Changing our brain with our mind, from a Christian perspective

[all4peace]

I was told about Dr. Caroline Leaf, a doctor specializing in mental health, the brain, the mind, and transforming our brains with our minds, all from a christian and biblical perspective. I have found her books, YouTube videos and podcasts absolutely fascinating. And as I look back over my journey, I resonate strongly with what she is teaching.

I have found within myself, and seen in others traumatized by PD behaviors, an unhealthy urge to keep talking about it, to get stuck in toxic shame spirals, to focus on the damage and damaged people. I think this is all entirely understandable. We need to be heard, to be believed, to know that it mattered, that we matter.

And yet at some point I felt within myself the need to heal, the move beyond this, to grow.

Dr. Caroline Leaf is really skilled at tying faith and science together to teach us how vital it is that we manage our thought lives, that it literally impacts our mental and physical health. I highly recommend all her forms of teaching--podcast, YouTube, books. Here's a link to 4 talks she does on detoxing our minds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9UtL9_2jZA&t=2s

I hope someone else finds this helpful.

[coyote]

Working on the book Sermon On the Mount by Fox. Jesus was the first Cognitive Behavior Therapy theorist. The power we have over our thoughts and changing our thoughts change our feeling and thus our actions.

[Danden]

I started looking at the videos in the link.  Thank you!  I found it very interesting as well and it got me thinking.  Then yesterday I went to church, cause it was Ash Wednesday, and while there I was praying and came to a new realization about forgiveness and finding peace within myself, letting go of things.  I think it was the video, and the beginning of Lent that helped me there.  Thanks.

[all4peace]

Wow, coyote, never thought of it that way!

Danden, that's great!

I should clarify--I'm sure I'll re-focus on the negatives many, many times again as I continue on this journey. I'm just glad that I can now remind myself that I'm causing actual brain injury, process the negative memory/emotion/thought and try to find a healthier view instead.

[coyote]

It's kinda like running a marathon. Running a marathon is simple; you put one foot in front of the other and run. But it is not easy. It takes a lot of preparation and training. Similar to training our minds to focus on positive thoughts. It is simple but not always easy. 

[bloomie]

all4peace - Thanks for sharing this series of sermons from Dr. Caroline Leaf. Her teaching and theories of the mind/body/spirit connection are life changing and filled with hope.

[openskyblue]

It's no sermon on the mount, but I've been experimenting with affirmation tapes. Actually, as I walk to the subway each morning, I listen to  tape on the affirmation podcast. I pick one that resonates with where I am,  what I need, etc. and listen to it every morning for at least 2 weeks.

One of the things that was really dogging me was this constant fearful feeling that I was somehow in trouble.  I was just walking through life feeling like I was in trouble. I didn't even always know what the "it" was that I was in trouble for. It was one of those things that I think comes from CPTSD and living for years with a sociopath. I felt it was interfering with how I communicated with others and saw the world. So, I listened to a podcast that reinforced the message that I am able -- able to complete my work, make good decisions, understand and control my feelings, not obsess about things, transition from one activity to another, handle money, etc. I gave that affirmation podcast a month to sink in with daily listening. I noticed around the end of that month that things were feeling easier at work. Suddenly, coworkers were telling me how much they valued my opinion. In my personal life, I was able to step back from an old friend who is always steeped in drama -- and not feel guilty about that.  After a month, that "oh no I'm in trouble" feeling had almost vanished from my daily life. When it pops up now, it's easy to see it and realize it's just an old habit, not a reality.

I really do believe that our neural pathways cut their own grooves in our cognition -- and can trap us in negative thinking, fear, short sightedness. Jesus was indeed trying to get us to look differently at the world -- so it was more a place of compassion and helping others rather than a place to run and hide from vengeance and retribution. Some of his best lessons where the ones he provided through stories about people, their behavior, how they changed their thinking/behavior, how their lives improved.

[Mary]

I have found within myself, and seen in others traumatized by PD behaviors, an unhealthy urge to keep talking about it, to get stuck in toxic shame spirals, to focus on the damage and damaged people.

Thank you for this post allforpeace.  I do this, dwelling on past decisions and should I go back and apologize , etc. For example, was I wrong to virtually cut off friends and family to save my marriage to uPDh?  I feel that if I don't figure out the past, how can I do better in the future? But on the other hand, the past is the past, and the negative thinking isn't healthy.

Mary

[all4peace]

Mary, I want to be really careful with this. I think we need to look inside ourselves to figure out if we're doing the kind that is necessary to figure it out, or if we're stuck in doing damage. I certainly would not tell someone else which is which for their life. For me, it was time to focus on better things.

[midnyteblu]

Dr Leaf's teachings have been really helpful to me. I do the 21-Day Detox program regularly, and it's really helped me to take control of the racing thoughts and ruminating.

She explains neuroscience and neuroplasticity in an easily - digestable way. How negative thoughts, painful thoughts, are actual physical structures within the brain that are malleable, and can be destroyed at the root and removed. How those negative thoughts can be replaced with the truths of the Word, nurtured, developed, and grown, like seeds. So that you have a whole new crop of healthy, life - giving thoughts that have overtaken the negative, destructive ones. And this new crop of thoughts start to change your life.

It's definitely a process. It takes work. But Dr. Leaf has it down to a science, literally. The same 5 steps, everyday, for 7-10 minutes. It's brief, yet powerful, and really does cause change. 

[Mary]

Oh my goodness this is good. I've started watching Dr. Leaf's videos. I can't wait to learn more. I love the Lord of the Rings analogy of Sam and Frodo-- that I cannot carry your ring (sin problems), but I can carry/encourage you as you deal with them. Reminds me of Galatians 6:1 that says both to bear one another's burdens, yet every man must bear his own burden. There is so much hope here.
Mary

[all4peace]

midnyteblu, thank you for such a succinct explanation of her program! I love that you've been using it and it works for you.

Mary, it is so hopeful!