From executive well-being to surprise stress

In every structure, even the lightest and most agile, there's a framework, whether regulatory, ethical or social. When everything's running smoothly and everything's calm, it's perfect. Our universe is in phase with ourselves.

... "the structured order, or ordered structure of the Universe in which we have evolved" are precisely "reflected" in the organization of our brains "¹.

Human beings love what is perfect, because it makes them neither think nor act beyond the norm. It's the same principle by which we love a person's beauty: regular features, smooth skin, nothing sticks out. The mind doesn't focus, it glides.

"Wondering which brain regions activate when we experience beauty, an interdisciplinary team at New York University (neuroscientist Edward A. Vessel, G. Gabrielle Starr Professor of Humanities and perception specialist Nava Rubin) made a curious discovery in the early 2010s. When the subjects of their experiments, locked in an fMRI scanner and confronted with images, report maximum aesthetic rapture, the device reveals activation of the brain areas that form the "default mode network "¹".

"This unison, this "moment when the brain detects a certain harmony between the external world and our inner representation of ourselves" gives us the impression that beauty "touches us from within "¹".

Philosophers had already raised the subject outside the realm of cerebral imagery:

"the beauty for which an idea [or ideal] is to be sought can in no way be a vague beauty, but can only be a beauty fixed by a concept of objective finality, and that consequently it cannot belong to the object of an entirely pure judgment of taste, but to that of a judgment of taste intellectualized to some extent".

In other words, the ideal of beauty will be a case of adherent beauty rather than free beauty "².

"In the aesthetic experience, the brain thus experiences a mirror effect, faced with its own functioning and with the identity between it and the mechanics of the Universe... It is perhaps for this reason, Semir Zeki concludes, that we discover physical laws in a mental way, even before any experimental exploration "¹.

This state of being can also be found in organized structures such as schools. The framework is a necessity for resting the brain, for feeling well-being. It's a state of being. Harmony does not come from the stability of a system or a framework, not from its physical reality but from its mirror effect in our brain. It's the state of habit, of the sweet day, of joy. It's an inner state.

What happens when there's an incident, a surprise, an innovative practice? Good or bad, it's stress.

It's a powerful stimulus for the brain.

"The surprise is like a reset of the original project, positive or negative. Surprises are tiring, good or bad. It takes time to recover from this emotion. Use sparingly". Quote from coach Bernard Flavien.

Here's the mechanism that comes into play every time we have to make a decision in the face of a situation:

"The ventromedial area of the prefrontal cortex is where we store our representations of a situation. This is where data is classified according to the individual's experience and the scenarios describing the likely consequences of the decision.

This area is also directly linked to so-called primary cortical regions, such as the motor region, certain ganglia and the amygdala. As a central receiver of information, the amygdala is, according to Damasio's metaphor, "the office of standards and measures" (1994, p. 250).

In this sense, a felt emotion activates the brain's amygdala, which in turn activates this ventromedial cortex, among others. The latter 1) sends signals to the motor system, so that muscles give the face expressions of emotion and the body specific postures; 2) activates the endocrine and nervous systems, which secrete hormones (chemical neurotransmitters) that induce changes in the state of the body and brain. Each of these actions enables the individual to perceive a physical and mental state. It is this perception that provides information about the choice to be made".

Source: L'émotion et la prise de décision by Delphine Van Hoorebeke - https://www.cairn.info/revue-francaise-de-gestion-2008-2-page-33.htm

At every interruption, incident, break in rhythm, the brain and body are called upon. And the more stress, the bigger the amygdala (one for each ear).

"In humans, amygdala stimulation is performed on awake patients during pre-operative exploration to delimit the epileptogenic zone of patients suffering from severeepilepsy. Electrical stimulation of the amygdala induces feelings of fear and anxiety and autonomic fear responses."

Source : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdale_(brain)

What's the solution? Laughter, the best therapy of all.

"...Based on a synthesis of studies carried out in 1996, Professor Rod Martin, a laughter specialist from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, concluded that looking at life with humor, or taking it "with a grain of salt", would have measurable beneficial consequences on psychological and emotional health. People with a greater sense of humor are less shaken by stressful experiences. They are more likely to see them as stimulating challenges rather than painful ordeals.

In addition, they tend to have higher self-esteem and are more realistic in their assessment of themselves. Optimistic by nature, they have a fuller social life. However, the author points out that it is difficult to determine precisely whether these favorable states are the result of a sense of humor, or whether it is rather these states that make it possible to approach life with a sense of humor".

Source : https://www.passeportsante.net/fr/Therapies/Guide/Fiche.aspx?doc=rire_th

There are few studies available on the chemical mechanisms behind laughter, but it doesn't matter, the main thing is that it works.

Source

1 The ideal of beauty and the necessity of grace - Kant and Schiller on ethics and aesthetics by Paul Guyer http://journals.openedition.org/rgi/155