Beliefs are powerful energy structures.
You navigate this turbulent world using your belief system. Your life experiences, cultural heritage and societal norms shape your beliefs. This includes conclusions you reached and attitudes you adopted – beneficial or not. This is a powerful, energetic system, not a cognitive one. You can think of beliefs as mental imagery or memories. Beliefs allow for automatic responses driven by your values.
Your belief system can comfortably navigate you in normal times and safe environments. You are conditioned to think that beliefs are rational, cognitive thinking processes. And yet, when times change and beliefs are challenged, it’s easy to get stuck in stressful, reactive patterns without recognizing the impact. Beliefs block your ability to choose your response.
Beliefs in times of change and uncertainty.
If you believe something to be true, why would you want to change it? You react to protect it. If your belief is attacked on an important topic, the intensity of the reaction amplifies. Stress responses are activated and recognized as distressing thoughts, emotions and physical sensations.
“I’m the best deal-maker out there!” “I’m the man for the job!” “I never thought he would do what he said he was going to do!”
Watching the news offers insight into the power of beliefs. Politicians listen to what voters are saying and repeat it back to them, promising to look after them. Others may hold different beliefs and see the limitations of your beliefs, yet your beliefs prevent you from understanding different perspectives and fully accessing resources.
The nature of the belief, the importance of the issue and the turbulence in the environment influence the intensity of your reactions. For example, consider the belief that “The government needs to protect my money!” This will feel more intense if you previously experienced financial loss and have all your money in the stock market during tariff wars than if you are a casual investor during times of peace.
It’s natural to experience worry, fear and tension.
Stress reactions are a normal human response. Stress includes thoughts, emotions and body reactions. You can work hard to calm the reaction, yet if the underlying belief is activated and triggering reactions your health, work and relationships can suffer over time.
Emotions are contagious to the extent that your emotional reactions trigger emotional reactions in others and vice versa. The media and politics look to amplify emotional stories and experiences because they know that they get reactions and attention. These stories get repeated, get frozen as mental imagery in our belief systems and further shape beliefs. Paying attention to your automatic stress reactions in these situations is valuable. You can then identify and shift the triggering belief to calm the stress. This supports better decisions and frees your energy to take meaningful action. It supports your power to choose. Logosynthesis® offers an exciting path forward.
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
– Viktor Frankl –
Regain Choice Using Logosynthesis®
Logosynthesis® offers a powerful model to shift the energy in your beliefs, like a pressure release valve. It’s not about changing the belief but calming the stress reaction and accessing options. Unlike traditional mindset shifts that rely on willpower and reframing, Logosynthesis® works to identify and neutralize the triggering belief.
Here’s how it works:
- Pay attention to what bothers you – Notice times when you react or ignore situations. Choose a specific issue and tune in to your thoughts, emotions and physical reactions.
- Recognize the Mental Imagery – The frozen energy of beliefs shows up as images, sounds and other sensory perceptions.
- Apply the Logosynthesis® Sentences – Through a guided process, the specific energy bound in this mental imagery is released, and the stress reactions fall away.
- Experience the Shift – Some issues are quick to resolve, while others are deeply ingrained. The work occurs in layers, experiencing a greater sense of calm and clarity to take action with each cycle.
Regain your choice in turbulent times.
You can shift your energy and regain choice! I share more about this work in Thriving in Our Times: From Reactions to Action using Logosynthesis® (Caswell, 2020). I created The Healthy Living Plan® to guide you to start using this model to make meaningful shifts in your work and life.
The world is becoming more turbulent. Improving your ability to choose and stay calm in the midst of chaos supports your health and benefits those around you!