Train Your Brain: Lesson One
Individuation
The Process of Individuation is the process by which the conscious and the unconscious within an individual learn to know, respect, and accommodate one another. Man becomes whole, integrated, calm, fertile, and happy when (and only when) the process of individuation is complete, when the conscious and the unconscious have learned to live at peace and to complement one another.
– Carl Jung
Control Your Crazy Thoughts
Train Your Brain Lesson One
Is your mind a raging storm of thoughts that just won’t leave you alone?
Do those thoughts make you anxious or cause worry?
Do they make you feel bad about events in your past?
Do they make you uncertain about your future?
Are they disrupting your life?
Are they just plain making you unhappy?
Does it seem like you are a slave to your brain?
Do you want to be the maser of your brain?
Do you want to learn to control your thoughts?
Then continue reading.
This is lesson one in a series of emails that will teach you how to take control of your thoughts and give yourself the peace of mind that has seemed so elusive to you in the past.
This is the first lesson of ten emails. At the end of this lesson is a link to sign up for the other nine emails. The cost is $9.99. That is 20 cents per email. You will receive a new email every couple of days. This will be the best $9.99 you have ever spent.
If after the 10 emails you don’t agree it was the best $7 you ever spent, we will refund your money 100%, no questions asked.
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This will work. This is going to drastically change how you see and interpret the world. You are going to find a peace of mind like you have never experienced.
How do I know? For almost nine months I suffered, and I mean languished and agonized to a point of deterioration. I was losing my mind.
Your emotions are your body’s reaction to your mind. When your mind completely takes over, all the negative emotions you have suppressed your entire life ravish you in a flood. If you have never experienced it, you can’t understand the complete and utter despair that has found its way into you. You lose all hope. You care about nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing. All you want is for the pain and anguish, both mental and physical, to end. You are suffering. You are suffering at a level you did not know was possible.
This is hard to write.
I guess a part of me is afraid it will bring back the emotions in their full intensity.
I do not want to go through that again.
I would never wish that on anyone.
It is around 3:00 AM, and I am in my bed. It is still dark outside. Thank goodness. I have more time. I am fine—just a little nervous. I am in control. Maybe, just maybe it won’t happen again.
My cat is lying at the foot of my bed. I can hear her purring. Everything is fine. I can get more sleep. But if I sleep, it will come sooner. But I need to sleep.
I do sleep.
It is a little after 5:00 AM. I open my eyes and can see the first rays of the day’s sun spilling through the window. I can hear the morning birds chirping.
Oh no, I think. It’s time again. I can’t do this again.
I tell myself to be calm. Stay calm. There is no reason for worry. It’s not happening yet.
Concentrate on your breathing. Just breathe slowly in and slowly out. Take long, deep breaths in through your nose. Hold it. Release out through your mouth. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Okay, I still feel a little calm. Maybe I can fall back asleep and get another hour’s sleep.
I roll over on my side, still aware of my breathing.
A few minutes pass. And then it’s back!
I can feel it again. It’s not that strong yet. But I can feel it.
No, please, I can’t do this again. Breathe slowly.
I try, but my breathing becomes quick and shallow.
I can feel it getting stronger. It is growing in me. No! Please, No! Stop!
I begin to sweat. My heart is racing. Soon my hair is soaked.
Not again! Not again! Not again!
It happens so fast. I am in a state of sheer terror. Something terrible is going to happen. But I don’t know what it is.
My body hurts. I can’t think. I am trembling. I can’t breathe.
This can’t go on.
Am I losing my mind?
Am I dying?
Perhaps that would be best. This can’t go on. I can’t live like this.
No! Never think like that!
But what do I do?
I don’t know what to do.
I find myself in a fetal position in the corner of my bed, crying. I don’t know what to do! I don’t know what to do. Repeating over and over, I don’t know what to do.
I must face the day, and I can’t. I can’t go through another day like I did yesterday. It is sheer terror. But if I stay in bed, it is sheer terror too.
There is no escape.
What is going to happen? It’s not going to be good. It is going to be bad. My life, as I know it, is over.
It is going to be terrible. Just let it happen. Just get it over with.
No, don’t let it happen. I won’t be able to handle it.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.
Somebody, please help me. Please. I need help.
Nothing is helping. No one is helping.
There is nothing anyone can do to help me.
But then the feeling would start to subside. I could feel myself breathing a little better. I could feel myself gaining a little more control.
The fear was still there. I could still feel the nervousness in every cell in my body. I still didn’t know why. But at least I didn’t feel like I was losing my mind or about to die.
At least I can enjoy the little, tiny release I have been given while it lasts.
I get up and walk into the kitchen and get a glass of water. My hair is still soaked with sweat.
I sit down at the kitchen table and take a few sips of the water. It tastes good. My breathing is still very shallow. I lower my head and rest it in my arms on my table. I am tired. Very tired. But oh, so nervous and afraid.
