--->>> OTT --- Old Thought Thoughts! <<<---

[SourceShield]

Greetings!

This post is about LIMITING-BELIEFS, or as me and my brother Matt now call them, Old Thought Thoughts - OTT.

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This post will most likely not appeal to many people, because I am writing about our beliefs that we have about life and ourselves, that we all have had for much of our life.

Our beliefs are personal, and yet oddly the 'same' as well.

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There is a school of thought that teaches us that when we identify the OTT i.e. I am unlovable.

Relate to the OTT, rather than from it.

We can then release the attachment to the OTT, as well as the aversion to the OTT.

For example -

A child is told that they are no good, useless and worthless, every other day.

-sadly, this is a story often told, by many.

As this child grows a set of OTT have been programmed into the mind-body of the now grown adult-child.

I am no good.

I am useless.

I am worthless.

etc etc etc

The adult-child now has an attachment to the OTT.

But also you would see an aversion to those OTT as well.

I am no good <- the attachment.

And, I hate that I am no good <- the aversion. The judgement for having the OTT in the first place, keeps us attached to the OTT.

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Not all beliefs are limiting.

All beliefs are fluid.

They are mutable - liable to change, as all things in existence are!

But...

How do we release the OTT?

Thats what we're most interested in!.

I am going to share a few things of how I am learning to release all of the OTT that once ruled my life, and would love to read yours as well!.

1) Refer to the OTT being in the past. If we keep on affirming the OTT in the present moment, it stays in the present moment. By writing and talking about the OTT being in the past, youre correcting the memory. REWIRE!

2) I AUGMENT positive memories. Whatever they are, whenever they happened. This is why I actively look for things to be thankful and grateful for. Appreciation, heals! And thats now science...if youre interested in the research about this, let me know!

3) I have learned to ask for help, and to RECEIVE it graciously, whenever it comes to me. And, it always does.

4) I SMILE and LAUGH more. Theres research for this too!

5) I have changed my eating habits. I EAT WELL now. I am now on the Guts and Psychology Syndrome foodplan GAPS. I used to be obese. No more.

6) I EXPRESS in healthy ways - dance, music, write..

7) I take time out to LOVE - my family, friends, my dog bundy, nature..

REMEMBERING to LOVE is a biggie!.

And, whatta 'bout you?...

[SourceShield]

Hi Mary,

Yes please, share as much about meditation as youd like.

I enjoyed your post!.

Im sure others will as well!.

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I also enjoy the more expressive forms of meditation.

For those that havent quite got the handle on the more 'still and silent' forms, there are other types as well.

1) Walking Meditation

2) Laughter Meditation

2) Smile Yoga

3) Chanting

4) SoundBaths

5) ChakraDance Meditation

6) CryingMeditation

When facilitated correctly, these forms of meditation are a great way for people to meditate, without having to sit and be still.

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I facilitate LaughterMeditation Workshops.

I would like to share one, Laughter Meditation Exercise, with you -

-LAUGHTER MEDITATION-

Say, "HA HA HA HA HA..." - over and over and over and over again, right to the end of the breath.

Following the cyclic-breathing technique that I mentioned in an earlier post.

Just keep repeating - HA HA HA HA HA...over and over again.

Switch it up and mix in some, HO HO HO, and, HE HE HE...you will feel odd, at first, but its worth it!

What we're doing is generating laughter, and exercising the laughter muscles.

For the body-mind, interestingly enough, it doesnt actually matter whether the laugh is 'genuine' or 'generated', the body will still release all the feel-good chemicals and go through all the same neurological processes, that it would, if it were experiencing genuine, and spontaneous laughter.

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Take a look at - Laughter Yoga by Dr Madan Kataria on Youtube.

There are other Laughter Yoga and Meditation videos on Youtube as well, for those that need a visual aid to help with this.

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My personal favourite style of Meditation is my everyday life.

How we go about our day, from day to day, can be seen, with a shift of perspective, as a meditation.

But this takes a commitment of time and sincere practise.

I feel that 'sincerity' is a really important factor in all of this, finding the sincerity within to commit to ones own holistic health, and well being, is crucial for surviving these 'modern' times.

When we can genuinely trust our own sincerity to be healthy and well, there is no stopping us.

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Mary, I have a few different mantra, that I like to repeat, what are some of yours?

What does everyone say, and repeat as mantra, or even affirmations for their life?

Repetition of positively worded statements have now been proven to work as a way to upload NPT, just takes sincere practise!.

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We can do it.

I believe in us all.

MuchyLoved.

[1113]

Good morning,

I LOVE relaxation- meditation.

Helps me everyday.

