The famous American hypnotherapist Milton Erickson (1901-1980) is known for asking his patients who were feeling depressed to count chimney pots. Because looking up changes our posture, our physiology and, as a result, our mood. It’s very hard to feel depressed when we’re looking up. But easy to do when we’re looking down and feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders. And the counting is important because it gives our brains something to do, which takes our minds off whatever is bothering or upsetting us. The knock-on effect can be amazing. Because as Laura Berman Fortgang says, “changing a single thought can change the action we then take and therefore the result we get”. And it's so true. When we’re feeling positive and motivated we see things in a different light. We’re open to suggestions. We consider options we haven’t considered before, do things we haven’t done before and get results we haven’t got before. And that's when life starts to change.
I was reminded of this recently when I went to the Seaton Wetlands Centre in East Devon. There were some reclined seats made out of tree trunks in a ‘star gazing circle’ by the Discovery Hut. As there weren’t any stars at 2pm, we leaned back and gazed at the clouds instead. And to avoid staring at the sky and going through our ‘to do’ lists, we gave our brains the task to look for pictures and shapes in the clouds. As we used to do when we were kids. We weren’t feeling depressed when we sat down – because we were having a lovely holiday even though the weather wasn’t great – but we definitely had a smile on our faces when we were looking up. For those 5-10 minutes we were relaxed and in the moment. Our brains were engaged and our imagination was given the freedom to run wild. Not a worry in our minds. Just the clouds in the sky, the images we were creating out of them and a sense that anything was possible. It got me thinking about mobile phones. Statistics vary but research done by The Independent shows that we spend almost 4 hours a day looking at our smartphones. Maybe more, depending on which research you read. And I don’t know about you, but when I look at my phone, I’m always looking down. So that’s a quarter of our waking hours looking down, plus all the time spent looking at our computers and TV screens. Is it any wonder that levels of depressions are on the rise?
We can’t turn back time. Technology is here to stay. It’s part of our lives and it’s wonderful in so many ways. But we can make time to look up more often. To switch off. To find images in the clouds, count chimney pots on our walks or search for constellations and galaxies in the night sky. For an extra boost, if we smile when we’re looking up (even if we don’t feel like smiling), we increase our happy hormones, decrease our stress hormones and reduce our blood pressure. It’s a win/win. So if you’re feeling down, look up. Because clouds and chimney pots can help us beat the blues. And if you’d like to find out how LifeCoaching can help you live your best life, please get in touch.
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