Mind, Body, Spirit – The Power of All Three

As human beings’ having positive social interactions is essential to every aspect of our physical and mental health. That’s why, for us to experience positive social interactions we must be ready to master good communication skills, which requires us to utilize the power of all three – Mind, Body, Spirit. For example, a study by (Cohen, Sherrod, and Clark) in 1996, shows that a college freshman capable of having positive social interactions, would quickly create a social network around him or her, that would in return help ease the stress associated with people entering university life.

All of which can be achieved by having good communications skills, which require one to tune all the three mind, body, spirit in order to have a healthy self-esteem and self-image. This study shows us the importance of building strong support networks around us, which can only be achieved through effective communication. To better understand we need to take a closer look at how the state of each affects your ability to communicate effectively.

Understanding The Mind, Body, Spirit

The Mind

To communicate effectively you need to be in the right state of mind. And according to the Cambridge dictionary, the state of mind is “a persons’ mood and the effect that their mood has on their behavior and thinking.”

There are six different states of mind each of which has a different impact on how you communicate:

1) Rational

This is the most reasonable state of mind that you can ever be in, as it is when your professional self is in charge. However, you can only be in this state when you are not tired or stressed out. This is the state of mind that you should aspire to be in as you interact with other people, as you will be able to communicate effectively with a clear head.

2) Anxious

We have all known this state since we have experienced it at some point of our life. At this state is when you tend to experience butterflies in your stomach, question your every move, wake up at 3 am trying to figure out how your spouse or partner could have misinterpreted your last text, and so on. Trying to communicate in such a state will leave you questioning all your moves.

3) Depressed

This state of the mind always revolves around past mistakes and regrets of roads/paths not taken. But for most people, it’s usually not about the past but the feeling of being trapped with no way out. In such a state your thoughts are those of “why bother”, “it doesn’t even matter”, or “it’s never going to change”. Trying to have a conversation in such a state of mind would be a great disservice to you as your mind will tend to focus only on the negative. in fact, when you are depressed the mind, body, and spirit all will be affected.

4) Angry

At this state Instead of experiencing butterflies in your stomach, you will be having a raging volcano that is ready to explode. Since all you can think of is how unfair a certain situation is, and how to plot revenge. Communicating in such a state of mind can result in you saying some awful things that you will regret later.

5) Fear

By the term fear, I do not mean battle zone fear or surgery fear, I mean the feeling of being intimidated by a certain individual even though in your right mind you know there’s no good reason to be. With such a state of mind, you will only be feeling small, insecure, and you will end up walking on eggshells around that particular individual. Engaging in a conversation or trying to build a social circle with such an individual, you will only end up agreeing on things just to please the other individual.

6) Rebellious

This state of mind usually has a little-kid element into it, as you will always be like “you can’t make” or “I don’t want to”, which is always accompanied by some form of passive-aggressiveness.

In order to communicate effectively, you must always try not to fall into any of these emotional ditches that will definitely trap your mind, body, and spirit, which can be very challenging especially with everyone out there trying to get on your last nerve. However, in case you ever find yourself in any of these emotional ditches, quickly pull yourself out of there, and try to get back to your rational self.

The Body

To communicate effectively you need to first understand the science of body language, which states that only 7 percent of a message is conveyed through words while the other 93 percent is communicated through your body language. In order to effectively communicate with other people, you must train your body to project confidence through positive body language.

Here are a few ways on how your body language can help you communicate effectively:

1) Maintaining a positive posture.

This can be achieved by maintaining an upright posture, whether you are sited or in a standing position. Plus don’t be tempted to put your hands in your pockets as it makes you look as if you are not interested in the entire conversation.

2) Keep your head upright.

In a conversation always ensure that your head is upright and level since any forward or backward leaning can make you look somehow arrogant or aggressive.

3) Use hand gestures.

Using hand gestures in a conversation shows that you are willing to communicate and share ideas. Also in the process make sure to avoid any overexpression as it may distract the person you are communicating with and have him focusing more on your hand gestures instead of your ideas.

In fact, proper body language can help you stay calm especially when you are in a situation that is running high of emotions, for example during a performance review at work, an interview, or a negotiation. All you need to do is defuse any tension that you might have by relaxing your body and mirroring the body language of the person you are talking to.

The Spirit

In order to effectively communicate with an individual, there is a spiritual law that you ought to keep in mind, which is always look beyond the armor.

When communicating most people will try to show you what you are looking for, such as the facts and impressively laid out logical arguments. Instead of trying to have a heart-to-heart conversation, where both of you are targeting to create an understanding rather than a personal win. Once you start looking at the fear, insecurity, hurt, and confusion beneath each other’s protective armor that’s when you begin to have a heart-to-heart conversation with each other, which achieves much more than anyone could ever understand.

To better understand the power of all three you can also dive into one of our many highly rated online courses, where you will learn how to communicate effectively, and receive a certificate of completion.