Self-Care Series: 

The #1 Tool You Need For Your Mental Self-Care

As we mentioned in our previous blog-post, What is Self-Care Anyway?, a lot of people know the WHO and the WHAT of self-care, but not many people know the WHEN, WHY & HOW:

• WHO: YOU!
• WHAT: Self-care is necessary.
• WHEN: Ideally before you know you even need it.
• WHY: If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of others
• HOW: Well that’s more or less the point of this series – so keep reading!

Part of the HOW is knowing what type of self-care you need – physical, mental, emotional, professional, spiritual or relational – and all of us need a little of each one on a consistent basis to really thrive.

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Mental/Psychological Self-Care

This week we’re focusing on mental or psychological self-care – the art of processing your thoughts and activating your ability to choose what you think about. In other words, every thought you allow occupies some amount of mental real estate and that property is EXPENSIVE when you realize how your thoughts affect your words and your life.

I wanted to address this topic first because your mental state is the core of who you are and determines how you experience life. Thus, mental or psychological self-care is really all-encompassing, empowering you in every other area of your life as well.

What if I told you every area of life you’re struggling in could be significantly improved or even completely overcome by addressing your mindset? Don’t believe me? That’s fine – believe Dr. Caroline Leaf instead. She is a cognitive neuroscientist who has been researching the mind-brain connection since the 1980s. She is one of the pioneers in neuroplasticity of the brain – the ability of an individual to change the make-up of his or her brain and, as Leaf discovered, primarily by controlling thought processes.

It’s all in the research!

Did you know that the latest research shows that 75 -98% of all mental and physical illnesses come from our thought life? Pretty crazy when you think about it – no pun intended. As it state’s on Dr. Leaf’s blog,

“Scientists are discovering the precise pathways by which changes in human consciousness (thinking) produce changes in our brain and bodies. This consciousness activates our genes and changes our brain. Science even shows that thoughts, with their embedded feelings, turn sets of genes on and off in complex relationships. We take the facts, experiences and the events of our lives and assign meaning to them through thinking—we are reacting to the events and circumstances of life.”

And here is a great example of one way this negatively impact our lives if we’re not careful how we think,

“So when we make a poor quality thinking decision—i.e. a toxic thought—such as unforgiveness, bitterness or irritation, we change the DNA and subsequent genetic expression affecting the shape of the wiring in our brain in a negative direction. This immediately puts the brain into protect mode and the brain translates these poor quality toxic thoughts as stress. This stress will then manifest itself in our bodies.”

When I first heard this, I didn’t just want to know more – I NEEDED to know more. If my thought life determines SO MUCH about my body, my experiences, MY LIFE – I would be insane to not learn as much as I could about it. So I dove in. And it has changed my life.

So if there’s 1 thing I can recommend for your mental self-care it would be to become a student of Dr. Caroline Leaf’s continually developing revelation on the science of thought. Her new book, Think, Learn, Succeed, is a game changer. But if you’re willing – I’d go all in with these resources as well:

Switch on Your Brain

Think & Eat Yourself Smart

The Perfect You

 

Happy Thoughts!

Right there with ya,

Niki from