When you are facing a high level of stress, talking is beneficial. As well as writing.
These exercises give you the power to free up your mind from the negative. It helps remove the thought loops you can end up with.
A tool used for a long time
Hawaians tribes, in the Pacific Ocean, were reported to use this technic since ages. They all gather on a regular basis, to share and forgive.
Journaling is also used since the 16/17th centuries, as a reflective tool.
This is a mechanism that we tend to forget, but talking to someone else or writing down thoughts is a powerful way to create awareness and step back.
Why is that?
Because, naming our feelings, in words, reduces the response of our primitive part of the brain and activates the brain part that’s able to be more deliberate in our actions.
It gives us the ability to watch us think (meta thinking). This tool is very helpful to identify thought patterns we can have, and put them in perspective, to understand our thought errors and change them.
While talking, this can be done thanks to the receiver who acts as a mirror (a therapist or a coach). She/he reflects on what was said, to help you see your thoughts and look at them.
While writing, you can download your thoughts on paper and read them back. Asking yourself open questions (what, how, why) and answering on paper again is helping to explore on these thoughts.
A pre-requisite to change
Once these thoughts are identified, it is important to look at the results we get when we think them. The main question is: is this thought useful for me, the results I want to get in my life?
If not, it is a key for you to start exploring new ways of interpreting your life.
• How can I think about x, y, z that will help me with my goal?
• What is the opportunity there?
This is a powerful tool to make you move forward in your life.
