Thoughts on the mindfulness practice of labelling thoughts and feelings. Labelling any planning, memories and fantasy. But what is fantasy?
Show Notes
In mindfulness we can use the practice of labelling the different thoughts that pop up, for example; that’s a memory, that’s a plan, that’s a fantasy but really, isn’t everything that is not present fantasy? You can probably agree thoughts about the future are fantasy but what about memory..
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In mindfulness we can use the practice of labelling the different thoughts that pop up, for example; that’s a memory, that’s a plan, that’s a fantasy but really, isn’t everything that is not present fantasy? You can probably agree thoughts about the future are fantasy but what about memory..
When you have a memory you recreate it and it’s a little different every time it’s not like you are accessing bites on a computer hard drive. In fact, ‘findings from basic psychological research and neuroscience studies indicate that memory is a reconstructive process that is susceptible to distortion’. 1. The Neuroscience of Memory: Implications for the Courtroom Joyce W. Lacy and Craig E. L. Stark
Especially when emotion is involved in memories; regarding their research on memory, psychology professor, Brandy Bessette-Symons, states that ‘our research fails to find that emotion enhances recognition memory accuracy and instead finds that the most robust influence is elevated false memory for emotional material’. 2. Brandy Bessette-Symons, Associate Professor of Psychology, Ithaca College
You can imagine how labelling unhelpful thoughts that spring up in the mind as fantasy can help if you’re worrying about the future or ruminating about the past. Labelling is a type of distancing. You are observing the thoughts rather than being taken along with them.
But imagine how powerful this could be if you had a daily mindfulness practice to strengthen it. If you were to really create a ritual, you could label unhelpful thoughts and feelings and drop out of them instantly.
Now disputing your thoughts can feel threatening, like you would be trusting yourself less but in fact you will feel stronger in yourself because you are less easily pulled into worry by a stray thought or a feeling. And by allowing emotions about the thought to flow though you are not carrying them with you so you can become less reactive in life.
French Psychologist and early hypnotist, Emile Coué noted that ‘When the imagination and will power are in conflict, are antagonistic, it is always the imagination which wins, without any exception’.
I’m pretty sure there’s some areas in life in which you are already plenty motivated to make some changes but where is more will gonna get you? Sometimes we try too hard and we don’t trust ourselves enough.
We are always giving ourselves a hard time for not having enough will power or being strong enough but what about working on disputing unhelpful imagination with mindfulness?
In future I’ll be writing more about how to so this and how to use positive imagination, a major ingredient in hypnotherapy and guided meditation. [Join my newsletter or subscribe to my podcast to stay connected]