HUMAN SUPERPOWERS
Like many other mammals, the traits below are innate within us.
Unlike them, we can choose to access and use these superpowers to optimize our lives.
What makes them superpowers?
These traits have evolved through millions of years of evolution. They've passed all the survival of the fittest tests and have been carefully honed by the skillful hands of time.
Then, they've been alchemized with the most powerful thing in the known Universe: our brains. Consciously fusing together nature's ancient wisdom of our innate traits, with the unfathomable complexity of the human brain, we're able to generate superpowers no other living organism is capable of.
Of course, with any power, it can become dangerous if not harnessed properly. And with great power comes great responsibility. So we must be wise enough to learn how to properly alchemize our greatest predispositions with our greatest hopes.
As a bonus, we can even use technology as a means to help us – instead of it taking control of us.
Why use superpowers to shift states?
1. These traits are innate within us and easy to access. We can draw upon them to help us when we have problems.
2. These traits have been honed for millions of years and are extremely effective. When used properly, they will deploy a state different from the one you were experiencing.
3. Many problems often derive from disconnecting from what makes us human. By exercising these traits, we reconnect to the very thing that may have caused the problem in the first place.
Use the power of Shift States to reclaim control of your life so you can become who you really are.
Humans have lived in tribes for as long as our species has been around. That may have changed very recently with the agricultural revolution, but that doesn’t mean our biology changed with it.
We are still tribal by nature even when when culture shifts more towards isolation. Use this innate desire to connect with others to shift states.
Essential to the human experience, creativity encourages us to problem solve, creates meaning, connects us to something beyond ourselves, and helps us transform 'what is' into 'what could be.'
It enables you to extract the wisdom of the subconscious, alchemize it to the conscious, and then create something beautiful with it. Like the power of shifting states.
The lens by which we perceive and develop a relationship with the outside world – and ourselves – is our perspective. One of the greatest blessings (and curses) of being human is that we have the opportunity to choose our perspective.
It isn't always easy, but it's one of the greatest vehicles to shift how we feel about life and ourselves.
Going beyond our senses, imagination has the remarkable power to take us into a world of fantasy where we can formulate new ideas, images, and concepts – it can even help us imagine the future, and our future selves.
While other animals may imagine to some degree, we're the only species that can discern the difference between reality and fantasy. And, as you can imagine, this can be extremely powerful.
Beyond the obvious fact you literally are what you eat, research has shown there are neurons in the gut. It's even been called our second brain. How we nourish our brain(s) and bodies directly affects the quality of our experiences.
By nourishing your body with what it needs, you shift into a better state of being.
Humans move far less today than any other time in history. Before the Agricultural Revolution, humans took an estimated 50,000 steps per day. Once we began farming and settled, that number dropped to approximately 20,000. Today, the average American takes 5,000 steps.
Movement is one of our most primal necessities and its neglection affects us. On the positive side, it's also something we can do to shift us out of the state we're in.
In fact, exercise may be the single best way to change how we're feeling.
Play broadens what we consider to be possible, is an excellent antidote to stress, and does wonders for the brain. Yet playing as an adult is often viewed as a waste of time. It's actually a great investment. No wonder Eisnstein, Newton, and many of our greatest thinkers considered play to be of critical importance.
Let go of your story to get lost in play and you will shift states.
We've always known sleep is important but now we're really starting to understand it's pertinent for optimal health. In addition, we now realize even how much we've slept can determine our perspective about life, ourselves, and impacts our happiness levels.
We can also use sleep as a tool for optimal performance and a way to shift states.
New experiences cause our brain to act in ways it never has before. Instead of the regularly scheduled program and the same carved neural pathways being activated, new pathways are built and brand new connections are made. Consequently, we perceive the world differently, ourselves differently, and an entire new world can open up.
Novelty is one of the best ways to break out of our routines, thought patterns, and stories.
In an over-insulated society, risk has almost been discouraged, but its value can't be understated. Risk is important to take us beyond our comfort zone and into new territory that expands us. The trick is doing things that feel risky but are actually safe – so you can reap the benefits of it while still not being in danger.
Learn to take risks safely and you'll be able to explore new ways of becoming you didn't know were possible.
