Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Eric from the one You Feed Again,
Speaker 1: recording another mini episode. I am recording from a remote location.
Speaker 1: I am in Upstate New York at Camp g LP
Speaker 1: for Good Life Project. It's something that Jonathan Fields. He's
Speaker 1: a guest we had on a few weeks ago. It's
Speaker 1: a camp he puts on up here, and it's been
Speaker 1: pretty fun. And I've been interviewing a lot of different
Speaker 1: people shorter interviews that will start sharing here over the
Speaker 1: next couple of months. So last week we talked about
Speaker 1: rumination and how negative rumination can be, how self reinforcing
Speaker 1: it is, and that the best strategy to avoid ruminating
Speaker 1: is to give your brain something to concentrate on. So
Speaker 1: we want to stop the rumination as soon as it starts,
Speaker 1: because it feeds on itself, it creates stronger neural pathways,
Speaker 1: and we're more likely to do it again. So the
Speaker 1: most important thing is simply divert your brain in some way.
Speaker 1: And we talked last week about whatever it is will work.
Speaker 1: But there are some strategies, at least for me, that
Speaker 1: seem to be i'd call them more positive concentration strategies
Speaker 1: that I use. So I'll talk about a couple of
Speaker 1: general ones that are out there, and then I'll also
Speaker 1: talk about a couple that I like a lot that
Speaker 1: I've found to be pretty interesting. So a real basic
Speaker 1: one is to simply try and count backwards, so from
Speaker 1: a hundred to one will give your brain something to
Speaker 1: concentrate on and will build your mental strength a little bit.
Speaker 1: You can also start trying to count backwards with a
Speaker 1: different interval, say by three, so you get the idea
Speaker 1: and um. A couple other exercises that are interesting is
Speaker 1: one is to find an object an apple, uh tree,
Speaker 1: a bass guitar which I happen to be staring at,
Speaker 1: and just really focus in on it and try and
Speaker 1: under you know, really notice and notice what it looks like.
Speaker 1: And then the next step you can take from that
Speaker 1: is to close your eyes and try and vision what
Speaker 1: you were just looking at. So those are all concentration
Speaker 1: exercises that are going to build your concentration and are
Speaker 1: going to get your mind off of rumination. A couple
Speaker 1: of my very favorite ones, though, I think, combine an
Speaker 1: element of positivity along with concentration. So one of them
Speaker 1: I do I call alphabet gratitude, and I start with
Speaker 1: the letter A and I try and think of something
Speaker 1: that I am grateful for that starts with the letter A,
Speaker 1: so being alive, so there's a Now I go on
Speaker 1: to be what would be be? And I think and
Speaker 1: I go, well, beansy, my dog bean z. And then
Speaker 1: I would go on to see what am I grateful
Speaker 1: for that starts with a C, Chris, etcetera. So that
Speaker 1: is a fun way to do, and it gets challenging,
Speaker 1: and if I do it, I try and think of
Speaker 1: different things. But it is a really great way to
Speaker 1: get my brain off of negative thoughts and onto positive thoughts.
Speaker 1: The thing about for me with rumination is that it's
Speaker 1: really easy to say, well, if you're thinking negative things,
Speaker 1: just think positive things, but that doesn't really tend to
Speaker 1: work because the brain really wraps itself around those things.
Speaker 1: So we have to give the brain something to do
Speaker 1: that it can really grasp onto and hold onto, and
Speaker 1: that's what the concentration does. But then by also adding
Speaker 1: in the gratitude piece, it seems to really work well
Speaker 1: for me because if I'm really feeling lousy and I
Speaker 1: just start trying to think about gratitude and gratefulness, it
Speaker 1: doesn't really Before I know it, I'm back on the
Speaker 1: negative thinking. So the the having us uh the letters
Speaker 1: and a path really keeps it going for me. The
Speaker 1: other one that I like to do, and I sometimes
Speaker 1: do it along with the alphabet gratitude, or I can
Speaker 1: do it separately, is to try and think of a
Speaker 1: song I like that begins with every letter of the alphabet,
Speaker 1: so and then try and get a little of that
Speaker 1: song in my head, sing it a little bit into
Speaker 1: my head, and it just gets me thinking about that.
Speaker 1: And I love music so much that again it's bringing
Speaker 1: some positive feelings along with the concentration. So that's a
Speaker 1: very it's a very short episode. I don't have a
Speaker 1: lot of time, but those are a couple of techniques
Speaker 1: that really really work well for me to get out
Speaker 1: of rumination, to get my brain something to concentrate on,
Speaker 1: and also reinforce some positive feelings at the same time.
Speaker 1: So um, hopefully those will be helpful to you and
Speaker 1: I will talk with you soon. Bye.