By Jenny Peterson
When I say MUST, I mean that if you don’t learn and apply this skill, your life and health will never change. You may be thinking what on earth could be so important for me to heal that I haven’t heard of yet?
You have probably heard of this skill but it probably never crossed your mind that its essential to your healing.
If a glass of water is sitting in front of 2 people, how they see it either half full or empty is based off of what?
Their perception.
Yes, my friends, this skill that you must learn to heal is perception.
The most important aspect of creating change in our life and health is understanding how we “have problems”. All problems including health, stem from perception.
You maybe wondering what does perception have to do with healing?
Besides your awareness, perception is the one skill that will not only resolve your current health situation, but it will also prevent more issues in the future.
What is Perception?
Definition: The way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.
The way you perceive something will depend on all the resources you have within your subconscious. When something happens your brain says, “we got a file for that!” When someone says something to you or you feel a certain way, there is a program that you have that tells you how to respond.
Two people could experience the same event in the same way, with the same details; and one may feel stressed by it while the other is not. What’s the difference? The subconscious holds different references which means that each of those people is looking at the same event through different lenses.
If your subconscious contains “evidence” in the form of memories (not necessary conscious memories) that prove big dogs are dangerous, then when you encounter a big dog, it will prompt your brain to trigger the stress response in your body. If you don’t have that reference, your subconscious will have no “evidence” that big dogs are dangerous and will not experience the stress.
Perception is NOT Reality
The truth is that perception is not reality. Just because you think something is reality, doesn’t make it real.
And here is the dictionary definition of reality:
“The world or the state of things as they actually exist…
existence that is absolute, self-sufficient, or objective,
and not subject to human decisions or conventions.”
Perception is not reality, but admittedly, perception can become a person’s reality (there is a difference) because perception has a potent influence on how we look at reality.
Each of us has a different way of giving meaning to our experiences, even though we all experience the world through the same five senses. What will determine our perception of the environment, and the resultant emotion towards a traumatic event, resides within the depth of our subconscious mind, which contains our life story, imprints and memories from the past, decisions made, values adopted, traditions, religions, upbringing, and ancestors.
What do perceptions have to do with your health?
Let’s go back to what causes our health imbalances to begin with. Stress!
When we think about stress, we often think about the daily stress in our lives; kids, work, money, etc. But this kind of stress really isn’t the root of all the stress. The real stress is the perceptions that you are holding from previous events/triggers.
These perceptions are what put you into the “conflict” phase. The phase that activates the stress response. The way that your brain perceives the event will ultimately cause a biological response in your body.
Although it may seem that people, circumstances, and events outside of yourself are causing the stress, the truth is: stress is caused by your perception, not the triggers.
No one or anything can make you feel a certain way. You are the only one that can do that. So if you want to feel different, you need to change the way you perceive what life hands you and what you are surrounded with.
Our perception is ultimately the root cause to health conditions.
Your body is responding to your perception of reality, not reality itself.
Diseases are not triggered by circumstances but by ways of perception. Our thoughts, brain and body do not operate independently. The synchronicity between the three is the key to understanding this approach to healing.
Here are 3 examples of how your perception creates specific biologic responses in your body, using German New Medicine:
Example 1: “This stinks”
A situation or an actual smell.
“Stink conflict”
Biological Conflict: Stuffy nose
Example 2: “I never feel like I can catch up or get things done on time”
Competitive job, high achievers, athletes, moms always on the go
“Too Slow conflict”
Thyroid (biological conflict) - the thyroid is our metabolizer, therefore it's related to this speed conflict.
Example 3: “I’m not good enough, I’m unable to perform, I’m ugly”
Most common conflict I see - society tells us from children on, that we are not good enough
“Self-Devaluation conflict”
Muscles, blood vessels, tissues, lymph, bones (biological conflict) These are the areas that support us, the structure
As you can see, these perceptions are directly related to areas of our body that in some way metaphorically offer the opposite of the way we perceive the situation.
This is our bodies way of taking the hit. Giving us what we need in order to adapt and continue functioning.
If you really think about it, we have an amazing body that really is just doing its job of keeping us alive.
How do you change your Perception?
What it all comes down to is this: You are the CIO of your life. The Chief Interpretation Officer.
Your life, in fact all of your experiences, are meaningless in and of themselves. They happen. Each and everyday they keep on happening.
But here is the kicker: Each one carries only the meaning you give it.
To personally grow and heal, you must become skillful at breaking out of autopilot, uncovering old patterns, and seeing experiences - good or bad - for the opportunity each one holds.
But to increase your perception skill, you must first build the awareness muscle. Without awareness you will see your perception as truth and the only truth. You will operate on autopilot. Ultimately keeping those old stress patterns alive.
You have to make what is unconscious, conscious if you want to heal and change old patterns.
Spend a few days writing down the thoughts that are on your mind every hour. This exercise will bring to light what thought patterns are driving your bus and then you can start making conscious choice to shift them.
Just by doing this simple exercise, you will build your awareness muscle which will stay on as long as you continue to use it.
The CTFAR Model
One of the tools that I use for building your perception skill is the CTFAR model. The CTFAR model was created by master coach, Brooke Castillo.
The model is based on the following:
You can’t control the world (including people!)
Nothing outside of you can make you feel a certain way.
Your thoughts about circumstances determine how you feel (not the circumstances themselves).
You will always attract what you think about.
Your feelings cause your actions (and inactions)
The results in your life will show you what your beliefs are
You can feel better right now without anything changing.
CTFAR stands for:
C: Circumstance is something that happens in the world
T: Thought is a sentence in your head (your perception)
F: Feeling is a vibration in your body (caused by your thoughts)
A: Action (or inaction) is what you do or don’t do, which is caused by your thoughts.