And then, oh no! No!
It’s building again.
My breathing and heart are racing again.
It’s getting stronger again. It is growing in me again. No! Please, No! Stop!
I am sweating again. I can feel it rolling down the side of my cheek.
Not again! Not again! Not again!
It’s never going to end.
It’s never going to end.
It’s never going to end.
It’s never going to end.
It’s never going to end.
It does end.
It is a huge detox.
For a while, I was at the mercy of my mind. It had me trapped and would not allow me to return to a place where I could access my Higher Self. I was not able to detach myself from my mind and see I was not my mind but the observer of my mind. I could remember the incredible benefits of disconnecting from my mind, but I was beginning to doubt if that would ever happen again. Day after day, week after week, I kept feeling myself fading away, and soon I was sure the person I once was would no longer exist.
It is as though your life has taken a detour, and you find yourself on a path you never expected. A path you falsely assumed you would never find yourself on, and you are convinced that you are never going to get off.
It was completely debilitating. The incapacitating emotion was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I could only sit and stare into space and let my mind ravish me. I would leave the house and drive, not even knowing where I was going. I thought maybe by leaving the house, I would find a little relief. But I didn’t. I usually ended up pulling into a parking lot, and sitting for hours, constantly bombarded by emotions draining the life out of me.
But I did get my life back, and I still exist, and after it is over, you are blessed. You find a place within you where you can go anytime to find a peace you never knew existed. You know a comfort that very few know. What you thought was the end of your life was just the beginning. You begin to see the world in a different light.
You look back on the experience with a sense of peace. That does not mean you want to remember the despair and pain; as I said earlier, that is hard to think about, but you now see the whole picture. You see it as a triumph. You see it as your greatest accomplishment. You see it as the greatest thing that has ever happened to you in your life. You have a strength you didn’t have before. You now know there is nothing you can’t overcome.
It is incredible.
Theses 10 emails are going to give you that peace of mind and strength without you going through the complete torture I did.
One thing you must know for sure is whatever trouble you may be facing it is going to end. The only constant is change. Time cures all wounds. But we can drastically speed up the process.
Let’s learn some things about our thoughts.
Our thoughts are transient, and they will pass right through us unless we decide to hold on to them. Unfortunately, this is what we choose to do, especially when it comes to negative thoughts.
A thought can do us no harm on its own, and we decide which of our thoughts will take control of us.
You need to diffuse your thoughts and separate them from yourself. There are two BIG things you need to realize. You are not your thoughts, and just because you think it does not mean it is true.
You must become the observer of your thoughts.
Try this technique.
When a negative thought enters your mind, accept the thought and then observe and distance yourself from the thought by describing your thought speaking out loud using your name.
For example, if I was worried about my financial future, I may say something like, “Craig is concerned about being able to save enough money to support his family and retire. He is afraid he may have to work his entire life.”
Try this and see what it does to your thoughts.
Always remember thoughts are not facts.
You may have heard the quote, “What you resist, persists.”
You cannot fight with your mind. The more you try to force a negative thought to go away, the stronger it will get. This is a fruitless exercise that will exhaust you and make you feel hopeless.
If I tell you not to think of a pink elephant, your mind instantly sees a pink elephant.
You are not your thoughts. Every day, we all have many crazy thoughts we would never share with ANYONE.
Here is a list of eight universal truths about thoughts by Andrea Bonior, PHD.
This new relationship with your thoughts may not come naturally at first, and it takes time and practice. Make a note of which are more difficult for you to believe than others.
- The experience of having a thought—no matter what it is—is always OK.
- Merely having a thought doesn’t automatically make it true.
- Thoughts are not dangerous. It is how you respond to them that matters.
- Thoughts tend to be fleeting and pass on their own if you let them.
- You can train yourself to observe your thoughts gently and curiously, without harsh judgement of yourself for having them.
- Avoiding or fighting with your negative thoughts will only drain your energy.
- The more you struggle with your thoughts, the sticker they become.
- If you can be flexible in your thinking about your thoughts, you will develop the ability to bend your thinking, rather than letting your thoughts break you.
Create a mental picture of your negative thought.
When you have a negative thought, what are you seeing in your mind?
Do you see a picture in your mind?
Are you in the picture?
Is anyone in the picture?
Can you see a specific place?
Do you see any objects in the picture?
Is it more of an abstract picture with perhaps colors or indescribable forms?
If you can’t clearly see a picture, create your own, representing your negative thought.
Choose an animal, person, or object and put it in a specific location. Add some items to the area. Whatever you want to do, there is no incorrect picture. Remember your creation it will be beneficial in later lessons.
We are going to stop here.
In the next lesson, we will learn about your brain and explain what your brain is doing when you worry. You will be surprised at the calming effect produced by knowing what your brain is doing.
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Continue with lesson two today!