Thriving In Our Times

From Reactions To Action Using Logosynthesis®

Cathy Caswell

• Publisher: The Healthy Living Plan Inc
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780995021525
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Self Improvement

Thriving In Our Times: From Reactions to Action using Logosynthesis®, is a guide for leadership and personal development during times of change and uncertainty.

We live in a rapidly changing and uncertain world. It can be challenging to recognize how our conditioned reactions influence how we feel and how we interact with others. We have an opportunity to learn how to resolve what bothers us so that we feel better. This book shows you use Logosynthesis, developed by Dr. Willem Lammers, to provide relief from distressing thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. In this process, you will experience a sense of calm, clarity and confidence to take meaningful action. The Healthy Living Plan, based on the principles of Logosynthesis, offers a guide to help you clear your path during these uncertain times.

This book is based on the author's personal experience using Logosynthesis in her everyday life, including times of change and uncertainty. 'As I reflect on my life choices, I can now observe that my patterns of behavior are based on my beliefs, attitudes, and experiences.These patterns have served me well. Work hard. Help others. Stick with it. Yet I can also observe where these patterns have become rigid and overused. When I experience change and uncertainty and my energy is stuck in these patterns, it can be difficult to see other ways of doing things. My automatic responses can feel intense and distressing, for myself and for those around me. Logosynthesis allows me to clear my path to move forward with greater ease and clarity.'

For leadership and personal development, this book will guide you to use Logosynthesis so that you can thrive in our times, as an individual within your family, your workplace and your community. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1
Our world can change in an instant

We feel the intensity of it all,
even when it is hard to name what we are experiencing.
The discomfort that gets triggered by
our situation is a key reason that
we benefit from learning how to resolve what bothers us
to thrive in our times.

Understanding our reactions

We want to enjoy our lives but we are often not aware of how our patterns of reacting get in the way of taking meaningful action. Our reactions are how we act and feel in response to something that happens. We have an opportunity to learn to use this information to resolve what causes our distress and keeps us stuck in habitual patterns of behavior. This is especially helpful during times of change and uncertainty. As we learn to resolve what bothers us, we can more fully enjoy healthy living and we can embrace extraordinary living. The following definitions highlight two key terms I use throughout this book:

* * * * *

Healthy:

enjoying good health; showing physical, mental, and emotional well-being

Extraordinary:

going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary; employed for or sent on a special service or mission

— Merriam-Webster Dictionary —

* * * * *

We enjoy healthy living when we feel well: physically, mentally, and emotionally. We enjoy extraordinary living when we are able to move beyond our normal routines to feel connected to our unique mission in life. In this book, I will share how I learned to use Logosynthesis, developed by Dr. Willem Lammers, to feel an increased sense of clarity to take meaningful action in my everyday life, during times of change and uncertainty. I was able to recognize that as I felt calmer in my responses, those around me benefited.

Your experiences and responses are different from mine. I will show you how to use this one method so that you can learn to resolve what bothers you to feel better. You will learn to appreciate the power of changing your reactions to help you to thrive in our times and to create a supportive environment for others.

We all experience times when our comfortable routines are disrupted and our beliefs are challenged. We are called to move beyond our routine patterns of thinking and acting. We are faced with conditions that are new and unfamiliar and we have no opportunity to gradually adjust. How we respond to these unusual circumstances impacts our wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around us. We can easily get stuck in distressing patterns of thought and emotions that are anchored in our beliefs and past experiences.

In this book, I provide a perspective on how we, as humans, respond when our lives suddenly change. I describe how these automatic responses can further add to our distress. I then introduce Logosynthesis and show how to use this model to change patterns of reactions. I also present a series of cases studies, written by an international group of coaches, counselors, and therapists trained in Logosynthesis. The case studies demonstrate how this one fast and easy method can be used for healing and personal development. I outline five pillars to support healthy living and offer a guide to help embrace extraordinary living. You will begin to experience more ease in your life by resolving what bothers you before you take action. A glossary of terms and further information about Logosynthesis is available in the Appendix.

To start, let’s consider where we have been. In early 2020, we experienced the start of a global pandemic. Similar pandemics have happened before. We were warned that it could happen again and we had an idea of the crisis that would occur. Yet even as the stories about the virus began to surface, we occupied ourselves with the demands and desires of our everyday lives. We had no comprehension of the speed and intensity of change that was ahead of us. We were busy living our ordinary lives in our ordinary ways.

In a very short period of time, our lives shifted dramatically. As the virus spread around the globe, our normal routines were disrupted amid fear and uncertainty. We were told to stay at home and avoid social interactions. Businesses shut their doors. Stock markets plummeted. Healthcare and other essential workers no longer felt safe in their jobs. Our minds could not process how everything could happen so fast.

We became obsessed with the media as we watched the number of Covid-19 cases rise. Millions of people contracted the virus. Millions of people lost their jobs. Governments scrambled to provide billions and trillions of dollars in aid. As the weeks turned into months, we noticed more unrest. People were having difficulty reopening their businesses. People grew tired of staying at home. People didn’t feel safe going back out in public. We were witness to more distressing events, including racial injustices and police brutality. Protests and riots called for action to end long-standing inequity.