Sometimes I do go to sleep.....I think because I'm so tried. Other times I don't. My focus all over the shop all tne time.

I just bring myself back everytime.

I enjoyed that post a lot.

Please write more White Rose about technique

I would love to learn more.

Have a great day all

Matt.

[Doolhof]

Hi Everyone,

This is a wonderfully helpful thread in many ways. I need to rethink my thinking...

Thanks to all the chat about meditation, I am going to place a chair under a tree in the garden and use that place for meditation, praying, mindfulness or just sitting quietly thinking of positive things to do for the next couple of months.

Thanks all for your energy, sharing and encouragement.

Cheers and positive thoughts, from Mrs. Dools

[Kazzl]

Hi yellownanna - oh, I understand what you're saying! I'm a non-practising alcoholic and even though I've been sober well over five years, I am still beset by guilt and the thought that I'm a bad person and bad mother because of stuff I did or didn't do when I was drinking. Even though I also now know that bipolar folks have a very strong propensity towards addiction, so in some ways it wasn't my fault (yes it was).

So, something I've started trying to do is whenever an 'I'm a bad person' thought pops into my head unannounced, is to consciously say to myself I'm a good person and then think of something I've done recently that was good - even if it's just that I did some housework, or posted to someone on here, or bought my hubby a treat.

We need to find and articulate the good in us and, as Kaitoa mentioned, reinforce it with an action. Override those thoughts of being bad or wrong or all those other negative words we use about ourselves in our heads.

I'm going to keep trying - maybe you could join me?

Very best wishes

Kaz

[White_Rose]

Good Morning Everyone

I hope you all had a restful night and now out of bed.😊

I don't know if any of you folk are interested in reading. I find it backs up much of the teaching I have received. So for mindfulness try this book. Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. I think the title says it all.

Kaitoa I would love to know how your psych combined CBT with mindfulness. I can see the connection and I agree with the principle. I would love to know how you put it into practice. I am a bit of a fan about CBT but conventional teaching means we need to stop and make conscious decisions about what to do next. With daily meditation I find many of these decisions easier to make because we are resolving many of the conflicts and perceptions about ourselves internally. So when encounter our negative thoughts it becomes easier to recognise them and being more at peace with our selves we can make conscious changes. Is this what you were taught Kaitoa?

There are many different ways to meditate. Sitting and looking at the view in front of you, allowing the peace of the day to settle into your body is great. I do this when I am 'itchy' meaning I cannot settle to a task of any sort, concentration is shot and I may also be a bit cranky or upset. I sit on my patio and just let the day settle in round me, listen to the birds and watch as they become accustomed to my presence. This is also a mindfulness practice.

My 'formal' meditation is called Christian Meditation. It's a world wide practice. This is the Australian web site. http://www.christianmeditationaustralia.org/ It has been practised for several thousand years and is the meditation Jesus practised, hence the title. It is of course not exclusively Christian. The method is as I described above. Using music and a set period of silence helps us to start meditating and keeps us there for a period of time. While you can stop meditating at any time it is beneficial to stay for the complete silent period.

This is because you will continuing to make the daily commitment to your meditation time, even when it feels you cannot concentrate. I know if I skip meditation for a couple of days it really shows in how I feel. For those who may be a little put off by the word Christian, please be assured it's not a sneaky way to get you to go to church. In my meditation group there are only three people who regularly attend church, but we all practise meditating.

Word limit again. Talk later.

Mary

[SourceShield]

Morning Folks!

Theres a bit of delay, with replies.

I have posted what I have re: rumination, above, and have gone through the other posts on this thread, so far, simply to offer up, what I have found works for me.

Hopefully everyone here as well, can offer up what youve learned and are learning as well.

I will wait for any questions that may come through re: the above posts.

Before I launch on...dont wanna get too ahead of myself again!

Because I did also want to discuss what Kaz mentioned as well re: addiction to a certain kind of sadness etc.

I usually post more at night, and sometimes it takes a while to upload.

But I will always get back to you.

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Mary - MiCBT - Relies heavily on the works of Kabat-Zinn, and other mindfulness 'teachers', but in a cognitive behavioral therapy setting.

We would usually start the session with a DASS self report.

Depression - Anxiety - Stress Scale.

I would self-assess, and then we would practise mindfulness - the body scanning etc.

Then I would describe how that was for me - in each session the results would be different.

Somedays I could feel the tension in my hands for example, I clench my fists when I am stressed <- Fight mode.

We would then discuss, as you would in any therapy session, what has come up.

I found this to be very effective.

It gave me an outlet to talk about the stuff, and then technique and practical application, to take home with me.

