That Inner World of Yours...

“When your interest only remains in the external world, you simply separate yourself from the whole truth. The whole process of life is to take you inward.” ― Roshan Sharma

We each live in a world - that nobody else can see or hear, that nobody else fully comprehends, magical beyond belief.... but also that very few of us even understands. I am of course talking about that world inside of our minds - our thoughts and the way that we feel as a result. It is World Mental Health Day this Thursday and rather than talking about the prevalence of anxiety, depression, eating disorders and other mental illnesses - I wanted to emphasise that we ALL stand to gain from looking to optimise the state of our mental health. WHY? Because that internal world can have a greater influence on the quality of our life than any of our external circumstances.

- It almost doesn't matter how objectively intelligent, attractive, creative or talented someone is, if in their mind they are questioning themselves and torturing themselves with negative and critical thoughts all of the time.

- It almost doesn't matter how "successful" someone is, if they never enjoy anything that they are doing to achieve their goals.

- It almost doesn't matter if someone's external world seems great, if they are worried and feeling stressed out about something all of the time.

Things like stress and feeling worried are a result of our internal world, our thoughts and our belief system- not anything external. Very few things that we worry about these days is life or death - so it is our perception of these things - our thoughts around "that deadline" or "that traffic jam" or that "annoying colleague" that are causing our stress and worries. How happy we feel day-to-day is also completely dependant on those internal thoughts too. Yet very few people realise that those thoughts that they experience are not WHO they are - that we can control and change our patterns of thinking and belief systems and in turn manage our stress and worries.

Our internal world and belief systems also have a significant effect on the external circumstances that we then experience. If we believe that "people like us" never get promoted - then we are unlikely to take the actions that will get us promoted. If we believe that "earning money involves a long and hard slog" - then we are unlikely to take the steps that could make us financially stable with less effort. Yet very few people (even those that are incredibly intelligent) understand that:

- Most of our beliefs are just views we formed as a result of our upbringing and life experiences and that we can shift these beliefs so that they serve us better long-term.

- That the majority of the thoughts we think on a daily basis are the same thoughts that we had in the days before and that we have no conscious control over the majority of these thoughts.

- Our brain is very resistant to change - it will do what it can to keep things comfortable - which is why you can find it so hard to start that new diet, leave that relationship/job you know is no good for you - or do anything else that you know rationally is good for you long-term.

And because nobody gets an education in psychology and neuroscience in school, very few people do anything to change their internal world (not even realising that this is something that they can do) - despite this world affecting their lives arguably more than anything else - and despite there being lots of tools that can be employed to completely alter that internal world and in turn external circumstances.

At The Food Psychology Clinic, I help individuals to change their internal world so that they can feel better in every aspect of their life. For schools and corporates, I also run resilience training which enables individuals to change their internal world for the better and therefore to boost the state of their mental health. If you are interested in finding out more about booking in a session or the training, please email me at info@thefoodpsychologyclinic.co.uk

We each live in a world - that nobody else can see or hear, that nobody else fully understands, magical beyond belief.... and the most amazing thing about that world is that we can re-create it, re-shape it, re-define it - we can re-build it to ensure that we build a life, where we can be happier than we had ever imagined.

“The ultimate cause of human suffering is based on the internal structure of the mind. All causes of the discomfort and distress mainly come from the inner world. Given that the human brain is a necessary and sufficient cause of the human mind, in general, a person should begin with a reconfiguration of the brain if he or she wants to avoid all the sufferings in life. Remember that the brain is the ultimate cure for all suffering.” ― Elmar Hussein