Contents
Mario Alonso Puig: “Fear helps us to be sensible, but it also makes us aggressive”
Interview
The doctor publishes “365 ideas for a full life”, in which he gives advice to those who want to change their life “forever”
That each day of our life is important is something we already know, although many times we do not pay much attention to it. And Dr. Mario Alonso Puig, a surgeon, trained in neurological sciences and well-being and happiness, and with a curriculum so long that it is difficult to capture here, does not hesitate to remember it frequently. Therefore, now publish the book “365 ideas for a full life” (Espasa), in which through strong and simple advice, one for each day has the year, seeks to “help (brave) people who want to change their lives (forever).”
A multitude of ideas orbit throughout the pages of the book, but many concepts are repeat offenders. We spoke with Dr. Alonso Puig and asked him about these concepts and their relevance to train us as unique humans, learn to evolve and, ultimately, be happy.
Why do you emphasize the importance of each day of our lives so much?
For me, every day is like a stepping stone and this can lead us to one place or another. If we vary a small part, a humble degree, our trajectory daily, with the passage of time we will end up in a radically different place.
In the tips in the book, he constantly talks about mindfulness …
It is important to be attentive and mindfulness is a training to get the mind to be in the here and now. It does not have a more sophisticated description, it is your ability not to be going to the past every two by three, usually to regret, or to go to the future to worry. It has been shown in scientific research that when a person is in the here and now there are many things that improve: health, especially what has to do with the immune system; The personal relationships; the ability of a person to operate efficiently; as well as it allows us to receive a lot of information that you would not receive if you were distracted.
He also gives importance to silence in our life
Silence is important because sometimes this is the only way to really see. Silence is not the absence of sound, it is the absence of noise. If we use an analogy, it would be something like the space between the notes. If all the notes are jammed, that is not music, it is noise. And it is the same with our brain. This has two hemispheres: the left tends to make a lot of noise and the right invites us to silence. So there are many things that belong to the world of intuition, of the deepest discoveries that only happen in us when we are able to stop the constant noise of our minds, that is why it is relevant.
Why is it important to eat a good diet and exercise to achieve that “full life”?
Traditionally, diet and exercise have been associated with having a healthy body. The approach that I give it, apart from so that our heart works better or we have less hypertension problems, is because it has a very large impact on the brain. Both nutrition and physical exercise influence how we can generate new connections between neurons. We need a series of substances to exist in the brain, neurotrophins, of which there are different types and they are released when one has adequate nutrition and when one does physical exercise.
What role does creativity play in all this?
It is important for several reasons. The first, because it is an inherent faculty of the human being in such a way that the human being recognizes himself in his creative works and that recognition generates greater illusion and self-esteem. Secondly, because when a person is creative, it means that he has achieved that his right hemisphere can express itself. And finally, creativity is essential to find new solutions to problems that we are encountering. If we have solutions A and B, with creativity, solution C appears that was not seen before and is better than the previous ones.
Why is it important to have developed empathy?
Empathy is important not just as a sensation, but biologically. As a feeling, there are few things that truly generate greater satisfaction than feeling understood. Biologically it is known that the lack of empathy is very harmful to health. When there is empathy, it is known that even at the molecular level there is a great impact. Likewise, empathy is key so that one person can trust another, which is why it is one of the most essential things in any human relationship.
And how does fear, an emotion, a priori, negative influence us?
When one talks about fear, it is like when one talks about hormones, these are substances that circulate through the body and have enormous power. A certain amount of cortisol is a very adequate hormone and when it does not exist it must be administered externally because otherwise the person cannot survive. An excess of cortisol is very harmful, because it begins to attack all the organs. An adequate dose of fear helps us to be sensible, not to be a group of crazy people who jump into things without minimally considering the level of risk they take and if they are worth that risk. What happens is that when the fear figures rise above a normal amount, as it is such a powerful emotion, fear activates brain and behavioral mechanisms, which can be very damaging. For example, it makes us become very aggressive and irritable, irascible, it can cause us to become very elusive people.