As promised yesterday, I am writing to give you another IDEA. An idea that helps make your worries shrink! So, here it is:
Idea 3. When we become nervous, our body gets ready for some form of physical action, often called the “FLIGHT-FIGHT” reaction. So this means you are going to DO something to deal with the feeling. That yucky feeling that tells you that you are nervous and scared.
It happens in the part of your brain called the Amygdala. The amygdala is a tiny part of our brain that makes it happen. It Switches on when we think we are in danger like a light switch. And then it remembers all the other times we were afraid and makes us act in the same way.
I added a picture of a light switch… just to give you an idea.
So I talked to you about two other ideas yesterday: Idea 1 which was having a plan and Idea 2 which was using visualization and relaxation tricks. These help you to calm your body and brain. After your brain and body are calm, then it’s your job to think in a helpful way. You are in charge of how you think (your ideas) and you have to learn how to defeat the ideas that are making you feel sad or scared.
Because you can change your ideas, you can learn to control your nervous feelings. You can do it!!! It takes a lot of practice and you have be your own coach!!! I call it the Brain Coach!!!!!!!!!!!! Your Brain Coach will help you think about things in a way that is helpful … not in a super scary way. This does not mean you have to pretend that you are okay, you just have to quiet down the worry!!!
Thinking in more POSITIVE and helpful ways can help make us feel good.
Thinking in more NEGATIVE or unhelpful ways can make us feel FEARFUL, TENSE, SAD, ANGRY or UNCOMFORTABLE.
