Getting Your Head Right: 12 Mindset Shifts for Better Health and Relief
A Jedi takes time to think and reflect. This image of a person sitting serenely in an open forest and thinking on things was created using the Gemini AI assistant.
Thinking can be helpful or unhelpful. Especially in managing chronic pain or any health condition, “getting your head right” matters. Indeed. What and how you think can really affect your health and well-being, so it’s not just chronic conditions that benefit from thinking clearly and elegantly. Being organized and clear in your thinking can be especially helpful when you are trying to change your life.
When considering health, you want the kind of thinking that takes the whole person into account as much as possible. A whole person is not just a body, not just a job or a role or a bunch of symptoms. The details matter. Taking care of your health can often mean changing your life in some way, and that can feel like too much to ask. Finding relief and finding health care solutions can take time, and not all options work for everyone.
So, this is where you take the idea of “getting your head right” to another level.
Below are the 12 concepts that help people understand how to use the mind when considering health solutions and taking the whole person into account. These 12 concepts are philosophical in nature, so I present them to you below after they were presented to me years ago at a training by pain scientist, Dr. Lorimer Moseley. Dr. Moseley is a charming and funny presenter (watch his highly informative and entertaining TED talk here) , and the twelve concepts he presented as keys to shifting your life have stayed with me over the years. The 12 concepts influence my thinking, writing and teaching to this day. I believe the 12 concepts don’t just apply to treating and managing pain, but they apply to how we perceive and deal with any health challenge, including picking up new physical and mental skills or just wanting to look and feel better.
I will be offering essays this month to explore the 12 concepts (watch this space!) and how mindbody practice can help you train your mind to use these concepts. Writing is thinking, so write back if anything resonates highly for you!
Here are the 12 concepts and their simple definitions followed by ordinary examples involving health.
You might already be using the concepts in making decisions about your and well-being, so consider this list to be a checklist.
1. Emergence
Definition: Emergence occurs when a complex system produces a new outcome or property that cannot be found in any of its individual parts working alone. It relies on the spontaneous interaction of multiple smaller components creating a whole new experience.
A great example of emergence in our lives is when you try to change something that depends on a lot of different factors. Getting better sleep is a great example. Good sleep quality is an emergent experience that results from the combined effects of light exposure, body temperature, stress levels, and dinner timing rather than a single “sleep switch.” Getting enough good quality sleep is a challenge for a lot of us, and thinking about good sleep quality being an emergent property can help us understand that we may need to tweak several things in our lives to address it.
2. Complexity and Non-Linearity
Definition: Non-linear systems do not follow a simple cause-and-effect rule where a small input creates a predictably small output. Instead, tiny adjustments can trigger massive shifts, and large actions might yield barely noticeable changes.
A relevant health example of dealing with complexity in everyday health matters is managing blood sugar: Reducing your daily sugar intake by a tiny amount might result in a surprisingly massive improvement in your afternoon energy levels and focus. You may only notice this after doing it for a few weeks or when you find you have a little more energy and patience with family interactions.
3. Bioplasticity
Definition: Bioplasticity is the dynamic ability of biological tissues and neural pathways to physically adapt, reshape, and restructure themselves in response to demand and experience. The body and mind never remain completely static; they continually adapt to how they are used.
There are many examples of bioplasticity when it comes to health, because the body is constantly adapting and learning. Learning a new skill changes the brain and body. For example, learning to play the piano physically thickens the brain region responsible for fine finger coordination through repeated practice.
4. Context (Nature and Situations)
Definition: Context refers to the environment, surroundings, and specific circumstances in which an event takes place. The human brain continuously evaluates these background conditions to determine how to react to any given stimulus.
Considering context helps you understand how the same activity can have different effects on you: Your heart rate naturally stays lower during a brisk walk through a peaceful forest than during the exact same pace on a busy city street.
5. Networks (Relationships and Systems)
Definition: Networks are interconnected webs of individual components that communicate and influence one another constantly. No single node or point within the network operates in isolation; an event in one part of the network ripples across the entire system.
The organ systems in the body function as a network where different structures are interdependent: A healthy digestive tract relies on a balanced ecosystem of gut bacteria, hormones, and nerve signals working in an organized way rather than a single organ acting alone. This means diet choices (gut bacteria), stress levels (hormones), and activity levels (nerve signals) can affect digestion. The systems in the body reflect networks of interacting components.
