Thinking About Our Own Thinking

             

“What we think, we become”   Buddha

Week 48

I hope you’ve ordered your book, picked out a dynamite 'detox diary' and found a perfect place to stash your cash…..Which reminds me, it's time to  begin your savings account, so make sure and deposit your money in the till.  (Remember it's for you to pamper yourself later on). 

I asked you to include the following 6 principles on the front page of your journal.  If you haven’t already done so, go ahead and do it now.

1. Awareness

2. Desire to change

3. Commitment to change

4. A Plan for action

5. Action

6. Reflection

Let’s begin this week's discussion with principal #1 Awareness:

"Research shows that around 87% of illnesses can be attributed to our thought life, and approximately 13% to diet, genetics and environment."  So says Dr. Caroline Leaf in the first chapter of her book, Who Switched off My Brain. She goes on to talk about research that has been done to establish the critical link between the  body and the mind.  These words of hers certainly got my attention; whether you believe the per-centages statement or not, it certainly makes you think about it, doesn't it?  Wow...87%! 

Speaking about thinking.....Have you ever heard of the term 'meta cognition'? Meta cognition means thinking about one’s mental processes or, thinking about your own thinking.  That’s what we’re going to be doing throughout our seminar, ‘thinking about our own thinking’.  But not only are we going to be thinking about our own thinking, we are going to be thinking about how to control our own thinking. 

Does that idea scare you....controlling your own thinking?  Does it sound too 'new agey' for you... Too 'Sci-Fi' futuristic?  Does it sound like too much hard work and you were hoping to just relax and do nothing over the summer? Perhaps it worries you a bit because once you believe it, then it means that you're responsible for it....and we'd much rather blame our unhappiness, our stress and our misery on someone or something else, wouldn't we? Does the idea of controlling your thoughts just seem too unattainable to you right now in your life because you're just trying to get through the day?  Who has time for thinking about our thinking....when we barely have time for just thinking!

Time to write in your journal about these initial thoughts that you're having on this idea of controlling your own thinking. 

Now, let's learn some more about the thought process and how our thoughts are formed.  This is great place to refer to Dr. Leaf’s book.  She writes at the beginning of chapter two, “Controlling your thought life is not about a destination, it is about a journey. The first step on that journey is to understand what a thought is, how it grows in your brain, stores memories and ultimately how it affects your health, whether positively or negatively." 

If you have your book, read chapters one and two now.  For those of you who haven't yet received your book, I've included this website for you to learn more about our thoughts.  http://drleaf.com/thought_life.php

This week: take at least 10 minutes each day and lie down in a quiet and comfortable spot were you are undisturbed. Pay attention to your thoughts.  Don't try and change or control them, just lay there and observe them (as if you were another person peering in).

Since our focus is on awareness: talk to others about what you are discovering, write about it in your journal and post in on the blog or email me at: smallsteps4bigresults@yahoo.com