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Rid Yourself of Ants
By Wendy Oden
 

Try this brain fitness technique to exterminate your negative thoughts

Even if your house is spotless, you may have an ANT problem. Not the little black ones, but Automatic Negative Thoughts. Like the real-life insects, these brain bugs are just as invasive and even more destructive. They infest our outlook on life and eat away at our peace of mind.

ANTs are those pesky offspring born from the inner critic inside us. They constantly tell us that we’re no good. We’ll never make it. We’ll never lose that weight, find the love of our life, get married, get out of debt, or land that dream job. We just don’t have what it takes. If a bit of good fortune does come our way, the ANTs tell us that it won’t last or we don’t deserve it.

These ANTs take a toll on our health. Scientists have found that negative thoughts and emotions can actually lower the body’s normal, healthy frequency. It is a proven fact that our thoughts affect how we feel. Worry, depression and anxiety are major factors in activating our stress hormones; creating a fertile ground for diseases of all kinds. Stress and anxiety have actually been proven to kill neurons in the brain and even prevent the creation of new ones. When we are extremely stressed, the dendrites in the brain can actually shrink…causing our mind to “go blank.”

For years, I have been trying to squash my ANTS. It’s a constant vigil…one day at a time. I’m the proverbial CNN junkie. I know I need to throw out my TV and quit the feeding frenzy, but so far I can’t stop picking up the remote. I keep trying new things to keep them at bay. But just when I think they are under control, they come back with a vengeance.

I’ve posted affirmations on my bathroom mirror. I say positive mantras on my way to work. I soak up the sunshine during lunch and revel in the song birds greeting spring. I practice meditation and tai chi. I sleep with Kelly Howell’s brain sync tapes. Still, I frequently catch myself and realize that my mind has been off on a tangent with those ANTS.

I recently discovered a profoundly effective way to stop my ANTs in their tracks. It’s a simple mind, body, balancing technique called brain wave vibration. It combines ancient healing practices and energy training methods from Korea with modern scientific understanding of the brain.

At its core, the technique uses basic vibration exercises to stop the thinking mind, calm higher-frequency brain wave activity and circulate the body’s energy. It incorporates three distinct elements: deliberately making vibrations in your body, allowing your body to ride the rhythm, and following the flow of energy. By tapping into the body’s inherent rhythm, we’re able to release tension and reach states of deep relaxation similar to that achieved through traditional forms of sitting mediation.

The head nod method is the simplest form of brain wave vibration. It can be done standing, sitting or lying down and is designed to deliver vibrations directly to our brain stem for deep relaxation and tension release. Even just three minutes will clear the head, enhance our focus, and leave us feeling more energized. Try it for yourself:

Sit-up straight with arms at your sides. Close eyes and breathe comfortably, relaxing your body completely. Begin to gently shake your head from side to side. Breathe naturally and fully, emphasizing the exhalation, as you envision all tension draining from your body. Focus on your brain stem at the base of your neck. You may hear slight noises or popping sounds at the base of your skull. This is normal. Allow your head to move up and down, side to side, or even in the shape of an infinity symbol as you go deeper into the motion. After a few minutes, slow to a stop, take a deep breath and return to your external awareness.

It’s nearly impossible to engage the ANTS when your head is shaking to and fro. I imagine them scattering in all directions, just as if I had kicked their mound. As my brain clears, and my body and mind regain their natural equilibrium, I can examine the ANTS more closely. I can unveil the false beliefs behind them, see that they make no sense, and witness how they eat away at my life. It’s in these moments that they can be totally eradicated and replaced with more self-affirming, positive thoughts.