Brain Reframe

Today I have a question for you. And don't worry - it's a super easy question. Ready?
Here's my question .... do you clean your teeth on a regular basis?
I'm guessing that most, if not all of you, answered 'Er. Yes. What a dumb question" to that.
... So here's my next question ... WHY do you clean your teeth on a reguar basis?
I'm going to hazard a guess that your answer will be something along the lines of this ... my teeth get dirty on a regular basis, and to keep them (and my mouth and breath) clean and fresh, and to prevent dirt and decay building up, I clean them every day - without even stopping to think and question it. Am I close?
So ... if you clean your teeth on a daily basis for dental hygiene, why wouldn't you do something every day that helps keep your brain healthy, and to prevent stress, anxiety and depression building up? 'Brain hygiene' if you will.
Here's the thing ... often clients come to me with symptoms of stress (anxiety, depression, binge-eating, overeating, poor sleep - the list is endless) and they start to implement some kind of positive change for a couple of days, or a couple of weeks, maybe even for a couple of months - and when they start to feel better, they stop doing the thing that was helping.
But if you want to keep your mind and brain healthy, then you need to KEEP doing the things that help you to keep stress and symptoms of stress from building up. You can't expect permanent change unless you create new, helpful, healthy, habits - 'habit' being an important word!
So ... what new brain hygiene habit (or step towards a new habit) can you start implementing today?
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We generally know we want to be happy, but we're often not sure what happiness looks (or feels) like.
If you're not sure what 'happy' looks like, start small. Think about how your life would be different if you felt just a little happier. What would you be doing? Where? Who with?
The more you can paint your picture of 'happy', the more your brain can work towards what it is you want. The trick is to focus on what you DO want, rather that what you don't want!

Wise words below from my brilliant supervisor and mentor Deborah Pearce Hypnotherapy - "You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one".

This is so true in life - when we change how we think about the events and things in our lives, nothing changes. But when we change how we think about the events and things in our lives, everything changes.

This is true. You have the choice to be happy every day - but you do have to choose to be happy on purpose. And the more you choose to be happy on purpose, the happier you naturally become. And what better day to give it a try than a Monday! :-)

This is a great little video from the wonderful Jay Shetty. He compares a lifeline with a flatline: "Life is full of ups and downs - it means you're alive".
We only get to understand and experience joy and happiness by experiencing sadness, we only get to understand and experience highs, by understanding and experiencing lows, and so on.
As he says, "We somehow think that success is linear, an upward line. There is literally no case study for that."

Wise words from Deborah Pearce Hypnotherapy.

A great little video about our mirror neuron system and 'emotion contagion' - how we 'catch' emotions from other people.
As Dr David Hamilton says, you can make other people a little bit happier just by giving them a genuine smile :-)
Give it a go! See if you can catch a happy emotion from someone else - or even better, give someone else a bit of happy today!
... By the way ... you can 'catch' emotions through your thoughts as well. Our brains aren't terribly good at distinguishing between imagination and reality - so just thinking about someone smiling at you can make you smile! I have a very good friend who has the most amazing laugh. Whenever I think about him laughing, it makes me smile involuntarily ... I feel my mouth turn up into a smile, my eyes start to crease, and I already feel happier. Try it for yourself :-)
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A great article from my mentor and supervisor about the mind-body connection. And it's one that really drives it home for me ...
...whenever I'm highly stressed, the stress goes straight to my back and my muscles go into spasm. I used to try everything I could think of to reduce the pain - I'd take ibuprofen, I'd put ice on my back etc. And the ONLY thing that actually works is when I de-stress and relax my mind. By relaxing my mind, and stopping my brain from creating 'stress' chemicals, the muscles in my back can relax too. Magic! :-) x

I love this! At the very beginning of their journey with me, many of my clients struggle to notice the positive things in their day-to-day lives (once they've worked with me for a few weeks that's a different story!)
If you're struggling to notice the positives in your day, here's a 30-day challenge for you ... write down 1 thing every day that you're grateful for.
x

Small moments can make a big difference. x

Have you heard the phrase from Henry Ford "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right"?
Our brain pretty much believes what we tell it. So if we tell ourselves that we feel tired, or grumpy, or stressed, or that we can't stop at one biscuit or one glass of wine - guess what? That's what we believe.
Whereas, if we tell ourselves that we feel relaxed, confident and able to stay in control - guess what? Yup! You've guessed it :-) That's how we'll feel.
... Today, I'm choosing to be more 'tiger' and believe I'm strong, focused, determined and confident.
What will you tell your brain today?
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