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Greetings!
Welcome to The Mental Gym monthly newsletter filled with quick tips designed to help keep you emotionally healthy.
If you are receiv ing this, you've gotten acquainted with Bill Benson, LMFT or Phillip McCulley, MFTI through community or therapy. Both Bill and Phillip are clinicians/coaches excited about sharing their simple, nuts and bolts approaches to getting and staying emotionally fit.
Please take a moment to enjoy Bill and Phillip's workouts for the month of June.
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Bill's tip for June: Pull the plug on your thinking
"What do I want to be when I grow up?" "How am I going to make my mark in society?" "Who is going to sweep me off my feet and carry me into the sunset?"
From childhood we are plotting and planning: Our noggins are busy processing and predicting how our life is going to look. A client once shared his father's words with me: "Write your goals on the inside of your eyelids and study them in your sleep."
From the moment we blink our eyes open, our brain's operate in these "to do lists" because our thoughts are in charge: "Eyes on the prize," we set our sights for the finish line instead of savoring the unfolding moments that truly make up a healthy life.
In his book The Power of Now Eckhart Tolle takes on René Descartes' popular "I think, therefore I am" philosophy, citing the concept as a huge step backward in our journey toward enlightenment(!)
What if we are not our thoughts? What if, instead, we are the energy that observes our thoughts?
Try visualizing the brain as a Mac computer (sorry PC). The electricity that runs "iMac me" is who you really are. - There is a separate awareness of "me" from "machine" - You get to choose what thoughts to boot-up and attach to. For example, If you decide the way to feel good is to scale a mountain, then, until you scale that mountain, you're going to be unfulfilled. However, deciding to feel good first, you may or may not scale the mountain but you will probably enjoy the journey along the way. Can you imagine the powerful life you would lead if you stopped habitually attaching to thoughts that keep you proving yourself?
This month, let's all remember to recognize that we are the power behind the program: Pull the plug on blindly following your thoughts. Happiness, after all, is a state of Being, not a result of Doing. |
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Phillip's tip for June: Watchful watering
I always look forward to summertime. Memories of happy days at the beach, laughing with friends and taking trips that can replenish a hardworking soul. So what happens when you don't feel happy? But the sun is shining! The birds are singing! SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME??
This is where therapy can help, digging through some cobwebs and emotional blocks that don't allow us to enjoy the blessings all around us. You may be using defense mechanisms that have worked for you in the past that are now stalling your life. You may have occasional sadness and loss, most people do- but there is a way to see the summertime and embrace the joy that is life.
I have a flowering bulb plant that I have had for almost a decade. When I bought it, it was an amazing flower full of pride. Many years and moves to other locations and weather had taken its toll on my bulb plant: For the last couple of years it was just two almost flat leaves with absolutely no intention of blooming. Still I watered it because I remembered how beautiful it had been.
One day last week as I was watering my plants I noticed an enormous stalk like growth shooting out of those almost flat leaves. For years, the miracle that is life was quietly unfolding - All I had to do was nurture it.
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I actually took this picture and posted it on FACEBOOK to remind myself and my friends not to give up on hope! It Sounds simple - but sometimes life can be that simple.
This month, try realizing that, with a little watering, your life will blossom. |
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About The Mental Gym
The Mental Gym is founded in the proven principle that people need each others' outside perspective to learn and grow.
A skilled personal trainer is hired at a gymnasium to aid the building of physical strength. Similarly, clients come to The Mental Gym to work toward emotional growth. Utilizing easily understood coaching and counseling techniques, our mental health professionals work with you toward achieving your emotional goals.
For more information or to make an appointment, please click on the below address link. |
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