Recently, I read the book Chatter, by Ethan Kross. While it's got some useful tips, it's based on a very limited theoretical framework. Specifically, it views chatter as an entirely cognitive phenomenon.
And while there exist good tools to question our thoughts, and neuter the least helpful ones, the mind is not just comprised of thought. We also have to account for the role of the body in generating thoughts and feelings.
Because the body, it turns out, provides far more leverage for effective interventions to help us master our chatter.
So I got on the Zoom with my favorite mind-body science stress performance guy, Glenn Murphy of Stressproof.net, and we kicked around the concept of mental chatter.
We talked about the following questions, and more:
- Why do we have it?
- Where in the brain does it originate?
- Is it really a problem, and if so, under what circumstances?
- What are the various ways we can get it under control so we can perform at our best?