Irene Zamora: "We only have one field of action, the present"

There is a lot of talk about how important it is to maintain a balanced diet, proper sleep habits and, in In general, a healthy lifestyle that allows us to keep our body ready to face the challenges of day to day. day. However, less attention is paid to the way in which our way of managing emotions influences our health. Therefore, in this interview with Irene Zamora, we will talk about why it is not a good thing to underestimate this aspect of life.

• Related article: "10 daily habits that improve your emotional balance"

Interview with Irene Zamora: what we think and feel is as important for our health as what we eat

Irene Zamora Sauma is a psychologist and Life Coach; Both from his office located in Curridabat and online, he regularly attends to people with emotional problems or those related to personal development. For this reason, in this interview he will talk to us about how our way of interpreting reality and managing emotions influences us.

Is mental health undervalued in our society?

I don't think mental health is undervalued, but I do believe that we have become more focused on treating mental health than promoting mental well-being. Many people make the decision to attend therapy even when there is an emotional ailment. This is like doing physical exercise only when I am overweight. The ideal is to exercise to have a better quality of life, focusing on our goals.

The same should be done with our mental health. The well-being of a person is integral, our mind and our body work together because what the body feels is interpreted by the mind and what the mind creates is experienced by the body.

Is the mind-body duality often exaggerated? To what extent is the mental separated from the biological processes that occur in our body?

Yes, from my perspective, in the western world we become so specialized that we forget that mind and body only work together. They are part of a being that goes beyond the physical, and emotional, of the mental.

When it is understood that what is felt, whether by an internal or external stimulus, has components physiological, cognitive, and behavioral, it is impossible for us to separate the mind from the body, or the body from the mind. mind.

For example, when you have a thought directed to the future, and this generates a response with bodily symptoms such as anxiety. There is a cognitive process -mind- that activates a series of chemical reactions such as the increase in cortisol (body), which manifests itself in physical behaviors, such as sweating and shortness of breath (body), which can be interpreted as anxiety (mind).

Mind and body work for our survival and adaptation. There must be no duality.

Through your work, have you noticed that many people assume that caring for emotional well-being is among the last priorities, behind, for example, work?

Yes, of course, it is as if they believe that there is no cost to wear down your mental health, beyond the momentary discomfort.

We are conditioned to prioritize our activities to produce economically in order to have access to everything we “want”. This orientation makes us consciously or unconsciously look for strategies where our priorities will go in favor of work.

Work is important in our life, as are other aspects: quality relationships, leisure, enjoyment, rest, health and emotional growth. All these aspects influence our well-being and work together. If we concentrate only on one of them (work), we can sustain it for a certain time, but then we will begin to notice that the lack of one or more (call it rest or lack of quality relationships) begin to affect all the aspects. Including the prioritized aspect because wear, fatigue, or lack of creativity will take its toll on the prioritized item. To think then of a momentary discomfort is delusional.

When we have a discomfort, it is a message, to which we must pay attention to make the necessary modifications for our homeostasis and well-being. If we do not attend to it at that moment, it does not mean that it will not appear, and probably if it appears it will be with greater intensity.

How does the fact of maintaining a markedly pessimistic point of view when interpreting what happens in the world and in our lives reflect on our health?

If our thinking generates both physical and behavioral responses, having pessimistic thoughts will direct our actions in that direction.

There is a phrase that I love from Joe Dispenza: “Where you put your attention, you put your energy”. If you are constantly thinking about what you need, the feeling of lack will be present. If you are constantly thinking that everything is getting worse, you will experience anxiety and uncertainty. The feeling of lack or anxiety is being felt in the present, even though the mind is envisioning the future. That is why this discomfort is already being experienced.

On the contrary, if you have an attitude of gratitude, in the present there will be a feeling of openness that will help to see possibilities that a pessimistic mind can ignore because it is not the focus of attention. We only have one field of action, the present; within that field of action we have the possibility of relating to what happens as we decide. There are situations that we cannot change, but the attitude we take towards the situation makes the experience less painful and at the same time transformative.

What are the most effective strategies to maintain good health by influencing our way of thinking and regulating what we feel?

Knowing ourselves, taking time to listen to ourselves, knowing how to be with us, being compassionate. If they know me, I act in coherence with my feelings and my thoughts. If I learn to listen to my body, I can understand what foods are best for me, when I should rest, I also learn how to take care of myself. If I take time to be with myself I can reflect. If I am compassionate, I will understand that there are moments where there is suffering, but that I can go through that suffering. I also understand that others suffer and for this reason I am kinder and more loving towards myself and others.

Does it take a long time to develop the skills necessary to learn to manage your own thoughts and feelings?

No, but it is something that we must put into practice daily until it becomes a habit, a way of living.

At the beginning it requires our responsibility, commitment and openness to feeling, it entails a conscious process that sometimes confronts us with pain. But it allows us to integrate new ways of life, which when we begin to experience them are reinforced by themselves and which is lived as we really deserve, from well-being.