6. Science / Critical Thinking
Definition: Critical thinking is the disciplined practice of analyzing facts objectively, questioning assumptions, and evaluating evidence before reaching a conclusion. It helps us maintain peace of mind amid overwhelming amounts of information. The internet can be noisy place with emotionally charged stories and division. Critical thinking asks us to pause our reactions, observe reality, and assess the facts as accurately as possible. This takes practice and support from family, community, and a steady environment help a lot.
Reading nutritional labels is an example in everyday life where we can evaluate actual ingredients and nutrition facts, so that we don’t get misled by clever marketing claims on food packaging.
7. Freedom (Choice and Responsibility)
Definition: Freedom is the internal agency to consciously choose your response to any given situation, rather than operating on unexamined autopilot (automatic thoughts and reflexes or a set of assumptions0. Freedom means accepting this responsibility to consciously choose your response on a regular basis. Exercising your freedom means making decisions and taking action. Sometimes this means doing experiments to find out what helps your well-being best.
Exercising your freedom in health matters often means choosing your battles: For example, you can choose how to react to an unexpected flight delay by either escalating your stress and choosing to complain and be upset or using the time to read quietly.
8. Culture (History, Mores, Conditioning, and Upbringing)
Definition: Culture encompasses the shared beliefs, learned behaviors, and social norms passed down through families and communities over time. Without our realizing it, culture deeply shapes how we interpret physical experiences, express (or don’t express) emotions, and navigate daily life.
Cultural influences can be on display regarding how much quiet rest is necessary during an illness, such as a mild cold: different global cultures can hold vastly different expectations of what it means to show up at work with a cold. It can be a matter of showing pride and commitment for one person to keep showing up to work like that. For others, the idea of spreading germs is not desirable, and so they stay home. Still for others, resting at the first tiny signs of a cold may be their way of managing stress and being at their best.
9. Learning (Capacity to Update Views of the World)
Definition: Learning is the ongoing process of gathering new information to update, refine, or completely replace outdated mental models. It allows us to adapt smoothly as our circumstances and knowledge evolve.
The superpower of all humans is learning new things. A great example of this is updating your exercise routine as you get older keeps your daily movement habit safe, effective, and consistent for every phase of your life.
10. Bias Awareness (Understanding Everyone Has a Bias, Including Yourself)
Definition: Bias awareness is the conscious recognition that past experiences color how we automatically interpret current events. Identifying these internal filters helps us examine the assumptions that may be driving our choices. Being aware of bias can help us be clear about what is motivating us to make changes or keep things the same.
Sometimes taking care of our health can take us to new places: For example, recognizing you have a personal bias against using a health appliance like compression socks can help you find a way to get the benefits of compression socks that may actually be fun and interesting for you. Finding funky colors and styles can help you do it your way.
11. Predictive Processing (How Your Brain and Nervous System Work)
Definition: Predictive processing is the brain’s mechanism of constantly forecasting what will happen next based on memories and history. Rather than waiting for real-time sensory data, your brain is making conclusions based on past experiences. It acts as an internal prediction engine to help you navigate the world efficiently.
The next time you have a lemon wedge on your plate and catch a whiff of the lemony scent, your mouth may begin to salivate, and your lips may pucker because your brain predicts the sour taste based on prior experience. Just imagining it can make the reactions happen, too. That’s predictive processing! Changing your reactions requires conscious effort.
12. Growth Mindset & Mastery (Athlete's Mindset / Self-Improvement)
Definition: A growth mindset is the conviction that abilities, resilience, and skills can be developed through deliberate effort, curiosity, and practice over time. Having a growth mindset means you are willing to reconfigure your thinking about what you consider to be obstacles and limitations. The growth mindset is the thinking that helps you turn the obstacle or the mistake into an opportunity for learning. The opposite of a growth mindset takes challenges and obstacles as proof of permanent limitations. The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset, which is revealed when saying these kinds of things to others or just to yourself: “See? I am not graceful.” “I am not good with names.”
Becoming a master of your health can take you into territories unknown that call for grace and an open mind. The example of an amateur runner going through a sluggish and boring workout can tell a story of having a fixed mindset—in which case they consider having a not-so-positive experience a sign of personal failure and so give up running after a few “bad” workouts. Or the same amateur runner can interpret the not-so-great workout session as fuel for next time: having a growth mindset helps the amateur runner use the experience as feedback to tweak their hydration, recovery and pacing routines. The improvements follow.
So, those are the twelve!
Do you recognize any of the twelve concepts as ways of thinking that you already do?
Please do leave a comment or get in touch. It is always nice to hear from you.
See you next week.
-Josie