This period is one example of intense change and uncertainty on a global scale. Other extraordinary events include global recessions, climate change, and technological advances. We also experience exceptional events on a smaller scale. Our workplaces may downsize. Our community may experience catastrophic weather, such as a hurricane. We also experience times of intense change and uncertainty on an individual basis. This can include an accident, the death of a loved one, getting married, and having children. During these times, we move beyond our comfort zone. Our normal routines and habitual patterns are challenged.

When times are normal, we tend to go about our daily routines without thinking. We do what is expected of us by our families, our friends, and society at large. We are often unaware that we are operating based on patterns of frozen reactions, which are triggered by frozen perceptions. Triggers, frozen reactions and frozen perceptions are defined in Logosynthesis terms and available in the Glossary (see Appendix). The terms are also illustrated as follows:

When we operate according to our programmed responses, it can be difficult to get in touch with what inspires us, what moves us to create change. We may sense some unresolved tension yet we may be unaware of what is missing in our lives. We may also desire to move beyond our routines and our cultural norms but we sense something uncomfortable that holds us in place.

For example, Jack loves food, cooking, and travel but his long-time friends like to stay close to home and are focused on building things. Jack would love to pursue culinary training. He senses that his friends don’t get it. He doesn’t feel comfortable talking about cooking with them and his voice wavers when he tries to bring up the subject. He feels stuck between going along with them and pursuing his passion. He decides to study carpentry. Maya has been working in her current role in a manufacturing company for the past five years. She wants to pursue a promotion but she is nervous and her subtle self-talk tells herself that she is not prepared for the next step. During her performance appraisal, she tells her boss that she is not interested in changing positions at this time. Jack and Maya have an opportunity to use Logosynthesis to resolve their frozen reactions. They can use their thoughts, emotions and physical sensations to resolve their frozen perceptions and have an increased feeling of clarity to take action.

There is a strong invisible pull to keep us connected with who and what we know. I experienced this when I started to learn about Logosynthesis. I operated within a cultural norm of hard work, resilience, and helping others: “Be strong and carry on!” I was comfortable in my network of family and friends who shared these values. When I began to explore Logosynthesis, I was introduced to a new group of people with different ideas about how I could help others. I had to move beyond my comfort zone to learn new information. For example, I was introduced to the importance of healing rather than simply carrying on. At first, I had difficulty in explaining what I had learned to family, friends, and coworkers. My new understanding was shifting my beliefs beyond my group norms. It did not always feel comfortable. And these were still “ordinary” times!

Our frozen reactions are even less helpful when our world is rapidly changing. Our experiences may not always be comfortable. We react and this triggers others to react. If we have elderly parents who were alone during the pandemic and we saw images in the media of elderly people in nursing homes, this could trigger a frozen reaction that is associated with intense guilt and a strong desire to change the situation. Depending on the nature of our situation, we may experience a wide range of responses, such as grief, disappointment, or frustration. While we have a variety of coping methods, the intensity of our response may result in an overload. Our lives may feel out of control.

This book will show how you can learn to use Logosynthesis to notice your distressing thoughts, emotions, and body symptoms. These are the frozen reactions that bother you. Rather than learning to cope with or avoid these reactions, you will learn to let go of these automatic responses. You may think it is your boss, your spouse or strangers that bother you. It is a frozen perception that gets triggered, which results in distressing thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. When we learn to resolve the triggers, others no longer have the power to bother us. They simply are present and we no longer react to them. We are free to act.

Logosynthesis is a model that supports healing and development, offering one method that can be used to both help you heal from distressing memories and feel confident to embrace new challenges. As you use Logosynthesis routinely, you will notice a shift toward feelings of calm, clarity, and focus. You will feel more energized with a sense of purpose. To begin, let’s take a look at how this discomfort and pain may appear in your life.

Feeling our discomfort

Different people had different responses to the early stages of the global pandemic. When we were told to stay home, some of us appreciated a quieter lifestyle. Others could not tolerate quiet. Some of us had more time to enjoy family dinners. Others did not have food to put on the table. Some of us enjoyed the comfort of being with family. Others did not feel safe at home. Some of us worked extremely hard in unsafe spaces. Others stayed home with little to do.

We looked to our leaders to give assurance that we would manage together. Yet we experienced feelings of worry, fear, grief, and anxiety. Often, it was hard to get in touch with what we were feeling. We may have experienced a general heaviness or exhaustion. We may have noticed a weird and unsettled vibe. We may have been unable to concentrate.

When we were asked to stay at home, we may have distracted ourselves with Facebook, Netflix, and e-sports. We may have turned to medications, alcohol, or drugs to calm our edge. We may have found our Zen through yoga, meditation, or running. For many, conversations with family and friends helped to feel connected. At times we may have simply lost our cool. And yes, it may have felt good to let it out!

When we were allowed to go out again, many of us felt eager to get back to work and to get together with our friends. Yet we realized that we enjoyed the comfort of home. For some, heading back to the s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for Thriving In Our Times
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• Foreword
• CHAPTER 1 Our world can change in an instant
• CHAPTER 2 Navigating the change
• CHAPTER 3 Introducing Logosynthesis
• CHAPTER 4 Logosynthesis in action
• CHAPTER 5 Integrating Logosynthesis into everyday living
• Conclusion
• Appendix
• About the Author