Inside-out or outside-in? Whichever way you go, you’ll meet the other. Our minds and bodies are intricately coupled and work together to make sense of our worlds. How well do they collaborate? 🫱🏾‍🫲🏾

Your thoughts influence your emotions, your emotions drive your actions, and your actions create your reality.

We have established that as humans we operate in two different worlds; an internal world and an external world.

Our internal world is accessible only to us and our external world is shared with others.

The intricate aspect of both these worlds is that they are connected and influence each other deeply in ways that cannot be overstated.

Our worlds are bidirectional i.e. things flow inside-out and outside-in. This means that learning is constant and assimilation is ongoing with every sensation (outside-in) and perception (inside-out) as we make sense of the world around us.

The mind is the intelligence (💭) and the body is both a vessel that houses various capabilities and the outlet for expression (🧘🏽‍♀️). Think of the mind as the software and the body as the computer.

The software dictates what the computer does and defines all the (core) functionalities while the computer is the interface that allows you interact with the software and perform those different functions.

Without an interface to harness and utilize the software capabilities, it is basically useless; and a computer with no installed software is just an empty container of no value or utility. It has all the parts but you cannot do anything with it. Both these entities require each other to be effective and useful — they are bidirectionally coupled.

When we think, that is us processing information and we either store this information or act on it. This is the stimulus<>response relationship in behaviorism within psychology.

And in the broader biological sense, the stimulus<>response is a fundamental characteristic of being human and reacting to changes in our internal and/or external environment.

In this case, new information is that “change” and what we do with the new information is our reaction or response.

Here’s the flow: Get new information → process this information → act on the new information.

This flow is so instantaneous that we consciously don’t pay attention to it. The process “just happens” all thanks to our super efficient brains.

A stimulus could be anything — an agent (person/thing), event (circumstance), or change (information/environment) — that triggers a physical, behavioral, or psychological reaction/response in an organism (humans in this context).

A reaction is different from a response because of the inherent characteristics and underlying drivers associated with each of them.

Reaction is involuntary, reflexive, and instinctual. It happens impulsively and we have no control over it i.e. you don’t think or process the information, you just act.

Response, on the other hand, is voluntary, reasoned, and deliberate i.e. thinking is done before any action is taken. A response ushers in choice, rationale, and we can decide how to act.

Moving from reacting to responding represents taking responsibility for one’s actions and breaking automatic, conditioned behaviours.

Latest research show that on average, humans have ~6,000 thoughts per day; and that’s a lot of thinking!

The quality of our thoughts manifests in how we live our lives and thus shapes our reality.

We have the power to change our own lives across core areas whenever we decide to or truly want to, however, the daily actions we take is what determines how we live and reflects in our physical world.

There is a difference between thinking or wanting something, having the capability to do it, and actually doing it — this is why power lives in the mind (you can do anything) and reality lives in the body (what have you actually done?)

You ever heard this saying, “It’s just mind over matter”?

Scientifically, matter is any thing that has mass and occupies space. The “matter” here refers to our physical bodies and what they are capable of.

This notion suggests that we can harness our internal world (the mind) to be in more control of our external (physical) world. Which translates to, whatever the mind believes, the body achieves. It is a notion that channels the power of our minds to overcome limitations in different circumstances — anything is possible if you believe it.

Mind over matter applies to solving problems, overcoming setbacks, building resilience, trying new things, pushing boundaries, and stepping outside your comfort zone.

It all begins within.

The mind and the body are connected but they may not always agree with each other.

As much as the mind wanders and does its own thing, its existence is still as a result of the physical brain which is a part of the body.

The body is made up of various organs one of which includes the heart which plays a critical role in supporting the brain and in tandem, its essential functions.

We think thoughts, interpret sensations, feel emotions, and take actions.

The first two (thinking and processing) happens in the mind and the other two (feeling and doing) happen in the body.

Cognitive Dissonance occurs when there is a conflict between what you think (beliefs, values, attitudes) and what you do (action, decisions, behaviors). The result is a feeling of discomfort

This psychological tension between what the mind wants and what the body does shows up as guilt, anxiety, stress, or regret. It is very discomforting to be in a dissonant state so we try to reconcile our mind-body by modifying our beliefs, changing our actions, or justifying our behaviors!

Cognitive dissonance is misalignment between our internal and external worlds when values clash with one another or our behavior doesn’t match up with our beliefs.

Can you think of an example when you have felt cognitively dissonant?

Congruence on the other hand, is the presence of harmony between what we think and what we do i.e. our actions line up with what we believe and thus no mixed feelings or internal conflicts.

When you are congruent, there is less chaos between your internal world and external world.

When we get exposed to new experiences and information, they get stored in the brain and become a memory.

Memory is a constant conversation between our senses and different parts of our brain (the hippocampus and cortex) that allows us form, store, and rewrite our experiences.

We can recognize, recall, or retrieve a memory depending on how it gets stored in the brain. Sometimes, memories get fuzzy, incomplete, selective, or lost!

Neurons can atrophy, injuries may occur, circumstances that change perceptions , and natural aging takes place; all playing a role in how strong and well we can access our memories.

Just as we learn and assimilate information in the brain, the body also learns and stores information — embodied cognition.

Through unconscious physical adaptation, various muscles and organs in our bodies adapt to environmental changes, physiological states, and sensations. Therefore, both our brains and bodies posses memory, although information is stored differently.

If the mind forgets, the body will remember whether that is trauma, stress, a reaction, physiological response, or familiar environment. The body knows!

This doesn’t feel right. If you have ever heard that or said that, then you have experienced “intuition” at play.

Instinct is immediate action (body) and intuition is recognition of patterns (mind); both involve rapid processing. Our instincts protect and preserve us while our intuition guide and direct us in ambiguous situations.

Both of them are sometimes used interchangeably as “gut reaction” (instinct) or “gut feeling” (intuition). Ultimately, they work together and serve critical purposes in our lives just like the mind-body connection.

Stay Audacious,
Chikodilee 🤎🤎