Physiology: the power of movement

One of the most powerful distinctions that I've made in the last ten years of my life is simply-this: Emotion is created by motion. Everything that we feel is the result of how we use our bodies. Even the most minute changes in our facial expressions or our gestures will shift the way that we're feeling in any moment, and therefore the way we evaluate our lives—the way we think and the way we act.

Try something ridiculous with me for a second. Pretend you're a rather bored and humorless symphony conductor rhythmically swinging your arms in and out. Do it very s-l-o-w-l-y. Don't get too excited; just do it as a matter of r-o-u-t-i-n-e and make sure your face reflects a state of boredom. Notice how that feels. Now take your hands, clap them together explosively, and SNAP them back out as fast as you can with a big, silly grin on your face! Intensify this by adding the vocal movement of an outrageously loud and explosive sound—the movement of air through your chest, throat, and mouth will change how you feel even more radically. That motion and speed you've created, both in your body and your vocal chords, will instantly change the way you feel.

Every emotion you ever feel has specific physiology linked to it: posture, breathing, patterns of movement, facial expressions. For depression, these are certainly obvious. In Unlimited Power, I talked about the physical attributes of depression, where your eyes are focused, how you hold yourself, and so forth. Once you learn how you use your body when in certain emotional states, you can return to those states, or avoid them, simply by changing your physiology. The challenge is that most of us limit ourselves to just a few habitual patterns of physiology. We assume them automatically, not realizing how great a role they play in shaping our behavior from moment to moment.

We each have over eighty different muscles in our faces, and if these muscles get accustomed to expressing depression, boredom, or frustration, then this habitual muscular pattern literally begins to dictate our states, not to mention our physical character. I always have people in my Date With Destiny™ seminar write down all the emotions they feel in an average week, and out of the myriad possibilities, I've found that the average is less than a dozen. Why? Because most people have limited patterns of physiology that result in limited patterns of expression.

TYPES OF EMOTIONS AN INDIVIDUAL MIGHT FEEL IN A WEEK

Stressed out

Frustrated

Angry

Insecure

Lonely

Bored

Miserable

Happy

Relieved

Loved

Excited

Joyous

This is such a short menu of emotional choices when you consider the thousands of enticing states available. Take care not to limit yourself to such a short list! I suggest you take advantage of the whole buffet—try new things and cultivate a refined palate. How about experiencing more enthusiasm, fascination, cheerfulness, playfulness, intrigue, sensuality, desire, gratitude, enchantment, curiosity, creativity, capability, confidence, outrageousness, boldness, consideration, kindness, gentleness, humor... Why not come up with a long list of your own?

You can experience any of these just by changing the way you use your body! You can feel strong, you can smile, you can change anything in a minute just by laughing. You've heard the old adage, " Someday you'll look back on this and laugh." If that's true, why not look back and laugh now? Why wait? Wake your body up; learn to put it in pleasurable states consistently no matter what's happened. How? Create energy by the way you think of something over and over again, and you'll change the

sensations you link to that situation in the future.

If you repeatedly use your body in weak ways, if you drop your shoulders on a regular basis, if you walk around like you're tired, you will feel tired. How could you do otherwise? Your body leads your emotions. The emotional state you're in then begins to affect your body, and it becomes a sort of endless loop. Notice how you're sitting even now. Sit up right now and create more energy in your body as you continue not only to read but also to master these principles.

What are some things you can do immediately to change your state and therefore how you feel and how you perform? Take deep breaths in through your nose and exhale strongly through your mouth. Put a huge grin on your face and smile at your children. If you really want to change your life, commit for the next seven days to spending one minute five times a day, grinning from ear to ear in the mirror. This will feel incredibly stupid, but remember, by this physical act, you will be constantly triggering this part of your brain and creating a neuro-logical pathway to pleasure that will become habitual. So do it, and make it fun!

Better yet, go out for a skip[64] instead of a jog. Skipping is such a powerful way to change your state because it does four things: 1) It's great exercise; 2) you'll have less stress on your body than running; 3) you won't be able to keep a serious look on your face; and 4) you'll entertain everybody who's driving by! So you'll be changing other people's states, too, by making them laugh.

What a powerful thing laughter is! My son Joshua has a friend named Matt who finds it so easy to laugh that it's infectious, and everyone who hears him starts laughing, too. If you really want to improve your life, learn to laugh. Along with your five smiles each day, make yourself laugh

for no reason at all, three times each day for seven days.

In a recent poll conducted by Entertainment Weekly magazine, they found that 82 percent of the people who go to movies want to laugh, 7 percent want to cry, and 3 percent want to scream. This gives you an idea how we value the sensations of laughter over so many other things. And if you've read Norman Cousins's books, or Dr. Deepak Chopra's, or Dr. Bernie Siegel's, or studied psychoneuroimmunology at all, you know what laughter can do to the physical body to stimulate the immune system.

Why not find somebody who laughs and mirror them? Have some fun. Say, " Will you do me a favor? You've got a great laugh. Let me try and duplicate it. Coach me." I guarantee you'll crack each other up in the process! Breathe the way they breathe; take on their posture and body movements; use the same facial expressions; make the same sounds.

You'll feel stupid when you start, but after a while you'll get into it, and you'll both be laughing hysterically because you both look so silly. But in the process, you'll begin to lay the neurological networking to create laughter on a regular basis. As you do this again and again, you'll find it

very easy to laugh and you'll certainly have fun.

" We know too much and feel too little. At least we feel too little of those creative emotions from which a good life springs."

BERTRAND RUSSELL

Anyone can continue to feel good if they already feel good, or if they're " on a roll"; it doesn't take much to accomplish this. But the real key in life is to be able to make yourself feel good when you don't fed good, or when you don't even want to feel good. Know that you can do this instantaneously by using your body as a tool to change state. Once you identify the physiology attached to a state, you can use it to create the states you desire at will. Years ago, I worked with John Denver, a man who impresses me not only with his musical ability but also because his private persona is absolutely in line with his public image. The reason he's succeeded is so clear; he's such an incredibly warm and caring man.

The reason I was working with him was that he was experiencing writer's block. We identified the times when he wrote his best songs, and discovered that their inspiration had come to him when he was doing something physical. Usually an entire song would flow through him after he'd skied down a mountain, flown his jet or his biplane, or driven his sports car at high speeds. Usually speed was involved, and the physical adrenaline rush, along with the experience of focusing on the beauty of nature, were all a major part of his creative strategy. At the time, he was experiencing a few frustrations in some areas of his life and had not been involved in the same intense outdoor activity. Just by making this change and getting back into a strong physiology, he was able to restore the certainty and flow of his creativity immediately. You and I have the capacity to make changes like this at any time. Just by changing our physiology, we can change our level of performance. Our capability is always there, and what we've got to do is put ourselves into states where it is accessible.

The key to success, then, is to create patterns of movement that create confidence, a sense of strength, flexibility, a sense of personal power, and fun. Realize that stagnation comes from lack of movement. Can you think of an old person, someone who doesn't " get around much anymore"? Getting old is not a matter of age; it's a lack of movement. And the ultimate lack of movement is death. If you see children walking along the sidewalk after a rain, and there's a puddle in front of them, what are they going to do when they get to that puddle? They're going to jump in! They're going to laugh, splash around, and have a good time. What does an older person do? Walk around it? No, they won't just walk around it—they'll complain the whole time! You want to live differently. You want to live with a spring in your step, a smile on your face. Why not make cheerfulness, outrageousness, playfulness a new priority for yourself? Make feeling good your expectation.

You don't have to have a reason to feel good—you're alive; you can feel good/or no reason at all!