts are all routed to the "reptilian brain", more commonly known as the brain stem. This is the oldest part of the brain and is the area of the brain where all the thoughts are about your survival. In a fear based situation, your thoughts center around how you can survive via either fight or flight.

If you think that we're too advanced nowdays to sink to such a level, think again. Remember a situation in which you were very angry. What were your thoughts? Did you want to sit down with the other person and have a nice cozy, loving chat? Not likely. Probably you were you thinking more along the lines of retalliation and revenge or of how you could avoid or escape the situation. Fight or flight.

The thing about this survival part of your brain is that there is no capability for creative thought in it. So when you are in fear, you are not mentally capable of thinking of ways to change your current situation. Your thinking is only about how you can survive by either fighting or fleeing.

Not only that, but your physiology changes to support you in fight or flight. Your blood is re-routed to the parts of your body needed during fight or flight - your muscles, heart, and lungs. This leaves little or no oxygen-carrying blood in your brain with which you can think. After all, it doesn't take much in the way of brain power to fight or to run.

This means that during a fear based experience, not only are your thoughts focused on fight or flight, so is your entire body.

This is where changing the outside comes in handy. When you're in a fear-based mode, do something to your outside that will affect your inside... anything to get your thoughts out of your reptilian brain. Go for a walk. Take a hot soak in a bubble bath. Get a massage. Buy something new and nice for yourself. Get a hug from someone who's really a great hugger.

Then, when you are feeling less fear-full, your thinking will be out of the survival based part of your brain and into the cerebral area, where you'll be able to creatively think of workable, doable, viable solutions to your situation.

Copyright 2004 Under One Roof
This article was given to me by www.under-one-roof.net