My psych was the best!.

If I was a wealthier man, I would pay her to be with me full time!

But, thats just not so...and of course, not really realistic.

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I personally have no issue with Christian meditative styles or non-christian...as long as it brings us no harm, not to me nor you, nor anyone else!.

I believe that its all Spirit and Source, doing their thing for all of us to learn from.

We live in a diverse world, therefore our teachings must be diverse as well, for all the diverse people.

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As mentioned, I will post more tonight, and hopefully itll be there in the morning, and we can discuss more.

If anyone had any questions, please dont be shy!

And, please keep on sharing.

Im grateful to have this thread, to come back to, as I too upload NPT.

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NPT 29/11/16

"My body is healthy; my mind is brilliant; my soul is tranquil".

"A river of compassion washes away my anger and replaces it with love".

All is as it must be, for me to keep moving forward.

All is well.

And so it is.

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MuchLove&Health&Wellness

Kaitoa

[1113]

Hi Mary,

I have to apologies. I didn't fully read your post. I will come back to it later. I don't want to interrupt. Many thanks.

Todays OTT

Seeing my Dr ( specialist)

Old thought:

Usually this brings up a massive amount of anxiety. Why? Its the questions...remembering stuff I don't want to. Its a big amount of doubt that my mind raises all related to MD. Or a loop affect. Im like a dog chasing its tail.

New thought:

This dr is a professional. He is only trying to help me. I am worth it. The anxiety is not going to control my thoughts, I am going to tell him what is "truthfully" going on in my head to the best of my ability. I will be aware that I freeze, and I will try and channel that into expression. I will SNORT and laugh and breathe. I am ready to move on with my life.

I feel good.

I am happy with who I am.

Truthfully

Thankyou all.

Matt.

[SourceShield]

MuchLove Brother!

Everything is gonna be fine for you today, with the Doc!

You're confident and you're mindful.

You're here and present.

Let us know how you go!.

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Hey Everyone!

I wanted to leave this thought with you all..

We must practise being here and now, being present, being mindful...being whatever you may call it...calm, collected, grounded, aware...we must practise this practise when we don't need to practise.

Practise calmness when you are calm.

Because when life aint so calm, we arent able to 'practise'.

We just have to 'do it', and get on with it!.

Thats when we have to APPLY what we have practised.

So the practise happens when we dont need to practise.

When you're nervous or frustrated or angered by something or someone, this is when you want to be able to call upon, all that you have been 'rehearsing' in your day to day life.

It takes a kind of sincerity, courage, and acceptance that most of us have to really 'get real' with.

Are you worthy? <-insert whatever word is appropriate for you.

If not, why not?

Are you willing to let that OTT go?

If not, why not?

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Heres an exercise that I have learnt to practise.

Simply name all that you can feel and see and smell and hear and taste.

-I can feel my bum on the seat

- I feel my feet on the floor

- I feel the cool air on the fan on my body

- I hear the voice inside my head saying these words as I type them

- I smell coconut oil and cinnamon

and so on -

Name it all.

The trick is not judge what comes up...

i.e.

I hear a voice in my head telling me that I am a pathetic loser...

I 'just' hear that voice, thats all - its just a thought...I have millions and trillions of thoughts everyday!

This is just one thats floating through.

An OTT, passing through...

Its just a sound-bite.

Perhaps a memory-image with it as well.

Or...

I feel anxious about going to a meeting with strangers...

Its just a feeling <- a very, very, very,very uncomfortable feeling at times

But, if I dont judge it, and just keep relating to it, rather than from it...this 'feeling' does pass.

It is also just a sound-bite.

With a memory-image attached.

I also feel...hungry...or horny...or 'nothing'....or whatever...

These are all 'just' feelings.

I no longer judge myself for 'having' feelings.

I accept that some feelings, feel good, and others do not.

All feeling of the feeling IS valid.

It is the response to the feeling that counts.

Thats RESPONSIBILITY.

Lets discuss...

MuchLove

[1113]

Afternoon All,

I pushed through a barrier today.

I channelled my anxiety.

I couldn't stop talking.

The dr doesn't want to see me for 6months. Probably cos i wouldn't shut up. Joke. Hahaha

I have my boy by my side, dog at my feet, friends and family who understand me! NTT

This is the memory I am going to keep!

Thankyou warrior

Thankyou BB community

Happily signing off for today.

Chat tomz all

Peace

Matt.

I changed a belief.

[SourceShield]

MuchLove my brother.

So happy for you.

You have a great day with the young lad, and the dog there at your feet.

Keep up the greatness!.

PeaceOut.

Kaitoa