So recently I was watching a Huberman podcast on how to develop a growth mindset, and why cynicism is bad for your mental and physical health. The entire time i was watching, i kept thinking about how he recommendations that they were giving for developing a growth mindset, aligned directly with the concept of tawakul in Islam.
Cynicism is teh mindset where you constantly think that everyone is out to get you. You expect the worst from both people and situations. When we’re cynical, areas of our brain like the amygdala become more active which triggers our brains stress response, and then because of that we then release cortisol. Heightened levels of cortisol over time can cause you to have a weakened immune system, cause health risks like hypertension and in general is just bad for your emotional regulation.
Additionally when you engage in a specific thought pattern repeatedly, your brain will strengthen that neural pathway and it will make it the default way that you think about any situation. In this case, with cynicism, when you’re consistently thinking or expecting the worst from people and situations ,it will simply reinforce a habit of negativity. This can impair your prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for rational thinking and emotional control, which will then just make it harder to stay away from pessimistic thoughts, or foster a more positive mindset. As a result cynicism becomes a self- reinforcing loop, increasing isolation and stress.
What dos this have to do with tawakul? Essentially when were being cynical, were closing off the possibilities of goodness from other people or situations. This is direct contrast with the concept of tawakul, where we are having faith and trust in Allah’s timing and his wisdom, even in situations where it’s difficult to immediately see why something might’ve happned. Tawakul is breaking those feedback loops by rejecting that everything will go wrong and. That people are inherently untrustworthy. This consisntent trust will retire our brain to be more open adn positive , and also reduce teh stress that cynicism triggers. And science supports this too; when we allow ourselves to trust rather than expecting the worst from people, our brain experiences less stress.
Positive social interactions release dopamine which is a neurotransmitter that helps us feel good and allows us to feel a sense of connection and belonging
So in a nutshell, tawakul not only breaks those harmful negative feedback loops that we can get after a traumatic experience, it also allows us to improve out mental and physical health.
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