Why Writing Builds Resiliency

Real Life Resilience

Why worry twice? We can’t necessarily stop things, but we can stop freaking out about them. Dr. Kathy Gruver explains that the future always starts now. With every exhale we can make a more resilient choice.

Resilient Rather than Freaking Out

Highlights from the interview:

• Affirmations help to reduce stress – particularly if you handwrite them, because they’ll more easily go into your subconscious.
• People who wrote down affirmations about who they are, or positive events, found they went into future situations looking at the positive side of things, and not thinking about what could go wrong, and even having different reactions to things.
• It’s much better to say “I am healthy and well right now” than it is to say “I hope I don’t get sick.”
• Our body is incredibly suggestible to what other people say to us and to what we’re thinking about.
• Stress is hazardous – about 70 to 90% of doctor’s visits are due to stress-related illnesses.
• Why suffer twice? If you’re going to get news from the doctor about whether or not you have cancer in a week’s time, why worry about it now? If you have cancer, won’t that be bad enough anyway? Need you have worried about it all week and then felt even worse when you received the actual news? It’s better to think positively because you’ll be in a better state to handle any bad news when it does finally arrive.
• The more present we can be, the more positive we can be.
• “The future always starts now.” With every exhale we can make a different and more resilient choice.
• We can’t necessarily stop things, but we can stop freaking out about them.

Listen to the episode for the full story.

Stacy’s Journal

Welcome to Stacy’s Journal! In this segment, I let you peek into my journal as I share my thoughts on a topic or resilience resource. Let’s talk about affirmations. I’ve got to be honest, because that’s what a journal is about, right? Your honest feelings? In the past, I’ve not really been a fan of affirmations. Reminded me too much of the Saturday Night Live skit with Stuart Smalley. However, I’ve since done more digging into the mind/body connection. Self-affirmations really do help and there’s scientific evidence for that with one caveat. You have to really believe what you’re saying. If you don’t believe it, you could end up feeling even worse! To tweak affirmations and make them effective for you, scientists say that you should write about the things you value, such as your honesty, family, creativity, etc…Affirming those things you value, and remembering those times when you exhibited those values does activate the reward system in your brain and gives you those positive vibes. Here’s a great article about affirmations. With that, I think I’ll get to writing a few new affirmations of my own!

That’s all we have for today. That’s all we have for today. Last episode, Manny Wolfe discussed surviving a hellacious early life – so if you’ve had a tough childhood, you might want to go back and have a listen. Next week, we’ll interview Matt Gagnon who tells us to write our own comeback story.

I love interacting with our listeners on social media. We’re on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and just about anywhere you can hold a great virtual conversation. Plus, I answer all my emails personally, so feel free to email me: stacy{at}stacybrookman{dot}com.

100 Most Important Memoirs of the Past 200 Years

This week’s memoir is: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Click on the graphic to learn about this memoir and all of the most important memoirs of the past 200 years…

About: Kathy Gruver

Dr. Kathy Gruver, TV host and author of The Alternative Medicine Cabinet, has been involved in natural health for 2 decades. She has written over 5 dozen articles, appeared on over 65 radio shows and has done over 50 lectures nationwide. Kathy is available for speaking and writing engagements. Her latest books include: Conquer Your Stress at Work, Workplace Wellness – Everything you need know to stay well at work, Conquer Your Stress with Mind/Body Techniques, Journey of Healing: One Woman’s Path to Healing Self and Others, and the original book that started it all…The Alternative Medicine Cabinet, among others. Kathy is the winner of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award in health, fitness and beauty by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.

Links:

TedX talk

Espeaker profile

Sizzle Reel

You Tube Videos

www.KathyGruver.com

www.TheAlternativeMedicineCabinet.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathygruver
Twitter: @klgruver