Yesterday Skye wrote about the three reactions to danger: Fight, flight or freeze. And then said something that reminded me of the book Mindsight: "And the primitive part of my brain is very strong."
I think she's so right.
One of the chapters in Mindsight is about helping a newly-teen girl who was developing OCD, though this part of his advice that I'm about to mention would be helpful to just about anyone.
He told her that part of the brain developed over millions of years to keep us safe. He calls the system "the checker" and it scans for danger, alerts us, then motivates us to act.
He had her begin meditating, and learning to discern when an alert was being sounded, and to differentiate the checker part of her brain from the feeling of terror. Then he advised her that, when she felt it kicking into action, to say:
I've seen on some blogs where the idea is promoted to bitch-slap negative voices in our heads. Like, if we have a negative self talk (you're a failure, you'll never do this, etc) -- to tell that bitch to sit down and shut up. I've never been crazy about this idea, cause the thing is... that's still you talking. Why would you give yourself a smack down?
So I liked this next part where Siegel explains the thinking behind this bit of self dialogue:
Heh heh, I love that. This is a millions year old part of your brain, dedicated to the thing your body most wants--to survive. If you fight it, you'll lose. Just show some respect.
We all afraid of something here
Cause you ain't human without fear
