Reality Upgrade

Gmail recently added a feature called “Undo Send”, which actually holds your email for 5 seconds before it sends it. In the mean time, you can press the “Undo” button, and potentially save yourself some embarassment.

As it turns out, 5 seconds is just long enough for most people to realize that they made a mistake, and hit the Undo button.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a Undo Send button in real life?

Well, maybe we do. All you have to do is wait five seconds to respond to something, especially if you are upset. In the typical conversation, a five second pause is just that, a pause. It won’t seem strange to the person you’re talking to, and it might just prevent you from telling your boss where to shove it.

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I first understood the power of the body to affect the mind when I was sitting in a yoga class many years ago. I was in the class after a very long day, I was tired, and I did not want to be there. I was grumpy, annoyed, distracted, and sleepy. Not the best disposition for a class about relaxation.

The teacher said “Take a deep breath.” I did not really want to, since I was feeling somewhat rebellious. But I was already there, so…..

I took a deep breath, and like magic, I calmed down. My frustration and tension and distraction melted away, and suddenly I was ready to do yoga.

The best way for you to know what I felt is to try it yourself. So take a deep breath.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.

See how that felt? It had nothing to do with your mind…that was your body taking over, relaxing for you.

The deep breath is a great example of how breathing can contribute to relaxation, but there is much more to this concept. By understanding how the subconscious mind uses the body to communicate,

Nervousness, confidence, shyness, anger, fear, discomfort, sexual attraction; all of these are communicated by body language, and for many of us this happens without our even being aware of it. But for those of us who are aware of it…knowledge is power.

Not only is it possible to bypass the subconscious signals and intercept that communication, but it is even possible to change our own moods and feelings. Act confident, and you will become confident. Act fearful, and you will be fearful. More than what you eat, you are what you do.

In this series on body language, we will explore together several aspects of body language, the subconscious signals that each bit of body language demonstrates…and how to fake it till you make it.

After all, in the words of the great psycologist Carl Jung: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.”

Direct your own life. Be your own fate.