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Tag: Cortisol

  • Practice the ART of FORGIVENESS

    Daily writing prompt
    Are you holding a grudge? About?
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    FORGIVENESS is an ART

    If you are holding a grudge this post is for you. From my prior experience let me tell you that holding a grudge is like troubling your own self by putting yourself under a lot of stress. Practice the art of forgiveness to ignore such feelings and maintain your focus.

    Research suggests that when we hold a grudge, the chemical cortisol flows through our veins and puts you under duress. To make best use of your psychic energy and be in flow, it is imperative that you practice the art of forgiveness.

    Frederic Luskin defines Forgiveness as –

    “Peace and understanding that comes from lessening the blame of that which has hurt you, taking your life experience less personally, and seeing the cost of holding a grudge.”

    Before you hold a grudge next time around, practice the art of forgiveness, link below for reference –

    https://med.stanford.edu/survivingcancer/coping-with-cancer/cancer-and-forgiveness.html#:~:text=Frederic%20Luskin%2C%20Ph.,cost%20of%20holding%20a%20grudge.

    This would ensure you lead a fulfilling life by making best use of psychic energy, a concept popularized by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow.

    For more insights from Flow, follow the below link –

    https://viewpointsunplugged.com/?s=Mihaly+Csikszentmihalyi

  • How is “social media addiction” similar to “alcoholism”

    The human brain is very complex.

    There are several important neuro transmitters associated with ebb and flow of various emotions.

    Modern day social media addiction is reaching enormous proportions.More than ever before we are having cases of depression , unhappiness and suicidal cases.

    There is a neurotransmitter named “dopamine” associated with sudden flow of positive “quick fix” emotions.

    The “likes” , “good comments” , pseudo status of having large number of connections get us more and more addicted to social media and results in the flow of the addictive beuro transmitter named “dopamine”.This kind of addiction is very similar to the excitement felt by alcoholics , drug addicts on consumption of these addictive narcotic substances.

    Tbe flipside is that in the absence of lines , connections on social media we feel left out and highly depressed resulting in the flow of the stress chemical named “cortisol“.This leads to depression , suicidal cases.

    Thus its high time we limit this abuse of social media to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

  • Why “loneliness” is inherently stressful?

    Our human brains right from the caveman times , have longed for social connections.

    Being in the company of like minded people whom we can trust makes us feel safe and secure.

    Had this not been a biological constant , how could have societies , countries & even organizations formed with like minded people.

    There is a neurotransmitter in our brains that flows when human beings have enriched social connections and bonds in the midst of like minded people.This is “oxytocin” that gives us fulfillment.

    On the contrary when we feel alone and left out , cortisol flows and gets us stressed out.

    This is why most of the modern day “depression” related cases are attributed to loneliness.

    So as Simon Sinek rightfully points out , “Together Is Indeed Better”.

  • Why accepting “unfair” judgement is very stressful to the brain

    David Rock in his book “Your Brain At Work” makes a mention of the fact that human brain emits negative responses when subjected to “unfairness“.

    Especially noteworthy are those situations wherein we accept “Unfair” judgments since during this time our natural negative emotional arousal of the limbic brain(conveyed via insula) would be overriden by the rational behavior of the ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex(VLPFC).

    This is not only very energy intensive but due to the expenditure of energy , results in being very stressful and the release of  the stress chemical i.e. “cortisol“.

    Hence we should avoid all such situations….