I want to share something with you that has been SO helpful in addressing my own negative inner voice. I found myself in a rut and being more negative. The Pandemic had pulled me down (more on this later), so I learned this amazing tool that I want to share with you.
Our negative voices can come from anywhere. Perhaps you tell yourself, "I'm never going to be promoted," or you constantly think, “What will people think of me," negative self-talk affects how you feel and how you behave. In fact, the conversations you have with yourself often turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once you are on the negative train it is hard to get off.
The results of a 2020 study suggest people typically have more than 6,000 thoughts per day. If your inner voice is predominantly negative, it will have a deep impact on how you feel, work and live. So I wanted to share this impactful theory and activity by Eric Maisel. He says that in order to be more positive we need to have a better relationship with our brain.
Setting the stage ...
The French philosopher René Descartes pictured it "as ‘a stage where we play out our dramas’. Most people experience that "place that is our mind" as located in the brain: our mind feels located above and behind our eyes. That -- and not San Francisco, London, or Berlin -- is where we live."
How do we shave a better relationship with our mind?
Imagine you treat your mind as a room, you can decorate your room, you can air it out, you can furnish it, you can doodle it! The key is to ensure your room is as friendly and comfortable as possible.
The exercise ...
It’s a fun exercise, because why not have fun… but it is a powerful way that you can also start to change that negative voice.
Start by taking a moment to think about the shape of your room that is your mind? Is it square, circular, a rectangle?
How you would like to decorate your room? It is very important that you add chest of drawers. Your chest of drawers will have many uses. One drawer is your beauty drawer. This one I truly did not open for a long time. This is the drawer where we are reminded of our essential beauty. When it is opened we fend off self criticism that may be in our room. There is beauty in life everywhere. Sometimes you just need to take the time to see it.
The core of you is stronger than you think. How will you use your beauty drawer? Perhaps in the morning. Open the drawer as part of your daily routine. Go to the dresser in your mind, open the beauty drawer. In this drawer is a message … mine says “I am the beauty in life”. Feel free to use this one or pick your own. Make sure it is simple and memorable, because perhaps later in the day you do something that you come down on yourself for … go and visit that drawer open it and repeat “I am the beauty in life”. In the evening, as you settle in for the night, perhaps worry, anxiety or resentment appear. Go back to the drawer and as you open it be sure to repeat the same memorable statement “I am the beauty in life”.
The theme of this lesson is what is known as disidentification, an idea made popular by the Italian psychologist Roberto Assagioli.
What I love about this activity is how it helps you to use your imagination. But even more than that, it allows you to use your mind in a new positive way.
The more you spend time bringing in positive activities for brain health the more you will start to see your negative voice lessen.
Quote for the week (I heard this many times in my life)
Remember, positive thoughts bring positive results.
Melissa x
Founder of Doodle Lovely & Doodle Breaks
PS: If you ever need a little more support, here are a couple ways I can help you:
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Needing to bring a simple healthy habit into your day… come and join me for the 5-Day Doodle Challenge.
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Build a creative mindfulness habit with these resources.