Overview - Our Senses, Beliefs/Perceptions, and Emotions

our five+ senses

These pages contain a simple description of how our five senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) experience “input” from our environment.

AND how there are NATURAL & physiological limitations to the information received (e.g., environmental input).

INPUT THAT IS exacerbated when there is an injury or other situation that hinders our body from operating at optimum levels.

beliefs & perceptions

Beliefs and perceptions are initially developed through a combination of “nature” AND “nurture” dynamics.

THEN they “feed” off off each other - creating a “loop” or a “Catch-22”: our beliefs determine what we perceive, and what we perceive creates and/or reinforces our beliefs.

Physiologically (internal input), our perceptions are limited by the capabilities inherent in our brain and body (the “nature” part of the dynamic).

Our environment (external input) influences our interpretations of our experiences (the “nurture” part of the dynamic).

emotions

Emotions are very interesting.

When we are first born, emotions are very simple:

If we like our experience in the moment, we are calm.

If we DON’T like our experience in the moment, we are NOT calm (e.g., crying, fussing, etc.)

As we grow older, we are TAUGHT (by external input) to define WHAT WE ARE FEELING.

Feelings are primarily defined by the context of our experiences AND the expectations of how we SHOULD feel.

AND THEN we let our feelings control us - instead of using them as information and feedback to assist us in making a decision about how to respond (and to respond in a way that facilitates a desired outcome).