R: Results is what happens as the effect of your actions or inactions
Here is how you would use the CTFAR model:
Step 1: Determine your problem/circumstance that bothers you and write it in one sentence.
Example: My friend told me that I will have this condition forever and it really made me angry
Step 2: Use the CTFAR model to break down the circumstance.
Here’s an example of filling out a CTFAR Model:
Circumstance: My friend told me that I will have this condition forever.
Thought: My friend is so mean and inconsiderate. (perception)
Feeling: Angry
Action: Give friend the cold shoulder and skip doing my healing work for the day
Result: I’m not motivated to heal
Here are some notes to keep in mind for the CTFAR Model…
C – Circumstance.
The circumstance must be completely neutral. Do not put a thought in this line.
T – Thought.
A thought is a sentence in your head. Its your perception. Thoughts are always optional. You get to decide what you think, and you have the option of thinking something that feels terrible or thinking something that feels great.
F – Feeling.
Must be one word.
E.g.: love, happy, joy, frustrated, sad, uncomfortable, excited, determined, productive, self-pity, ambitious, confident, annoyed, grateful, amused
A – Action.
What you do or don’t do.
R – Result.
The result is the effect you create in your life by your thinking.
The R line always ties to the T line. It’s the result for you (not for someone else).
Using the example above, if you have a different thought in the T line, you’ll get a totally different result, despite having the same circumstance.
So if you wanted a different result from this situation, you would look at what you wrote down and create a new model with a shift in perception.
New Model
Circumstance: My friend told me that I will have this condition forever.
Thought: I know my friend cares but she really doesn’t have the understanding of my situation like I do and that is ok.
Feeling: Empowered
Action: Did my daily healing work for the day
Result: I ended the day feeling great!
To find a new thought, I like to think about whether anyone else in the world could possibly think a different thought given the circumstance.
The answer is always yes, which shows me that I created that thought myself. If it’s causing a negative feeling, I can then decide if I want to keep that thought or not.
I also like to take into consideration that everyone has their own programs and the way they respond to situations that involve me, reflect that. I can’t change their programs, but I can change mine.
When you do your own models, you simply bring awareness and attention to how you’re the cause of all your problems.
Your brain is wired to think a certain way and when you become aware of this, you will see that you can take responsibility for, and solve, your own problems.
The goal is not to always feel good, but to know that it’s you who is causing your emotions.
It’s knowing that it’s your choice to think and feel whatever you want that gives you power.
It’s having your own back and taking responsibility.
Here’s another example.
Model Example:
C: My friend did not show up on time.
T: She does not respect me.
F: Rejected
A: Act passive-aggressive, make snide comments, don’t show up as a loving friend.
R: I don’t respect her as a friend; I’m not a good friend; I don’t respect myself.
New Model Example:
C: My friend did not show up on time.
T: She must have been busy, so I’m not going to take it personally.
F: Relaxed
A: Act kind and understanding; present during our lunch together; show up as a loving friend.
R: No negativity; I am loving.
As a way to prevent conflicts from happening within your mind and having them manifest into physical health issues, I recommend that you use the CTFAR model on anything that is on your mind or bothers you from the day, before going to bed.
Once you increase your awareness & perception skills, you will find that you don’t have anything to write about at the end of your day. Because the old triggers that you used to have are no longer there. Before you react in those old patterns, you stop and realize you have a choice to shift how you think about it and react a different way in that moment.
By doing this, you are consciously choosing to heal your body because without that old response, you are no longer sending a stress signal to your body.
So am I telling you that if you just shift your perception on everything that all your health issues will go away?
Yes, in fact I am! But even though this may sound easy, putting it into action takes time and it isn’t easy work. It takes persistence. You are literally doing brain surgery with this kind of work. Shifting the way you think about past events and your current situation is the recipe for changing your health and life.
This is why I love this work so much. There is nothing outside of you that you need to heal, just a shift in perception. The meaning that you give to all of your experiences will show up in your body.
A healthy mind equals a healthy body and vise versa for an unhealthy mind.
Whether we are consciously aware of it or not, there is a physical reaction to what the mind holds and perceives. Our bodies are continually reacting to thoughts and memories. The body’s reaction isn’t the cause of your problems, but rather its the expression of your perceptions.
A Final Note
Before learning how to shift your perception, you think the world is punching you in the face. After applying it, you realize you’re the one punching yourself in the face. The more you shift your perception, you stop punching yourself.
You have total freedom in what you think and believe and can create the results you want.
When you learn how to shift your perception, there is so much that you will gain!
It brings awareness to your thinking
You’ll be able to solve your own problems, no matter what they are
You’ll learn how to think more deliberately
You’ll learn how to accomplish new and different things in the future (and how to manifest them easily)
You’ll learn how to process negative emotions without obsessing and spinning out
You’ll learn how to tell a different story about your past
You’ll learn how to create positive emotions
Most of all, your body will no longer have to take the hit for the stress and it will naturally go into the healing phase. Shifting your perception of events from the past and your triggers will start the healing phase for the current health issues you have today and ultimately help maintain good health moving forward!
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You are unique, your symptoms are connected to very specific patterns within your subconscious.
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You can also Download my free healing guide, “Why Can’t I Heal” where you will learn the 5 reasons that you haven't healed despite everything you've tried. These are the missing pieces to your healing and the key to resolving your symptoms for good.
Jenny Peterson is the founder and CEO of Mind Body Rewire (MBR). She teaches those that are overwhelmed with trying to heal chronic symptoms how to simplify their healing by focusing on just one place, the subconscious mind. Learn more about MBR here.