You are listening to episode 96 of the Overthinker's Guide to Joy. This is the one
where we're going to talk about the power of your mind. Let's dive in. This is a
podcast for overthinkers, overdoers, and overachievers who are tired of feeling over
anxious and just want to feel better. I'm your host certified life coach Jackie de Crinis.
Hey there, welcome back. So, today I want to talk about the power of the mind.
And while that might sound a bit generic, bear with me. I have been recently
listening, reading, and discussing a whole host of ways in which the brain works.
I'm taking a course on rewiring your brain for negative thoughts and self -judgment
-like behavior. So, we've been spending a lot, a lot of time on the brain and what
it does and how we have these automated thoughts. And I just, there's so many
things that have come to my mind in the last week. I thought, let me do a podcast
on some of the highlights of it. I'm not even sure if it's going to all make
sense when it's said and done. But these were the sort of the topics on my mind
because I kept having so many aha moments this week of,
wow, I never even realized that or I never connected that or I never thought about
that. And I thought maybe some of you might find it interesting too. So look,
we all know the brain is this like incredible super computer. It not only
effortlessly runs our bodies by allowing us to breathe, pump blood,
filter out toxins, see, hear, taste, feel, walk, talk, learn,
and connect. But most of the time we don't even realize it's happening.
Talk about taking things for granted, right? You go all day long and you're like,
"Wow, my body has been running without even my knowledge of it,
like 24 /7, whether we're asleep or whether we're awake, whether we're running a
marathon or whether we're doing yoga, whether we're just eating our dinner or
watching TV, the body is always working. And what happens is we don't really stop
and think about the capacity that our brain truly has to course correct when things
go wrong. So when we can harness our brains abilities, we can achieve some pretty
fantastic things. Now, I recently heard a story about a Fortune 500 CEO who was a
lifelong meditator. He could quiet his mind and find total peace and tranquility any
time he meditated. And he was very religious about meditating twice a day in his
meditation room. The interesting thing is, he could not seem to carry the peace and
tranquility that he manifested while meditating into his boardroom, nor at home with
his family. And it turns out it's because he had taught himself to only quiet his
mind and his actions when he was in the environment of his own meditation den,
where the circumstances were perfect. So he failed to apply that Zen quality into
the practices of his life outside of his meditation spot. This triggered a thought
about another story I had heard like a week or two ago, which was one about a
Broadway actor who was doing a play on Broadway, obviously, and he had had an
extended scene in which he had to carry a briefcase, and after weeks of rehearsals
and performances his arms started hurting or his hands started hurting because he
always held the briefcase in his right hand during this really long scene. So he
was complaining about it to one of his fellow cast members and they suggested why
don't you just carry the briefcase in your other hand, something that never had
occurred to him. So the next night, he switched hands, walked onto the stage,
and proceeded to draw a total blank on his entire dialogue.
He had rehearsed and performed the scene so many times, flawlessly,
by the way. But according to his colleague, once he moved the briefcase from his
right hand to his left hand, since that had been the only way he had rehearsed and
performed the scene, it was like his mind was blank because the association was only
with the briefcase in the right hand. So in both cases, the meditating CEO and the
Broadway actor, neither of them could practice what they knew outside of this
specific tangible thing that they associated it with. These are examples of a
phenomenon called associative memory. By introducing an object or a scent or some
other physical or sense memory, the brain associates that object or sense with the
learned behavior. So again, the CEO knew how to mellow out,
meditate, be quiet, totally calm down his mind, but only in the presence of his
meditation room. He didn't practice taking that skill out into the world. And with
the actor who memorized pages and pages and pages of dialogue with the briefcase in
his right hand, once that sense memory was gone out of his right hand and the
briefcase was in his left hand, he no longer could remember the dialogue he had
said hundreds of times. So another example of this is actually seen with the power
of music. Now since I started using the Pomodoro method to write, which is something
I talk about in episode 92 on time management, I have found much better focus when
listening to classical music and then trying to do my writing. This has become my
associative memory. Classical music now helps me tap into my creativity and my
clarity. But research has shown that listening to and playing music can change brain
function in many ways. It can improve cognitive function such as memory and
attention. And this is most notably seen with older adults when improving their
behavior or cognitive function. So for example, music evokes emotions and emotions
evoke memories, which is why musical intervention has therapeutic benefits for people
with dementia or Alzheimer's disease. So for the elderly with memory loss,
playing music from their youth decreases their agitation and improves communication and
caregiver relationships. And They often recognize the music and can sometimes even
remember the lyrics even if they haven't heard them in decades. This is known as
procedural or implicit memory.
So memory is often tied to the association of something or the procedural element of
another thing, like music. But memory is just part of it. It might also involve
altering brain chemistry and creating greater peace or confidence within your body,
which is why I wanna talk about the power of belief. So I started thinking about
this because I was again, introduced to all these studies in which somebody was
holding something or carried something or had something that made them feel more
confident or helped them memorize something or made them feel better taking a test.
