Learning Is What We Do

Humans can't help but learn; it is what we are built to do. Every experience, every word, every thought and every action trigger physical patterns of activity in our bodies and brains. Patterns that are repeated become more persistent, habitual, and long-lasting. This can create a situation in which we feel molded by our world, trapped by our jobs, and lost in our patterns of relationship as we replay old patterns as if by instinct.

This view lacks one vital component: the power of intention. Intention is movement of intelligence through the system, looking for ways to order and understand experience. This intelligence works whether we harness it or not, which is evidenced by the dysfunctional coping strategies adopted by people across all ranges of activity. Whether challenged physically, emotionally, or mentally, humans do the best they can under a given set of circumstances. This is an essential tenet of William Glasser's Choice Theory, as is the idea that if we developed better tools we could make more effective and beneficial choices in our lives.

This theory maintains that, "for all practical purposes, we choose everything we do, including the misery we feel." He goes on to demonstrate that this is, in fact, the only thing we really do have control over, and that by investing energy in developing these skills we can move towards a healthier and happier life. Choice theory provides wonderful tools for discovering ways to move with ease in our relationships with others. We can own our impact on our world, and learn to navigate our way such that we ease conflict around and within us by really tuning in with attention to our experience.

This is as true on a physical level as it is on an emotional one. We adapt to our experiences, such as injury and repetitive strain and also to the emotional conditions of our internal environment. As our bodies reconfigure themselves around the activities and states we experience, we lose track of good functioning and consider our stress and tension to be the baseline normal.

Again, this can be remedied by education. From a Somatic viewpoint, our much myofascial pain comes from lack of full embodiment due to somatic amnesia. Pain causes people to withdraw attention from the injury, which removes that region from conscious control. This causes painful patterns to coalesce into habits. Instead of running from our discomfort, we can invest attention to our process and use intention to reconnect with the lost parts of ourselves. As people learn to direct their attention to their experience, they can tune in to their inner wisdom and understanding. This knowledge can tell us what our bodies need, if a situation is healthy or if communication is authentic and real. Our senses can tell us so much about our experiences, but we need to invest energy in learning how best to use them.

We can use this knowledge to chart a healthier course through life. We can discover if our chronic pain is telling us we need to find a different livelihood, or that a relationship needs attention in order to heal. We can listen to what people are really saying, and be more intentional in our interactions. We can create space that supports all of our needs, and put our monkey minds to use in creating a life worth living.

5/21/2011