What is Your Best Self?
When you're feeling upset, forcing yourself to smile can actually make you feel better. It's true! That's because your brain recognizes the muscle movement and responds in kind.
But this effect isn't limited to your face; it applies to your whole body. That's one of the many wonders of drama therapy, the ability to act in a way that you want to feel. And the result is feeling that way, even if for a short period of time.
When you work from the body up, you ignite a countless number of cells and sense memory that reminds your brain that you have a lot more control than it might think. You have power over your body, and your body has power to remind your mind of that fact.
Our brains are always operating for one goal: to do as little work as possible. That's why its first instinct is to feel like the victim, to shut down, to explode, to take shortcuts, to not deal with what's really going on.
That's why pushing it to experience things that seem (at least at first) like a challenge is so crucial.
Moving around moves energy through your body. I'm talking from your toes to your brain and back. But unlike the rest of your body, your brain will work to understand why you're feeling that way.
It will ask itself: "What is it that my body is giving off?"
And as we play with our mind-body connection, our body language changes too. Even just one shift in body language can really change what you're feeling – and what other people experience when they're around you.
The best version of me is someone who does a consistent job of regulating myself. That means that every morning, I wake up and remind myself that I'm here to be kind and considerate to others. That's the bare minimum. From that level of self-awareness, I can build and build into a more productive, more learned, more whole self.
As a drama therapist, I need to stay consistent about showing up as a blank slate for my clients. It's crucial that I don't make my stuff their stuff, or make their stuff my stuff. And, funny enough, I think that motivating principle applies to the majority of us.
I take care of my body, diet, mind, partnership, and relationships. The best version of me is someone who sticks to my self-care routine, but also someone who works at becoming better. This includes the ability to speak my truth, and to stand up for what I feel is right at all costs.
At the end of the day, that's all we really have: ourselves, and our truth. That's why it's so important to work on its upkeep and its improvements.
That is to say: the best version of ourselves is one who's actively getting better. It truly doesn't have to be more complicated than that. You'll never reach perfection, but you will reach your best (and stay there) with a bit of effort and consistency.
Haruki Murakami: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
This complicated life that we lead is incredibly painful. Loss, grief, anger, transition…all things that cause us to stretch and grow also cause emotional discomfort. In fact, even the most beautiful experiences can feel bittersweet at times. Yet, when we try to avoid pain, we find ourselves experiencing a different type of discomfort: the sadness of a life not fully lived. As the quote says: “pain is inevitable” and that means there is no way around it. The only way is THROUGH.