And I started thinking about my favorite childhood movie, a Disney movie called
Dumbo. I'm sure most people have seen it, although you might not remember the
details of it, and I'll just recap it. Dumbo is a small elephant born into
captivity as part of a circus train. And everyone in the circus bullies him because
he's born with these huge ears. They're like twice the size of him. And when
Dumbo's mother loses her temper trying to protect her baby from ridicule and
bullying, she is then locked away in a private cage, basically jail. Dumbo is
shunned by the other elephants for having big ears, and then he's relegated to work
with the circus clowns inside the big top, which is like the lowest emotion because
the other elephants won't play with him or perform with him. So, he makes this one
friend a small but wise mouse, and that mouse realizes that Dumbo's ears are an
asset, not a liability, because they're aerodynamic, and again, in this cartoon and
fantasy, they allow him to fly. So the mouse gives Dumbo a feather and tells him
that's all he needs to be able to fly like a bird, which gives him the confidence
to try and fly. Dumbo thinks the feather is magic and doesn't realize that it's
actually his ears that are what allows him to fly. So during one of his high -wire
acts, Dumbo drops the feather and almost destroys the entire circus in the process
because he thinks he can't fly without the feather. But eventually he realizes he
can fly with or without the feather. And I thought this is such an excellent
metaphor for those of us who rely on external circumstances to find courage in our
own abilities. We have such a tendency as human beings to develop an overreliance on
lucky charms or superstitions, or even just overreliance on others to help us gain
confidence. So take Rafael Nadal, for example, One of my favorite tennis players,
but also one of the greatest tennis players of all time He is obsessively
Ritualistic before every serve and on every changeover Some people speculate this
might be some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder or some might just call it
superstition but at some point he started equating his rituals with winning because
22 grand slams later and $135 million in prize money alone, it was working for him.
Which brings me to another psychological phenomenon, the lucky charm, which is not
wholly dissimilar from superstitions. Superstitions like finding a penny, especially if
it's a heads up and that can symbolize a financial blessing or a guardian angel, or
making a wish while blowing on a dandelion, or making a wish while blowing out
birthday candles, crossing your fingers when awaiting good news, putting a horseshoe
upright above a doorway to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits, finding a
four -leaf clover, knocking on wood when someone talks about health or good fortune,
not walking under ladders, not opening an umbrella indoors. And superstitions across
cultures and periods stem from a desire for control or comfort in uncertain
situations. And when the desired outcome is received after doing these rituals or
carrying a good luck charm like a rabbit's foot or a religious symbol around your
neck or any other kind of associative lucky charm, it creates a confirmation bias.
That is, if someone believes strongly enough in superstition or good luck charms,
they may subconsciously alter their behavior to influence the outcome of events. That
is confirming their belief. But ultimately, we see this in its most miraculous form
in healing with something known as the placebo effect. The Placebo effect offers a
way for individuals to feel like they have some influence over outcomes, even if
it's purely psychological. Now, Placebos, whether they're sugar pills or other inert
subjects, produce effects because the patient believes they are receiving an actual
treatment, activating the brain's healing mechanisms through expectation. So Placebo
does not work if somebody knows it's placebo. But it does work if they're treated
with the same dignity, respect, time, and energy as they would be given an injection
or a prescription or even a surgery in some cases. And there was a report done on
the placebo effect in 2017. And it was discovered that placebos are extraordinary
drugs. They seem to have some effect on almost every symptom known to mankind,
and work in at least one third of the patients. And sometimes in up to 60 % of
the patients, they have absolutely zero side effects and cannot be given in overdose.
This was shocking to me. The impact of the placebo can vary greatly depending on
various other factors. Like I said, whether it's an injection versus a pill, the
pill size has an impact on the placebo, and even the pill color. Now,
the level of care a physician or service provider provides also plays a significant
role in placebo, and that's the power of our brains. When individuals engage in
superstitious behaviors or carry good luck charms, or receive placebos, all three can
sometimes lead to self -fulfilling prophecies. And that's not a bad thing. Quite the
contrary, any one of those things might benefit someone who has been suffering
physically or emotionally. Now, this doesn't mean illness or pain isn't real.
It's very real. But What it does is explains the power of things like meditation,
taking a vacation, falling in love, getting a hug, laughter, watching a great movie,
going to a concert, and so many other things that distract us from the chronic or
acute pain we might feel. Now, I'm not equating meditation, taking a vacation,
falling in love, getting a hug, all those things to a placebo or to a good luck
charm or to superstition, I'm saying any one of those things can actually trick the
brain to start its own healing mechanisms. Because when different neurochemicals are
created, like dopamine and serotonin, we get a break from what plagues us.
Those neurotransmitters can create an analgesic effect or an intoxication effect within
our bodies, and then we start feeling better, temporarily or even permanently.
Now, while superstitions, good luck charms, and placebos may operate in different
contexts and have various origins, they all share commonalities in how they affect
the human brain and behavior, through belief, expectation, psychological comfort,
neurological mechanisms, and cultural influences.
So let's recap. My key takeaway from all of this information is that we tend to
rely on external things. Good luck charms, superstitions, and placebo effects are all
proof that the real superpower is in our minds. It's what we believe is working
that works. So, I have a homework assignment for you this week. I want you to
examine where you might be looking externally for solutions, or confidence, or
comfort, or luck, and whether it's possible for you to adopt the mantra.
Everything I need, have, or want, is right here inside of me.
I love this quote because it reminds us to take our power back and stop looking
externally for answers.
The answers are inside of us.
All right friends, I want to wish you an awesome week and as always, I look
forward to talking to you next time. Bye for now.
If you would like to learn more about working with me as a coach, you can connect
with me through my website at jackiedecrinis.com. That's J -A -C -K -I -E -D -E -C -R -I -N -I -S .com.