Few things feel more powerful than a state of bliss. The chemicals released in the brain flood our bodies and overwhelm us with indescribable pleasure. We may not be the only creatures to experience bliss, but we have the ability to produce ways to take it farther. And in some cases, to evoke it on demand.
As one of the most powerful feelings humans experience, ecstasy has the ability to pull us out from our story and into something beyond.
Humans are wonderful teachers, and our ability to learn one another is unlike anything we've seen. While we've only discovered a handful of animals on Earth that teach one another, none have developed the level of communication humans have. It's a superpower we're able to codify experience into symbols and share them with others in a way that's understood.
Acquiring new wisdom can help us shake free from what we know so that we may better understand what is.
Perhaps the most underrated superpower humans have is the simple act of being at peace and doing nothing. It's not laziness where you're neglecting something must be done. Rather, it's the intention to do nothing. Idling provides a safe space for the subconscious to come out of hiding –while easing anxiety – and frees up the brain to make new connections inducing novel perspectives.
Intentionally carve out space for doing nothing and you'll find it's one of the most productive things you can do.
One dose of awe has the power to completely revolutionize how we perceive the world. And ourselves. Awe is magic manifested through wonder helping us better comprehend we'll never be able to understand – and that's okay. And beautiful. It is a state of gratitude beyond words or emotion, expressing grateful wonder for being alive and connected to something beyond our comprehension.
It is a superpower allowing us to see the reality we are interconnected to everything around us, so we can use it to connect with something greater than ourselves.
Our sense of touch may not be the strongest in the animal kingdom, but humans have developed very clever ways to explore the power of touch beyond any other species. From massage, to hugging, to intimate sex, we use touch to heal and connect.
Utilizing its can shift us from one state to another.
They say laughter is the best medicine, but really it's so much more. Humor is a tool that helps us connect with others – both friends and strangers alike. It's the vehicle that makes us realize we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously, and reminds us the most beautiful things in life don't require things.
The only thing humor can do is uplift you – it will never bring you down. Use it to raise your vibe or connect with others.
Having the awareness and understanding of our own thought processes is a gift. By thinking about thinking, we can better plan, monitor, and assess understanding, performance, and what we truly desire. This gives us the freedom to curate our lives instead of always reacting to it.
Unfortunately, our fast paced, overstimulated world has numbed this superpower, but it's one of our greatest tools in being able to shift into a state we authentically desire.
Our experiences determine how we think, feel, and perceive life. Design is our ability to arrange experiences into certain patterns that evoke the thoughts, feelings, or perspectives we choose. Instead of simply being a reaction to our environment, design allows us to curate our environment knowing it is designing us back.
By utilizing this superpower, we can set up our environment to design a state we want to be in, or even to become the person we want to be.
From music, to the sounds of nature, to the feeing you get when you hear the voice of someone you love, sound has the power to create significant meaning in our lives. It's also been shown to directly affect our physiology & psychology.
Therefore, we can use it to influence us in ways we desire and even to shift states.
It's likely we're the only creature on Earth that has the power to express gratitude. And it's powerful. Here are just some of the ways gratitude can influence your life: improve sleep, improve psychological health, improve physiological health, enhance empathy, reduce aggression, improve self-esteem, and even open up the door to more meaningful relationships.
It's amazing superpower that no other animal likely has access to. Use it to improve your life.
It's easy to feel like the world revolves around us and it's a wonderful survival mechanism, but we also have the fascinating and tremendous ability to zoom out and experience a sense of selflessness. By being altruistic and doing something solely for the sake of someone else, we release the tight grip we have on our stories and experience something beyond ourselves.
Not only does selflessness help others, but ironically, it's also one of the best things you can do for your self.
Language, myths, mathematics: our identities, societies, and beliefs are built around symbols. This is one of humanity's greatest superpowers because it allowed us to begin transferring information from one person to another.
No other species can do this like us and it's the main reason we've become the dominant species on Earth. Learn how to harness its power and it can significantly influence your life in ways you choose.
Humans have been dancing for thousands of years. Even though we may be dancing less today, it's a force too powerful to simply disappear. Not only is dancing fun, it's a remarkable tool for getting in touch with our bodies, self expression, connection, and healthy movement.
The power of dance transports us from the confines of our mind and releases us into the fluidity and infinity of experience.
