Timothy Wilken, MD
explains: The most powerful human emotion is called calmness. Most
people do not think of calmness as an emotion, it is more often
described as the lack of emotion. But, calmness is the most empowering
emotion that humans can experience. Calm is the emotion you feel when
you do a very effective relaxation exercise and achieve the relaxation
response. Calm is the emotion you feel when you do not have a care in
the world, and are at peace with yourself and those around you. For
some humans the stress of their lives is so high they may be unfamiliar
with this emotion. But it is an emotion available to all humans, easy
to learn with a little practice. Why is calmness the most powerful
emotion for humans? When I am calm, I can think well. When I am calm, I
have full access to the higher modes of thinking of both my space-mind
and my time-mind. When I am calm, I can best solve my problems. When I
am calm, I have access to 100% of my intelligence. Intelligence is
different from knowing. Intelligence is the mechanism for processing
incoming information. Intelligence is the hardware. Knowing is the
software. And when you are deeply calm you are 100% intelligent. An
individual who has mastered calmness knows that all internal thinking
is symbolic. If my body responds to every thought of danger let alone
every real danger, then I will truly come to know the meaning of the
sentence: “The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man only one.”
CALMNESS—def—> The ability to process information without
physiological response. The ability to process threatening information
without triggering the fight or flight response. Today most of
us die a thousand deaths. When we imagine our problems and stresses,
our bodies tense and strain. When we think of danger, we feel afraid.
When we think of hurt, we feel anger. These feelings of anger and fear
are just our internal sensings of our bodies as they prepare to fight
or flee. But when our bodies prepare to fight and flee, they shut down
vital systems. If these systems are shut down for more than a few
moments, we shorten our lives and become sick. In a world of
chronically frighted and chronically angered individuals, all our lives
are shortened, and all of us are sick. In our modern world, calmness is
a survival skill. Calmness is the ability to think of danger and hurt
without feeling fear or anger. Humans have the ability to learn,
practice, and master calmness. This is the only way to master the
space-mind. Methods include Relaxation Training, Meditation, Yoga,
Biofeedback Training, and Rational Behavioral Therapy. (12/13/06)
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