Welcome to the first instalment of my free 8-day Video Series in the lead up to the launch of my new eCourse – The Inner Critic to Inner Coach online training. Every day for the next 8 days I’ll be talking about an area of your life of significance, and how negative self-talk either causes or perpetuates that problem. And then, importantly, a quick-and-dirty instant solution that you can use right away to make a difference to yourself. In this case, one that brings you back to calm.
**NB: Just to be really clear and keep everyone watching 100% safe, this is only relevant to minor, low-level anxiety issues like nervousness or small and short freak-outs/panic. If you have major anxiety issues or any kind, major panic attacks or any unresolved trauma, please seek more appropriate help for those issues as they will need a broader spectrum of help and support.**
Your self-talk and your feelings/emotions are inextricably linked, and especially so for anxiety. This is what we call a cycle of bio-feedback. You will either get a direct anxious feeling first, or a self-talk though first. Either way, your self-talk will at some point notice the anxious feeling, and start talking to you about it – You’re nervous, they’re going to notice….. you’re freaking out, OMG what am I going to do? Oh shit, now I’m even more nervous….God, this is so stupid….And so on.
This increases the level of adrenaline in the body and sends you further into anxiety loops. I talk about this in much more detail in my Imperfect Parent eBook.
In a key piece of neuroscience, it was found you can you break this cycle deliberately. You simply notice what sensations or thoughts are going on inside of you, and describe them to yourself in as much detail as possible, using your internal dialogue. The key component that was crucial in the success of changing where the blood was orientated in the brain was if you addressed yourself in the 3rd person, and used your own name. So for example, saying to yourself “OK, I’m freaking out here…” didn’t have the same affect as saying “Charlotte, you’re freaking out… your hands are sweaty, your heart rate is up..”.
This successfully sent the blood away from the Amygdala, stopping Amygdala hijack, and back into your Prefrontal Cortex, your logic and reason centre. I had reason to test this two or three days after hearing about it on the radio when I physically reacted to eating some pineapple and started freaking out, and within 2-3 minutes my nervous system was back to normal again.
All you have to do is use your own name to address yourself in the 3rd person, and describe what is currently happening in your body and thoughts, and your nervous system will re-set itself and bring you back to calm. I talk about this neuroscience in more detail in the eCourse.
Any questions? Please let me know!
Otherwise – try it, it really works!
Charlotte x
P.s. See you tomorrow for How To Make The Right Decisions (no more self-doubt).