​​​

• This is a MINDFULGym tool for cultivating the habit of recognizing unhelpful thought patterns and relating to them with kindness, curiosity, and understanding. When we’re aware of our thoughts, we become more emotionally intelligent and stronger.

​

• Thoughts are like radio broadcast in the head; they’re mental chatter. They have the power to generate feelings and influence behavior; in turn, our feelings and behavior can affect thoughts.

​

• A situation (e.g. not getting an SMS reply from a boyfriend) may trigger different thoughts (e.g. “He doesn’t care about me,” “He must be busy,” “He’s avoiding me.” “Maybe I sent the message to a wrong person.” “Terrible! He’s always like that.”). Understandably, they affect how we feel and behave.

​

• It’s not a situation that upsets us; it’s the thoughts we have in response to the situation. Therefore, it’s important to pay attention to thoughts and relate to them with kindness, curiosity, and understanding - mindfulness of thoughts. 

​

• Cognitive psychologists have identified certain thought patterns that are unhelpful and tend to generate stressful feelings (a.k.a. Thinking Errors). Whenever we have unpleasant feelings, try to perform a Mind-Scan to recognize, understand, and transform any unhelpful thoughts.

​

• Thoughts may not always be facts and are often influenced by mood, (e.g. low self-esteem thoughts, “I’m useless,” when we’re feeling depressed). Mindfulness of thoughts enables us to respond wisely (e.g. get feedback from a trusted friend), instead of blindly believing and acting on them (e.g. impulsively resign from a job).
   

​