Sorry for last week guys. I thought I had everything worked out as to what I was going to post on. However, I did not think getting a tooth pulled would have made me so loopy or be as painful as it was. In fact....still is. Thank you @beckieg for reminding me about solfeggio tones. I used the 174 like you suggested and it definitely eased up the pain. I was able to take a 4 hour nap without having to take medication.
Image Source
So our last 'serious' session we talked about how FEAR is one of our controlling emotions that through mindfulness we take our control back. Don't get me wrong, Fear has its benefits, but when it controls your daily activities that's when it's a problem.
From FEAR we're going to move to OVERTHINKING. FEAR and OVERTHINKING can go hand-in-hand, but they can be separate too. Overthinking usually is when that criticizing voice in your head, telling you that you're not good enough, it fills you with self doubt and feeds off the fear of failure. When you have to look at the smallest activity through every angle, that is a really good sign your overthinking is out of control. When you can't make a simple decision without worrying about the outcome, your overthinking is out of control.
Image SourceHow many of us have had those nights, your brain is running 100 mph "I should have done this?" "I knew the answer to that question, why did I answer that way?" "Why do I always second guess myself"
"My husband didn't kiss me goodnight before he went to bed. I must have done something to upset him." Or you have little mini movies that playback through the day's events as though your mind is trying to show you how dumb you are? Yeah, I could go on but, I think you catch the drift. I know for a lot of us, we don't even have to be asleep for this to take place, that if you give yourself a moment of silence it starts up.
What do you do? How do you handle yourself in one of these situations? Do you lay in bed tossing and turning, telling your brain to shut up? Do you drink enough until you're numb enough you can't hear those thoughts? Do you take drugs (legal or illegal) to again main your mind numb enough, nothing bothers you? Do you stay busy so your mind is incapable of thinking of anything more than the task at hand?
Since we know this is Mindfulness Monday...we know what the correct answer is...practice mindfulness. You can't make the thoughts go away. You can take control of how you process the information and deal with the issues. I know for me this is crucial, if I don't get my thoughts under control, I usually enter a depression. When I am at that point my anxiety is high, my self doubt is high, So then the other thought start creeping in. You remember those thoughts. The ones we've always been told are bad. We talk about these quite a bit. Why to pound it into all of our heads...It is normal to have thoughts, it's what you do with them that matter. So when you overthinking mind starts to make you questions everything you've done you need to remind it about the good things. "You're a failure, you didn't graduate from college and you have an absolutely horrible job" My response " I would not have 2 beautiful children, I would not have met my current husband, I would not have the friends I have now.' "Your life should be different." 'I am thankful for what I do have' and remind myself what I am doing to make things better.
I find self soothing exercises don't help me too much to 'turn' off my brain. That is where I personally have adopted a more creative approach. I started to color. No not little kids colors or coloring books. Adult books, using colored pencils, markers, gel pen. Some of them use adult language some don't. There are mandalas, there are animals, people of all types, phrases and so forth. I could not believe the world I walked into. When I find I need to shut down the multitude of thoughts to focus on an activity has been best for me. In this part, I also started (learning) how to paint again another very focused thing for me. I find the creativity in both push my mind to think differently. Now for some of you, it may seem silly, but we all have a part that wants to 'release' itself. Some people love to read,crochet, knit, garden (even though that's a little more seasonal) put together puzzles, do word puzzles and so forth. For some mediation works well at this point. If I'm at this point...I usually can't focus enough to tune out the thoughts and meditate or read.
Here are a few samples of my 'glorious'work
Remember these are things that I have worked through with my therapist to gain a better understanding of things. If I can help anyone to not succumb to the games our minds play on us and help others to learn they aren't what their mind or others say they are then this is worth it.
Want to earn universal basic income (UBI) ?
