Saturday, February 21, 2015

Day 2 - Brain Detox with Dr. Leaf

So, officially this is Day Two, so you’ll be getting a combined glimpse in this post.  I didn’t do very well with Day One J.  It was a chaotic, out-of-schedule day.  Today feels better so far—but it’s early yet.  I also find it hard to enforce the time discipline she encourages.  I see the power and potential in 7-10 minutes and will be working on that aspect.  Also, the program provides downloads that help me…but you can easily create your own.  Have a place to jot your journal stuff…and keep a Toxic Thought/Active Reach log.  All of which will make more sense as we go on!

I don’t have a solid plan for sharing in a way that may offer benefit, but I’m trusting the Spirit of God to use the effort (you’ll see that fits well with Toxic Thought One).   I will begin by putting this in her format and giving you a glimpse of what that looked like in my mind.  I would love your input and questions!

Thanksgiving, Praise & Worship

I love the distinctions she offered in this spot.  Thankfulness that God cares about the stuff of life is HUGE.  Enjoying the reality that He didn’t leave me here alone to solve everything is sweet.  In Thanksgiving, we seek to know what Toxic Thought the Spirit wants us to work on.  Yesterday for me, it was taking on all things as my responsibility. 

Dr. Leaf speaks of the toxic thoughts as mountains we need to have removed (cool scripture picture there).  Casting that destructive thought aside is exciting.  Visualizing leaving that thought at the throne of God and thanking Jesus for that privilege is cool.

Praise is enjoying the very presence of God.  Phew!  It’s very hard for me to rest on the work of someone else…to receive comfort.  So, in my mind, I enjoyed reaching up for His hand to conquer a mountain and sitting next to Jesus and leaning on Him like John at the Last Supper.  SWEET!

Worship:  the One who made the world in all its beauty, the One who created the Universe…awe at who He is…and how He loves is cool.  (By the way, this is the piece that Leaf reminded us yesterday engages ALL the brain.  It is what releases all those good chemicals that change our entire body…and our soul!)

Gathering Thoughts

Tuning in to the Five Senses is cool!  Quiet focus is not common for me.  How about you?  I tend to receive and react without noticing.  As I did this the last couple days, the noise of a busy home was forefront.  Some physical discomfort wormed its way in…and the weight of a packed schedule plopped itself in my mind too.

Acknowledging the reality of the thoughts has an interesting power. It helps me realize I don’t have to be moved by it.  Leaf says 4-7 thoughts in this brief time period are typical…and that the majority of them will not be ‘heath-ful’ is also typical.  BUT she also says this begins the process of breaking down the wrong thinking.  COOL.

Focused Reflection

We can’t deal with every wrong thought, but the Spirit will elevate one to focus on.  The thoughts we gathered produce ‘feelings’ we need to acknowledge…asking what impact I feel in my body and mind increases awareness.

Yesterday (as I shared early on), mine was an excessive burden for the activities and happiness of others.  Today, the Spirit zeroed in on distracted thinking. That clearly is a branch from yesterday:  assuming others problems means I have multiple things I’m trying to accomplish at one time.  Yesterday, my focus was ‘problem ownership.’  Today, my focus will be on the next most needful thing!

Journal

Now this is supposed to be a 1-2 minute piece on what God is showing in the earlier pieces.  HUGE challenge for me especially as I know in the back of my mind, I’m trying to capture the process to share.  Definitely an extra mountain J.  Because I am wordy, I plan to try to draw what I feel here.  I’m not an artist at all, so this will help me focus. 

Revisit/redesign Thoughts

Leaf explains this piece uses the soul realm to change the body realm.  Our physical brain is designed to obey our mind (remember the soul is mind (thoughts), emotions and will).  Allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our spirit, powers our soul properly.  Cool stuff.

The personal aspect of this piece is kind of being woven throughout the blog post I think.  Becoming aware of thoughts is the step to seeing where they don’t line up to Scriptures we know.  The Truth is our plumb-line and only the Word can show us where we need to be in our thoughts. 

Yesterday, I recognized that Jeremiah 29:11 is true for all…but it is not my responsibility to bring everyone’s good plans about J
Today, this part helped me focus on the reality of things that are needful.  Life does require action BUT my value is in my connection to the Lord.  Being not doing is most needful…then, the actions will flow.

Active Reach

This is the tangible activity (mind or body) to reinforce right-thinking.  The goal is to implement this at least 7 times during the day.  I only managed 3 or 4 yesterday.  My active reach for yesterday was conscious thought that each of us must seek God’s purposes.  No one can do that for another.  I intended to look for God in those situations that stressed me, but I didn’t do that so well.  Today is a new day!


Today I am going to focus on ‘Being.’  I intend to visualize a “B” to remind me and/or trace a “B” on my palm with my finger when I need the reminder.  The next most needful thing will get done J.  Be blessed.  I’d love to hear your progress.  19 days to go!

Daily Disclaimer:  Welcome to my walk through Dr. Caroline Leaf’s 21-day Brain Detox.  This is a mini-glimpse (and filtered by my personal oddities) of her awesome research.  It is no where near a replacement for her program.  I hope you can enjoy the program personally. The program includes extensive explanations, videos and follow-up support.  I believe it is a good value for the $29.00.  The sign on site is here:  http://21daybraindetox.com/

No comments:

Post a Comment