How to Change Your Brain

In college I was a blue jeans and hiking boots kind of girl.  It’s true that I never went anywhere without mascara, but dressing up was something I rarely did.  I had a secret trick for feeling better for when I wasn’t feeling too great and needed a boost.  I would dress up a little bit, put on a little bit of makeup, and all day people would tell me how nice I looked.  Pretty soon I was feeling better, too.

Edgar Cayce advised that we watch ourselves going by.  That sounds strange, but when you can’t get going and you wonder why, when you just can’t make yourself do what you have set out to do, it’s helpful to mentally stand a little bit apart from yourself, be the observer, and look at what’s going on.

In my healthy weight and positive self-image coaching work, I hear my clients saying ugly things about themselves and about their bodies.  Have you ever done that?

As a hypnotist I know that those ugly, hateful thoughts and words are going straight into your subconscious mind, where they are stored and remembered.  Likewise, when you say or think critical things about someone else, those thoughts are also stored in your subconscious mind, as if you thought those things about yourself.

So how do you get yourself out of a loop of negative thinking?  And how do you quit storing negative critical thoughts in your subconscious mind?

I’m going to share two strategies that you can begin to experiment with.  The word “strategy” sounds like work, so let’s call it a game instead, because games are more fun that work, right?

You can play these games with yourself, watching yourself go by, and changing the energy around words.

THE DISCONNECT GAME: SEPARATING “THE FEELING” FROM “THE ME”

The first game is to to remember that you are you and feelings are feelings.  You know this cognitively, but remember that your subconscious is listening and recording everything.  If you say “I am depressed” or “I’m exhausted”, your subconscious registers that as “I’m Depressed” or I’m Exhausted“.

Nice to meet you, Exhausted.

Instead,  step away from the feeling, recognize it as a feeling, separate from you. Play with changing the words saying “I’m Frank, feeling depressed,” “I’m Isabelle, feeling exhausted.”

THE SWITCH GAME: CHANGE THE ENERGY BY SOFTENING THE WORDS

“I’ll never get this done.”
“I’m so stressed!”

The Switch Game is about changing the emotional energy around words.

If you been working and working to finish a project, you can tell yourself  “I’m dumb and stupid.  I’ll never get this done.”  Or you can tell yourself, “This project has so many aspects, I’m taking care to cover everything well.”

When you get to the end of your day and you just don’t have any more energy, you can say “I’m exhausted”. Or you can switch the energy by choosing to say, “It’s been a busy day,” or “my bed is sure going to feel good.”  Which one feels better?

When you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed with too much on your list, you can soften the feeling by saying “I’m willing to let the most important thing  ask to be addressed first.” I like the words willing and choose, for being softer emotionally.

CHANGING YOUR BRAIN

When you change your words, you can change your thinking, and when you change your thinking you can change your brain, literally.  As you soften your language and become gentler with yourself, you’ll be storing this kinder mindset in your subconscious, gradually replacing all those self-critical and negative thoughts.

As I learned how to engineer compliments in college so that I could feel better, you easily observe your thoughts and words, and play these games to change them for the better.  You can change your words, lift your mood, and literally change your brain!

Have particular mindset challenges?  Click here to schedule a private Discovery call. No hype, no sales pressure.  Just honest talk to get you started.