Working With Your Mind

Anxiety and depression are thinking disorders – Dr. Daniel Amen

It’s your mind’s job to create all kinds of thoughts. Most are useless, untrue, or even crazy. Typically this is the sequence: Your mind creates thoughts; thoughts produce emotions; emotions drive the behavior. Did you know that your brain naturally goes toward negative thinking? Since the root of anxiety and depression is taking the thoughts your mind creates seriously, you need to work with your mind and your thoughts.

Have you noticed how it makes no difference whether you worry about something or not? It doesn’t change reality at all. Worrying about it or believing in the negative thoughts only causes suffering.

Just observe your thoughts without judgment and without taking them seriously. All kinds of thoughts will come. Look at it with an attitude of “Oh, okay, it’s just a thought. No big deal.”

The work is to look at thoughts for what they really are, just thoughts without any substance, like clouds passing through the sky. This is what it means to work with your mind. It sounds easy but it’s hard to do. It requires practicing this every day.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.