Previously I wrote on the purpose of emotions – working to guide us on if our needs are being met or not met. It is important to note that our emotions are always accurate reflections of our interpretations. It is even more important to note that your interpretations can be inaccurate, thus creating an emotional storm that is unneeded or inappropriate. With this, I thought it fitting to go through the process of how we make interpretations and how this process may lead us in the wrong direction if we do not pay attention.
First, we must recognize that the world we experience is different from the world itself. All our memories taint the lense we use to see the world resulting in many of our reactions being based on memories not on the present moment. Let’s take a look step by step:
Initially, you receive sensory stimuli from your environment. Sense receptors allow information to come into the neuro-system through sound waves, light waves, and vibrations/pressure.
Electrical and chemical signals, (impulses and neurotransmitters), stimulate the brain to create the internal representation of the stimuli – these are the pictures/sounds in your mind.
These internal representations lead to sensory based words and descriptive language.
This is where the inaccuracies can creep in. You will use past knowledge and/or experience along with evaluative language to interpret the meaning of your situation.
It is in the past knowledge and experience that may cause you to automatically jump to generalizations, deletions, and/or distortions that do not accurately reflect the current experience. These processes can serve you well. You are able to generalize that the red octagons at the corners of the street are stop signs -there is no need to make the distinction each and every time. You are able to delete the information deemed unnecessary – such as the license plate tags from all the cars you passed the last time you were out. You distort what you hear to confirm your beliefs about the world, other people, or yourself, (where confirmation bias creeps in). These processes make experiencing the world more manageable, and in doing so can make your experience less accurate.
So, what can you do? These are the automatic patterns that happen if you let your brain just run as usual. For many moments, letting the brain run as usual will serve you well. However, in more important moments using mindfulness to connect with the present moment, on purpose, with no judgement would help you interpret the situation more accurately. This would be actively focusing on the information the senses are bringing in and slowing down the conclusions you are making.
For best results, it would be beneficial to explore the many mindfulness techniques available and find ones you would be willing to practice during moments of each and every day.
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