Hello. It’s Barb Earle Neurotransfromational Coach and health and well-being expert on a mission to help you get to know your brain and body better and why it matters.
Welcome to the last week of this special edition entitled
Four Steps Boost Mental Health and shift your perspective—pandemic related or not! For short, let’s call it the 4 Ps:Pause. Perspective. Practise. Patience.
Today’s blog is about Patience, the fourth P.
How have the last three weeks been going?
I’d like to take some time to explain one of the reasons we feel anxious over this current state of affairs ~ the pandemic. It’s been over a year in this pandemic. That’s ample time for our brain to create a steady growth of neural connections or thought pathways in our brain which are associated with COVID living. The impact is stress, fatigue, and little patience for any so-called normal stressors. Our neural connections have been reinforced, repeated, and have become well-developed in our brain.
This is neuroplasticity — our brain’s ability to change.
It does not discriminate between effective or ineffective ways of thinking. The fact is, many of these pathways are deeply rooted in our brain. And the amazing part is that we have the ability to weaken the ineffective ones and create new more effective ones.
And that is part of neuroplasticity as well!.
The key is patience.
We simply need time and give ourselves a health dose of self-compassion. The 4 Ps is a simple method but not always easy. If you only ever get to the first step and pause each time you come across a pandemic stressed emotion you are well on your way to creating a new effective neural connection.
Your patience is key to living a life of less chaos, more calm.
Follow these three tips to enhance patience while giving practising self-compassion.
TIP #1 Practise self-compassion.
As you incorporate the 4 Ps into your life and it doesn’t go as planned go back to the first step ~ Pause. Do it as often as you need. When you regularly care for your emotional well-being, it’s a little easier to cope with life’s challenges. You don’t have the extra weight of self-criticism and self-doubt. You’re able to extend compassion to others more easily. You reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.It’s like having a really good, compassionate friend with you all the time. Practice patience.
TIP #2 Practise patience over self-judgement.
Negative thoughts about ourselves reduces effective thinking and can be quite brutal. The interesting part is most times we are unaware of how much we embellish our self-judgment
One way to minimize it is to go back to Step 1 ~ Pause.
Take a conscious breath or two.Then if possible include the second step ~ perspective, be open to seeking out your strengths, and find out what’s really important to you. Being mindful of what you’re feeling, stepping back to observe it and naming your emotion will go a long way to distancing yourself from self-judgment. And a much kinder way to treat yourself.
TIP#3 Practise a personal inquiry,
A gentle reminder the first two steps in the 4 Ps are sequential in order. It’s nearly impossible to move into a perspective state of mind when you’re experiencing chaos. The first step ‘Pause’, is important. It helps bring your brain and body back to a state of balance. Or at least close to it. The last tip to enhance patience is a personal inquiry.
Ask yourself What is the impact to myself and others? Whew big one!
So many things happen when you ask this question:
- You become mindful which is a key to living a calmer live and boosting your mental health.
- You become the observer of your emotions over being overwhelmed by them.
- You become more powerful at changing and managing your emotions.
Practise the 4 Ps. Live brilliantly!
Let the neuroscience of your brain and body do the rest.
Until we meet in Person.
Brain to Brain.
Heart to Heart.
Ciao!