AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
Our feelings depend on what we think and what we do. Try to
determine your feelings in the following exercise. Notice if your
strongest emotions are related to your specific thoughts or your
activities:
1. Thoughts that provoke GOOD feelings …
2. Thoughts that provoke UNPLEASANT feelings …
3. Activities that provoke GOOD feelings …
4. Activities that provoke UNPLEASANT feelings …
What would i do if i did not have fear?
(Kolaříková, 2015)
It is sometimes useful to play with your imagination and look at
a different reality without fear by means of easy questions. It is
important to make “trips” into the world where exists our “I”
without useless fear and anxiety. These trips remind us that the
reality with fear and worries we live in, is not the only option we
have at our disposal. If we are not in really dangerous situations,
fear is only our illusion:
Find 10 minutes only for yourself. Sit down and feel comfortably.
Breathe deeply and slowly… Your body is more relaxed with
every breathing out… Release all tensions… Then answer to
some questions…Do not hurry, you have enough time… Let your
phantasy find the nicest options…
How would you live your life if you did not have fear?
What would be your relationships like if you did not have
fear?
What would you do if you did not have fear?
What is possible to change when I get rid of my fear?
Be patient … do not hurry … Give a lot of time to your phantasy
…
As soon as you have enough answers to these questions, stretch
your body and open your eyes. Include the obtained information
into your life and do not let fear influence you.
The box of worries
(Piačková, 2002)
It is sometimes hard to stop and switch off negative thoughts that
appear in our mind. When it happens, it can be useful to draw or
write these thoughts on the paper and lock them in the box:
Find a box and make your own box of worries. Paint that
box and choose its place.
When you find out that you cannot stop your worries, write
them down or draw them on a piece of paper.
Then put them into your box and lock them there.
At the end of the week open your box and talk about your
worries with somebody you trust.
Switch off the tape
(Piačková, 2002)
You can sometimes have the same worries or negative thoughts
again and again. It is as if you were listening to the same tape
that plays in your mind. This tape will never change. Its volume
will never turn down. In this case it is useful to learn how to
switch off this tape:
Step 1: Imagine your record player:
Imagine the record player that is playing in your mind.
Look at a real record player. May it will help you to
imagine it.
Find out how you can switch it on and off, where you can
put the tape and change the volume.
Step 2: Imagine how you stop the tape:
Imagine how you put the tape into the record player.
When you switch it on, the tape will start playing and you
will be able to hear your worries and negative thoughts.
Now imagine how you switch the record player off.
Concentrate on that button “Switch off” . After you have
pressed it, these thoughts will stop.
Practise switching on and off. Notice that your negative
thoughts react to it and they stop. The more you practise,
the easier it will be.
Distressful time (Praško, Prašková, 2001).
This technique is suitable if you spend a lot of time thinking
about negative thoughts:
Define how much time you spend with these obsessive and
intruding thoughts. Then determine a specific “distressful
time” you will be dealing with them.
Do not allow to these thoughts to disturb your work, free
time or mood whenever else.
If you have a feeling that you forgot to deal with some
ideas during your “distressful time”, just write them down
with a pencil or a pen. Write one or two words that will
remind them to you.
The aim is not to avoid thinking about unpleasant things
completely. It is rather a way of determining a suitable time for
dealing with them. Many people need half an hour of such
distressful time every day. This technique works well if you
really find the time for it and do nothing else when you deal with
your thoughts. For example, choose a particular armchair where
you will be sitting and thinking. This is not time for eating,
drinking, talking, working or having fun. The knowledge that
you have a specific time during the day for thinking, will enable
you to think about problems and worries during another time.
Technique of swelling (Praško, Prašková, 2001)
The aim of this technique is to destroy disturbing negative
thoughts by exaggerating the problem into the absurdity. In this
way we will make the problem ridiculous and it will stop
provoking fear. The funny aspect of the exaggerated scene
shadowed the previous fear.
Diverting of attention (Možný, Praško, 1999)
This method is based on the fact that we can fully concentrate
only on one thought in a certain moment whereas the other
thoughts or imaginations are at the background and their
influence on our mood is weakened. We apply this method in the
situations when we have unpleasant thoughts we do not want to
think about them. In order to make this method effective, we
have to know several ways of diverting of attention and use
those ways that are helpful and focused on our interests and
personal qualities (e.g. people practising sport can weaken their
attention by means of a physical activity, musically talented
people by playing a musical instrument, etc.). It is important to
find such activities that will be really interesting for us. At the
same time these activities are quite demanding so that we could
not do them automatically. The factor of repeating and
practising is decisive for the effectiveness of this method - first
in the calm atmosphere and later also in usual situations where
we have to deal with unpleasant thoughts, imaginations or
worries.
Pumping (Praško, Prašková, 2001)
Pumping is a technique aimed at the increasing of positive
thoughts. Its name is derived from the expression “load the
pump” when you put water into a dry pump so that it can start
working. In this case we set or “pump up” positive thoughts into
our conscience in a systematic way: we will stop the flow of
negative thoughts and start the flow of positive thoughts.
First you have to make a list of positive thoughts. Think
about such thoughts that are directly related to you. If it is
necessary, ask your friends to tell you about your good
qualities. Then write these thoughts on cards. Write only
one idea on one card. In this way you will have the whole
set of positive thoughts.
Then start loading your “pump of positive thoughts”
carrying this set of thoughts everywhere. You can read
these positive thoughts whenever you want. Concentrate on
what is written on the cards. If you have new positive
thoughts, add them to your set.
Finally put some empty cards into your set. When you choose
such an empty card, write down there any new positive thought
that comes to your mind.
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