How to free oneself from our worries and negative thoughts...
Introduction:
Negative thoughts are important. They allow us to prepare for the unexpected, to empty our fears, to exercise our critical sense, and our Cartesian culture favours this way of thinking.
Unfortunately, thinking too negatively contributes little to our happiness. It's the other way around. The most precious moment, the happiest event can be ruined by negative thinking. And a study of the mental preoccupations of our contemporaries shows that they spend most of their time fearing events... that never happen.
Worse, far from thinking once about what could happen in the negative and then not thinking about it, we all too often tend to repeat the same mental jokes...
The result?
Nervousness, fatigue, bad mood, which all too often lead to psychosomatic illnesses, even neurosis. Almost a century ago, Dr. Vittoz, a doctor specializing in "stress"problems, noted this.
He has developed a method for the rehabilitation of brain control, the "Vittoz Method", which has been successfully used in the treatment of neuroses. But who can do more, can do less. If this method helps to erase serious negative thoughts, it can help you to eliminate your worries and be happier, without becoming "carefree".
1st fiscal year: eliminate objects...
Place 3 objects on an empty table. Observe them carefully, then close your eyes and resurrect the image mentally.
Now, remove one of the items. Look at the void it leaves, then close your eyes. Resurrect the new image without the object that has been discarded. Remove one more object, and so on.
Repeat this exercise until there is no persistence when an object has been discarded.
2nd exercise: mental elimination of objects...
Repeat the previous exercise, but do not physically remove objects one by one. Think of yourself as taking them off, and see them disappear mentally.
Take care of the final phase: imagine the table covered with a white tablecloth, empty of any object.
3rd fiscal year: elimination of figures...
See 3 digits on your mental screen, for example:
3 2 1
Then delete a number...
A second...
And the last one.
If you can't do it, just cross out the numbers by putting 4 or 5.
4th fiscal year: elimination of a graph...
First select a figure, then eliminate its elements one by one.
5th exercise: elimination of letters...
Start by mentally eliminating a series of letters one by one.
Then....
Repeat the same exercise, but change the order of the letters to be eliminated.
6th exercise: elimination of words...
Instead of taking letters at random, choose words that have no deep meaning for you.
New York, Paris, London, London, dog, cow, mountain, car, etc.
7th exercise: elimination of antagonistic words...
This time, take two opposite words:
War and peace
Hard and soft
Dark and light
Cold and hot
Stress and relaxation
Noise and silence
Etc.
Remove only one of the two words and repeat the remaining one.
8th exercise: Words symbols...
Now take meaningful words, symbols of the thought you want to erase.
Year 9: decreasing figures....
Dr. Bruston ("From the method of Dr. Vittoz to depth psychology", 1975) proposes an elimination variant with figures:
Mentally draw two vertical and one horizontal lines
Write the smaller and smaller number 1.
As you mentally write a number 1, delete the previous one. The last one must be so tiny that he barely sees himself. You eliminate him too, so you don't see anything.
10th exercise: marriage symbol and decreasing number...
A very effective marriage, again proposed by Dr. Bruston: add to the number 1 a word symbol of your negative thinking.
As you erase the digits, the word also erases.
Exercise 11: Positive for the negative...
We are now entering the final phase. Not only will you eliminate a word symbol, but replace it with an opposite word.
Variants: blackboard and word processing...
You can imagine yourself writing on a chalkboard and erasing with a rag. Or by typing text on a computer screen and deleting with the "LED" or "Delete"key.
12th exercise: elimination of noise...
Imagine a loud noise (airplane, motorcycle, car, siren, saw, rocket, etc.) that gradually moves away from you until it disappears.
Conclusion...
While so many people complain about their memory, the ability to eliminate a thought or idea from their mind - to forget it - is at least as vital as the ability to remember and remember. Vital for our balance, happiness and mental functioning.