What are you saying to yourself?

What are you saying to yourself?

No really, what are you saying to yourself.

Did you know that we have 50,000 thoughts a day?

Yes, we have 50,000 thoughts a day.  According to Dr. Alice Domar, PhD, Clinical Psychologist.http://stresscourse.tripod.com/id101.html

Dr. Domar says that our internal self-talk can be a mixture of positive, negative and neutral thoughts.

And that it is important to understand that this internal dialogue can influence our feelings and behaviors.

This is why it’s important to watch what you are saying to yourself.

This week I decided to talk about something that causes us stress, but not something that we talk about that much.

That is…the way that we talk to ourself.

We say things such as “I am stupid”, “I should know better”, “Why can’t I do things right?”, “What’s wrong with me?” I think you know what I am talking about. Right?

It is SUPER important to be kind to yourself.

And this people, has been a hard one for me and from what I am hearing, many other people.

Let’s try something.

Grab a pen and paper.

You know how much I love writing things down.

Yes, I do.

It is one of my favorite ways to release things that don’t serve me.

Now, write down all the things that you have said to yourself today, that weren’t so nice.

I am sure that you could also write down things that someone else has said to you. That were not so nice.

Maybe something that you have packed in your bookbag from years ago.  YEARS ago. You know those things or situations that made you feel terrible and you just held on to them.

You didn’t release them, and just carried them around.

We will talk about that in a bit.

Write down all these statements, feelings, words, whatever it is.  I like to set a timer for this at times for maybe five minutes.

Light a candle.

Grab your favorite essential oil.

Maybe listen to music.

And Just PURGE on paper.

When you are done.

Take a few deep breaths.

I love taking three deep breaths.

I then take that paper and throw it away.

This exercise is one that I do often, sometimes a few times a day.

Now back to the things that we pack in our book bag that we carry.

We tend to pack things in a bag throughout the day.  Things such as moments, situations, words, difficult people, the list goes on.  Most of the time we do this with things that are negative and don’t feel good.

I suggest dealing with each situation as it happens and not holding on to it.

If there is something that you can’t unpack, it is ok to ask someone to help you.

There is no shame in asking for help.  It is a sign of courage and strength.

I ask that you do something daily to relieve your stress.

The reason is that waiting for a day off or the right moment, only allows for things to pile up. Stress to pile up on you, and that is no good.

Find something that makes you feel good and do that daily.

For more inspiration, and tips, you can find me at Mindfulness for First Responders on Facebook & 

https://anchor.fm/wellnessforyou

Stay safe friends.

Photo credit Evan Morrell @evanestatelawn