Emotional responses

Taking in the emotional reins can be hard to do at first. If this is too difficult for you then please try a gratitute list for your life. The effect of making, and eventually posting it can make you smile at your wonderful things in your life. "Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have" (Schantel, Rabbi H.) I will post mine to see what beautifuls thoughts are coming into my life-
                             Gratitude

• I get to keep growing through spiritual expereinces
• I don't have to anestisize myself
• Everyday is a new beginning
• I keep discovering ways to improve myself
• My greatest years are before me
• Life is becomig a great adventure
• I know in my heart of hearts that ALL SHALL PASS (permancy is an ullision)
• I appreciate every penny I earn
• All my problems stem from negative thoughts
• Any negativity is a call to attention- Here and Now!
• Every opportunity gets me closer to a job I want
• I can express my boundaries
• I can make amends  because no one is perfect
• The steps are there for me to use for my life challenges

I used to just list the things and people in my life but now I express to them all the time for my gratitude to them every day. This is a really empowering thing to do as it builds social connections and has me treating to care carefully of my things so they last and are appreciated. Hope this helps!

Mind Workout

A previous post detailed ANT therapy for automatic negative thoughts and this section will detail a mind workout for the brain that will help with ANTs coming in all the time. Dr. Amen  (and others) have commented that changing the way you perceive the world takes some consciousness so you can attend to your thoughts. Most automatic responses seem to tend toward negativity due the continual "fight or flight" response that was an essential part of the built-in survival system of the human race. In my view this has become a maladaptive response due to our comfortable environments and the only danger we see now is other people- competition, envy, hatred, separation (black, white, Asian, Hispanic, middle eastern).  So waking up to this takes some mind work out suggested- taking the emotional reins- as you need to be conscious to attend to the emotional triggers and CHOOSE to focus on better and more positive thoughts. If you do this long enough it becomes habitual due the brain making grooves for a new habit. 


One way to become accustomed to being conscious about emotional responses is to attend to other's positive emotions- look for people who are smiling, laughing, and seeming to be peaceful. This helps to become consciousness of the negative emotions such as-


sadness, anger, irritation, grievances, regret, anxiety, hatred or intense dislike
(Why I not smiling, laughing, etc)




Usually this is resonating with emotional pain in the past but take some deep, slow breaths to calm the brain down.  The brain will slow down and you can think of positive thoughts or actions you can try. The ANTs don't seem to develop if the practice of this mind workout becomes habitual. 


Abraham Lincoln says "People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be!"

Eating Healthy for Your Brain

Even though the brain is only 2 or 3% of our bodies, it uses 20% of the calories we take in. It doesn't take long to realize that "we are what we eat' and also take into our bodies in the liquid form. It took me a while to realize that I was gluten intolerant and even longer to rid my diet of cow milk and sugar. I now eat "like a gorilla' with healthy greens, beans, nuts, various other vegetables, and rice, corn and oats. I drink nothing but filtered water and decaffeinated green tea. This all seems extreme but when eating really whole, healthy food, my body just wants more of the same.  One recipe that got me over the hump with sugar is from Katie Chocolate-covered blog. I will post it for you:
Oatmeal Larbars
6 T quick oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 t vanilla

Pulverize the oats first in a food processor. Add the raisins, nuts and vanilla and continue to process until chopped very tiny. Remove from the food processor and press together. Refigerate for a few hours and then cut into bars.
Another practice that got me over the hump with sugar is to put bananas in the freezer and add them to almond milk with carrot juice. This way it covers up the heavy taste of carrots and seems like a sweet milkshake.

Brain health is certainly important so ask yourself if feeding your brain is critical to you. I hope this helps you :)

One Page Miracle

Defining goals has made a huge change in my life. Writing down my specific goals I have for my life has clarified  my values and has brought consciousness awareness with my behavior everyday. Asking the million dollar question "Is my behavior today getting me what I want?" has made a dramatic change in my life.
If defining goals seems too difficult, then concentrate your goals on what you want- a wonderful relationship, a great job, a healthy mind and body, etc. Here is the outline for the One Page Miracle:

 One Page Miracle  (Write down what you want. Before you do or say anything ask yourself “Will this get me what I want?”)

Love:

Friends:

Family:

Finances:

Health:

Work:

Spirituality:

ANT Therapy

Becoming the watcher of your thoughts, particularly with automatic negative thoughts that are really unconsciousness of thought processes and emotions, your reactions, your desires, and aversions. Knowing that you can start recognizing the thought before they becoming etwining with emotions is the first step.
Automatic negative thoughts are in the forms of:

1. Always Thinking- overgeneralizing a situations with words like always, never, everyone, everytime
2. Focusing on the negative- ignoring everything that can be construed as positive
3. Fortune-telling
4. Mind Reading- believing you know what the person thinks, even though they haven't told you
5. Thinking with your Feelings- (feelings are facts)
6. Guilt beatings- should, ought, must, or have to
7. Labeling- attaching a negatiuve label to yourself or others
8. Personalization- taking innocous events personally
9. Blame- blaming others for the problems in your life

When you recognize these thoughts coming in ask yourself-  if they are true, how do you react when you believe that thought and who would you be without that thought. These questions can wake people up to the fact that if they are the watcher of the thoughts, then who does the thinking? Where do these automatic negative thoughts come from? Become the watcher and find out!

Eradicate those ANTs and start healing your brain to become healthier and happier every day!

'Use Your Brain to Change Your Age'

Becoming connected with Dr. Amen the author of "Use Your Brain to Change Your Age" has enhanced my awareness to help indivduals with undiagnosed brain injuries which are the major causes of:

• homelessness
• psychiatric illnesses
• depression and anxiety attacks
• alcoholism and drug abuse
• suicide

Brain injuries can be healed and brain chemistry can be changed. Dr. Amen has proven that brain rehabilitation is possible through his work with retired NFL players and returning vets. I believe the knowledge gained through Dr. Amen work can help heal people with depression, anxiety, addiction, and grief. 


A few suggesstions from Dr. Amen may help individuals who want to to look, feel and think younger every day by healing their brain:

1. Immediately stop doing anything that hurts your brain*
2. Exercise **
3. Sleep well
4. Eat optimtally nutrious foods
5. Brain Gym exercises***
6. ANT therapy****

*Anything toxic will hurt your brain so think about the amount of alcohol you consume and whether it reaches an intoxication level. 
**One of the biggest surprises in the finding of research in Dr. Amen's book is that being overweight is connected to significant decreases in brain size in the learning and memory portions of the brain. 
*** These can be found on the internet
**** Automatic negative thoughts (details about combating these will be in the next post)

Happy brains everyone!