The human brain is an incredible creation and we have not yet scratched the surface of its real potential. The purpose of this article is to give you a framework for how to use your brain to perceive a broader view than we usually use. The majority of us have a constant focus on our thinking mind. This has been a necessity to advance society, science and personal interactions. This new framework does not limit the potential of our mind, but it includes certain aspects of the brain that we overlook.
Start with the way we use our brain every day. This is the part of you that you identify as me; this is the way I am. This consists of all of our past conditioning, our intellect and our emotional patterns. When a person is satisfied with this, they have no desire to change it. When a person realizes they can go far beyond what is normal and better the quality of their life, they are very open to change. This article will not give you specific things to change, but it will teach you tools that will lead you into a different view of your life.
Let us look at how we interact with the world, which I call Interpersonal Communication. We do that with perceptions and conceptions, with thoughts and emotions, with goals and intellect, with hopes and dreams and all of the functions of the mind. This creates our personality and what we identify with. This group is where almost everyone focuses and thinks is reality. There is more that too often gets overlooked and that is what I call Intrapersonal Communications.
We all have the potential of developing Intrapersonal Communication. Because we are attached to our thinking mind, it is hard to connect to a beyond thought reality and experience higher states of consciousness. Our thoughts create a filter that limits our awareness. If you remove the filter, your awareness is not filtered and you can operate at a higher state of consciousness. When we are open to that Intrapersonal Communication, the quality of life improves and we feel as though we are moved by a higher consciousness rather than our usual state of mind.
Most people have a dominant focus. Their focus is either primarily interpersonal or intrapersonal. To create a whole person, we have to harmonize these two perspectives, so that they work together. When we deal with issues of health, it is essential for us to be aware of how to use intra and interpersonal communication. A person who primarily uses interpersonal communication will look outside for the solution to their problem. They will rely mostly on their doctor and medication. They will think about it, study it and feel prepared to meet that challenge. This is a very good way for a person with an interpersonal perspective to deal with it, but there are negative examples also.
For instance, if they are dealing with cancer and their grandmother and mother died from cancer, this will create worry and fear, which will inhibit the immune system. If they experience doubt in their doctor, they may not follow his directions wholeheartedly and may limit their ability to heal. You can see that there are positives and negatives to focusing on thoughts with interpersonal communication. No matter what you think, you have to go beyond your thoughts and be open to powerful inner resources to heal at your full potential. To do that you need to develop intrapersonal communications.
With interpersonal communication, your focus is external and with intrapersonal communication, your focus turns within. With an external focus, we are in a “doer” state of mind. With an internal focus, we have to develop a “receiver” state of mind. Instead of thinking and doing, you have to be open and receive powerful inner resources or the input of others. This is where the Wisdom of the Body actively participates in healing. If you are focused on thinking, inner wisdom gets a busy signal when it calls and inner resources get ignored.
Here is an example of not being receptive to another’s input. You go to the doctor with intense pain and fear of what is happening to you. When you share what is wrong with the doctor and you constantly focus on those thoughts, it is hard to hear what the doctor has to say. To be receptive, you have to develop intrapersonal communication, where the Wisdom of the Body receives what is said. If you are constantly thinking while talking to the doctor, it is hard to receive his advice without putting it into the folders you already believe in. You have to develop intrapersonal communication, so it becomes a habit. Being receptive is not an on/off switch. You do not think, ’I am going to be receptive.’ It has to happen naturally after intrapersonal communication is developed.
Healing is a good example for having inter and intra communications work as a team. A life and death situation demands that teamwork, but it is also needed in most of the actions we do. Communication is a good example. When the focus is mostly on interpersonal communications, you will be conscious on what you say and how you act. Of course that is important, but there is more. Intrapersonal communications may determine how you listen and receive new ideas.
To be a whole person, you have to use every part of your body harmoniously working as a team. This article deals with a major part of this, but actually, it only scratches the surface. Making discoveries like this creates an awe to this incredible mystery…keep going because this is an endless journey.
Marc Lerner has been a life skills coach for 25 years and has been working to empower patient participation, to improve the quality of life and to improve attitudes when facing challenges. Marc has had multiple sclerosis since 1981, which is an incurable disease. He had to tap inner resources to cope with his illness because he could not rely completely on help from medical professionals. Now, Marc teaches life skills, including ways to develop a positive self-image, confidence and self-trust. In 1982, Marc founded Life Skills Institute and served as its president to 2013. Through the Institute, he worked for 25 years at the VA with veterans with PTSD, cancer and AIDS patients and the mentally ill homeless. In 2002, Marc was named Outstanding American with Disabilities Business Person in Los Angeles.
He is the author of A Healthy Way to be Sick, The Positive Self, Change Your Self-Image and You Change Your Life The End A Creative Way to Approach Death and A Poetic View of Hospice all available on Amazon Kindle. In these books and in his work, he helps people to interpret their struggle in a conscious way. His writing and tele-seminars teach these skills adapted for any struggle. Marc was the host of a radio show on WorldTalkRadio, called A Healthy Way to be Sick. You can find copies of his shows on marclerner.com.