Friday 24 February 2017

upward spiral

As much as the brain choreographs that neurotic self-destructive waltz by interpreting dwelling on negative thoughts, worry and anxiety on par with positive emotions and mindful behavior, we are just as capable of flipping the script—so to speak.
Feelings of shame, guilt and apprehension are the stuff of the chemical rewards that the brain craves as much as pride and bravery (we don’t have words for all emotional foils), and the conscious mind prefers any engaging activity to none at all. Writing for The Big Think, Tony Birrer offers four practical tips for little mental nudges—of course we all know this stuff already but the small reminders can keep us going without becoming dogmatists and can sometimes be eye-opening—that we can adopt to help side-step the cycles that get us in a funk.