Is your conversation with your "Physical Self" appropriate for polite company?

or.. 

What the @#$& are you saying?

I just have a quick question for you. What kind of conversation are you having with your physical self throughout the day? If you're anything like me that conversation might not be appropriate for polite company. Well at least it used to be that way.

One day I had a weird thought. I looked down at what I was then referring to as my body and asked, "what is this thing anyway". My first weird thought was followed by a second weird thought. What if this thing I'm calling my body     were an entity all on its own. Like a pet….

I know it sounds super strange, but it occurred to me that if this thing were anything outside of myself, literally anything at all, I would never be                                                                                     speaking to it this way! 

In fact, I realized that I don't think I would speak to even an inanimate object that way. In the moment the thought both horrified and made me laugh. I imagined myself talking to a vase with the disdain, dislike, and downright trash talk I used when talking to my physical self.

You see the thing is that, I consider myself a nice person. I try to be kind, considerate, and loving to all things. Especially those I know have feelings, needs and wants. Well, I certainly hadn't been any of those things to my physical self. The truth is I've been cruel, unkind and let's face it abusive. I laughed again when I realized that if someone asked my body to describe me, it would probably say "She's a real bitch!"

This one strange thought started me on a whole new adventure. The adventure began with addressing my body in a completely different way. I also began to see my physical self as an entity unto itself with needs and wants, likes and dislikes of its own. We all sort of know this to be true. We talk about what our body wants or craves. We often talk about our body doing what it wants and not at all what we want. So it's not such a foreign idea.

I started this new adventure with my physical self by wondering how to begin addressing her in a more respectful way. I began by saying her not it. Then I asked if she had a name.....

But that is a story for another day.... 

So I return to my original question, is the conversation you are having with your body appropriate for polite company? And are the things you are saying the kind of language and sentiment you generally use with other people, animals, inanimate objects? 

If not I invite you to take the day to simply notice the conversation that you're having with your physical self.

1. Notice how you refer to your physical self. When you speak to her directly do you use the term        you, I, we, my? You're not looking for right or wrong here just noticing.

2. Notice how often the conversation is less of a conversation and more of a negotiation, argument,    knockdown drag out, or tender interaction.

3. Notice your connection with your physical self. Do you feel separate, connected, imprisoned,      maybe locked in a cell with your worst enemy, or in harmony?

4. Notice if what you say specifically to your physical self causes any sensation in the physical.
  Notice if the body tenses or relaxes,has pain or lack of pain, has a sense of heaviness or lightness in     response to your inner dialogue.

 5. Try one time during the day having a conversation with your physical self that feels more like    talking to a new acquaintance. Use polite language as you might to a person that you do not know  well but that you want to feel acknowledged and respected.

One word of caution these simple exercises might begin the internal adventure of a lifetime!

Liz Larson
transformoneidea@gmail.com

Life Design Strategist
NLP Master Practitioner

Are you Super Human? Can You Be? ----What's Possible for you?

Today I was watching, Stan Lee's Super Humans. The show is not so much comic book as it is science oriented. The host of the show Daniel Browning Smith travels around the world investigating people that have a natural "Super- human" ability. On the show, Daniel was investigating a man who's body never seemed to fatigue. He once ran 50 Marathons in 50 days. His muscles don't build up lactic acid like normal humans. His lungs and heart don't seem to get tired. In fact where even the most elite athletes have muscle fatigue and breakdown during extreme exercise, this man seems to get stronger and faster!The host of the show states, "It goes against everything we know about human biology". His lactic levels seem to go down while normal humans increase during exercise. The doctors and scientists that examined him declared him truly Super Human!

It made me think about what Super Human means. Essentially it just means outside what we think is normal. Stan Lee's investigation into people who have outside of the normal ability highlights this idea. There are people all over the world that can do things we deem amazing! But what if we shifted this idea. What if we looked at these people for what they really are. They are an example of what is possible! Currently we look at them as outside the norm and disregard the fact that they are in fact human and therefore what they can do and what they are is then possible for humans.

Remember when the 4 minute mile was considered impossible? As soon as Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile in 1954 many athletes quickly followed and beat this barrier. Roger Bannister wasn't Super Human he simply allowed other athletes to know what was possible.

Another example is our understanding of the brain. Science used to believe that the brain could not regenerate. That once brain cells were dead or damaged that the brain would permanently remain impaired. Thanks to the research being done at the University of California, San Diego, we are breaking these and many other myths about the brain's ability to heal and regenerate. "The brain that changes itself", by Norman Doidge demonstrates study after study of people recovering their brain function after devastating injury and illness. What's the switch? Simply that we know it's possible, and if it's possible we can take it to higher and higher levels.

So how can we "average" humans use this information? What if we just started challenging what we believe. I was recently on a coaching call when I was describing a limitation I have with my health. As the words exited my mouth I realized that this particular limitation might be not a real limitation  but a belief. My first thought was "OH CRAP"! Then I wondered, what if I could change my belief about this limitation? Could I  also change this aspect of my health? If that were true, in what other ways could I be limiting myself ?I decided that I would do an experiment and challenge the excuses that I make to myself about why I can or can't do things. About what is possible and what is not. So far it's been amazing and honestly a little aggravating....... Could it be that I just simply didn't know what was actually possible and what was not?

So I put this challenge to you. Can you challenge your excuses this week? Here's how. As soon as you hear yourself give a reason for why you can't accomplish something, stop. First change the language of the excuse. Begin with, "I have a belief that I can't"..... Instead of "I can't because". Next ask yourself this question, "What if I could change that belief".  Next change it one more time to, " What could I replace that belief with."  Then ask this, "What else would change if I changed that one belief".

Be aware that you might find this Super irritating at first :) I did! I didn't like the idea that I was limiting myself. I really wanted my problems to be someone or something else's fault! Realizing that I have the Super Human ability to un-limit myself is both irritating and freeing. Now I find it really fun to experiment with the idea. I'm not sure that I can change every perceived limitation, but I am excited to investigate.

Try this for a week and then post your findings here. I can't wait to hear what your experience is!


Liz Larson
transformoneidea@gmail.com

Life Design Strategist
NLP Master Practitioner