I'm confused about stretching....

[Northwood]

Lots to think about here. (Surely some irony in that, given the nature of the thread.) I can't write long just now--want to follow up later. But this point here about overthinking really gets at something important. The tool you use to heal yourself is the tool that messes you, or the habitual use of that brain, getting out of the rut and using a new method that is not the method that got you in the rut in the first place. That's the ticket. So I've got some "thoughts" on that (following other kinds of inner wisdom other than intellect). It's all interesting, with paths that work out and others that don't. Keep going back to Heath Ledger's Joker "Why So Serious!" as a way to remind myself not to get too grim, to be light. Anyway, appreciate that comments. Look forward to following up. Helpful stuff!

 

[BloodMoon]

It is in human nature to obsess, to focus, to worry, to fear. Those who were fortunate to be born on a different side of the spectrum, who live in the moment, worrying only about what happens today, not saving a buck for the future, not thinking about saying a wrong or offensive word, not feeling a hormonal rush of panic over scary things that may never happen anyway - they live their lives mostly pain free but facing other problems that we may never encounter. It is nearly impossible to have the best of both worlds, but we can strive to do better.

Beautifully summed up imho, TG957. Oh, how I wish I were 'born on a different side of the spectrum'! And I have often wondered if it's possible to sit somewhere comfortably between the two camps without the fearful part of me blaming the non-fearful part of me when things go wrong.

 

[Northwood]

I ran across this 3 minute video by Rick Hanson https://www.rickhanson.net/change-your-brain/ (How Can We Change Our Brains for the Better? - Dr. Rick Hanson) in which he discusses how to "change the brain for the better" and why most self-help approaches come up short. He doesn't go into details about how to sustain positive change, but the way to do so appears to be bound up in the idea of practice and reinforcement: once you have an insight or a means, then you need to develop a practice so that the brain can physically change ( and a collateral win, one hopes, is a diminishing of pain). I think that's where his message is headed. Anyway, that's where I feel I am right now: I've been gathering information--learning about how important an authentically positive spirit is--and now I'm at a place where I'm looking for ways to practice it in a conscious way. Enjoying and celebrating the moment, having fun--of course--but also coming up with ways to consciously redirect a lifetime of negative thinking; that's also important. What children are born into is what I have to re-learn.

 

[BloodMoon]

He doesn't go into details about how to sustain positive change, but the way to do so appears to be bound up in the idea of practice and reinforcement: once you have an insight or a means, then you need to develop a practice so that the brain can physically change ( and a collateral win, one hopes, is a diminishing of pain).

Hi @Northwood. I don't know if Dr Hanson has come up with anything new with regard to how to sustain positive change, but the way he's advocated doing it in the past is with what he calls 'Taking in the good'. He explains it succinctly in this blog article https://neurosculptinginstitute.com/take-good-rick-hanson-ph-d/ (How to Take in the Good by: Rick Hanson, Ph.D. - NeuroSculpting® Institute). Also, here's one of the videos he made about it (he's made other similar videos about 'Taking in the good' - also on YouTube).