Mind over Matter
How far would you go to ensure your body and mind are in peak physical condition, in order to allow you to live better longer?
would you walk across a crane of a building 900 feet in the air to prove to yourself how strong your mind is at controlling your physical response to stress, or walk into a burning building? Most of us aren’t in a position to do so, but I’m really happy Chris Hemsworth did just that in his recent series, Limitless.
📺 TV Can be entertaining and 👩🏼🏫 educational
This 6-episode-series starring Thor, aka Chris Hemsworth, on Disney+, has blown me away. During the show Hemsworth faces a series of intense physical and mental challenges designed by doctors and experts to help him live a long and healthy life.
If this show sounds familiar, it may be because it made headlines recently about how Hemsworth is taking a step away from acting after finding out he has a high genetic predisposition for developing Alzheimer’s. (remember, carrying a gene does not mean that it is your destiny to develop a disease, it just means you are more likely than someone who does not have a gene, to develop a disease.)
🔥Fire, 💦water & 🏙 heights
I have not been able to stop thinking about Episode 1, Stress-Proof, where Hemsworth, who is afraid of heights, uses only breathing techniques and positive self talk, to guide him across a crane dangling off a 900 foot skyscraper. Leading up to this death defying act, he endures grueling training sessions from drown-proofing (a training exercise employed by special forces) to battling a raging fire at a firefighter training facility to test his body’s physical response to stress combined with breathing and mental techniques. These extreme stress-inducing exercises were incorporated into Hemsworth’s training by Dr. Modupe Akinola, Columbia Business School professor and social psychologist, known as a stress expert.
🧠 Mind over 🪨 matter
Throughout the episode, Hemsworth is hooked up to monitors tracking his breathing and heart rate, so we are able to see his physical response to the medically guided stressors. (I was stressed just from watching him doing the things!) The accelerated heart-rate and breathing were to be expected, but what I was fascinated by, is how he brought both to a normal range with just his mind and breath, through the stress-reducing techniques he learned from Dr. Akinola. .
We have all heard the expression “mind over matter,” but seeing it in action, really solidified how powerful of an idea that really is. That no matter the physical circumstance we are in, we can control how we react to it. More often then I’d like to admit, do I feel a thumping heart or clammy palms over seemingly inconsequential events, and knowing that I have the ability to overcome that, is truly powerful and empowering.
😁 We can control our minds through positive self-talk
Our fight-or-flight system doesn’t just respond to the outside world, Akinola says. “Our own thoughts and emotions can influence that. Positive thinking can help reverse the negative effects your body automatically enacts when facing stress and allowing you to find the energy to power through, calmly.”
During this episode we see this in action via World champion highliner Faith Dickey as she walks across a highline in Horseshoebend, AZ. We learn that positive thinking is a powerful tool in her toolkit, using words and phrases to self-motivate her in perilous situations, even yelling at herself to take that next step. She breaks down a big task (like walking between two mountains!!!) by focusing on one step a time. “I don’t think about the full walk [across a void]; I focus on one step. One foot in front of the other. That one step can propel me all the way across,” Dickey says.
Dickey’s mentality ties in perfectly to a core principle of bite-sized wellness by lb, and segmenting larger goals and challenges into bite-sized, manageable ones. If Dickey can breakdown a void-walk into that next step in front of her, think what you can do when it comes to your health and well-being?
🧠 Box Breathing for Calming the Brain:
Breathing techniques are my personal favorite way to calm myself, and it’s something I’m working on teaching my toddler. but on a more basic level! For me, it’s Dr Weil’s 4-7-8 breath technique which I wrote about here, or box breathing which I’ve recently added to my toolkit for stressful situations. I find that that I can calm my mind and slow my heart-rate through these, which is why conscious breathing is once again my recommended habit.
🔲 Box breathing is a technique often used by responders, who as you can imagine, undergo extreme stress and can’t afford to lose time to their own panic. In a clever voice-over combined with anatomically animated graphics, Hemsworth breaks down the science for how this works. He explains, and we see, that with the slow and deep breaths from boxed breathing, nerve fibers in your chest will detect the change in movement and flood your brain with signals to chill out, short circuiting your fight-or-flight system.
Dr Akinola says this demonstrates that stress signals connecting our brain and body aren’t just one way; “Your body can send signals back.” 🤯
To box breathe:
inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds,Repeat. If you are a visual person like me, it helps to practice this breathing by literally drawing a box while you are performing each step
🔑 My Key Takeaways
After episode 1, and over the course of the next few days, I realized that I already regularly employ positive self-talk. When I start to hear those negative voices telling me that something is too overwhelming like the amount of housework piling up, or question myself on important topics like starting a small business during a recession, I catch those thoughts and either flip them or control them. I have a good friend - here’s looking at you Allison Renzulli - who nothing seems to phase. I often channel her positive vibes when I am looking at my to-do list and rather then allow myself to feel overwhelmed, I tell myself “I’ve got this. It’s no big deal” And then I begin tackling one thing at a time.
The powerful difference for me now after having watched this show, is that when I catch these thoughts, and my responsive positive ones, I am able to tell myself that I am truly in control. I have seen how the body responds and I know I can do the same. It makes me feel powerful 🦸♀️.
To help get Hemsworth started on his crane walk, Dr. Akinola shouts, “One step, one moment, one breath.” Just remember these words any time you start to feel overwhelmed, panicked or stressed. You’ve got this. You have your breath, you have your positive thoughts, and you are in control of your mind and body.
remember: your thoughts are not the boss of you
And if you ever need help, I am an email or session away. Just click box ⬇️ below to get in touch!
