S1 E5: The Mind Part One
In this episode we explore the mind through learning about one of the most effective ways to improve negative thinking patterns; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
CBT is a form of psychological therapy that focuses on helping people learn how to deal with negative thought patterns in a natural and drug-free way. CBT has been shown to be equally as effective, or better than, drugs and other therapies for the following conditions:
Addictions
Anger
Anxiety & Depression
Panic attacks & Phobias
Stress
We talk about CBT here in a series on spirituality because in order to be able to move to a higher level of spiritual development, we need to learn how to identify our negative thoughts, STOP them, and then raise them towards more positive thinking.
We look at how to do that using the most common negative thought patterns:
Filtering Polarized thinking Overgeneralizing Jumping to conclusions Magnifying or minimizing Personalization Blaming
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Tools
Breath and muscle relaxation work – calms down our body and our mind so we can focus on what exactly we are thinking and can improve our thoughts.
Journaling – writing down our thoughts greatly helps us to identify our patterns.
Summary:
Thoughts are not facts
You can control your thoughts
You can STOP negative thoughts
You can turn negative thoughts into more positive ones
Thoughts affect your emotions – they affect how you feel
You thoughts and emotions affect your behaviours