“Love your neighbour as you love yourself.” This was Jesus’ Great Commandment. Now, whether or not you identify as a believer, it’s crucial you identify the implication of self-love and self-care in Jesus’ command. It’s as equally as important to recognise that each emotion you experience carries with it it’s own chemistry. In other words, you feel what you think.
If you think negatively – which many of us do without realising – you set in motion a chemical process in the brain. This process then manifests itself in a physical and emotional manner. The same applies for positive thinking.

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For this reason, it is crucial you cultivate positive self-talk as a way of combating the dark and challenging feelings often associated with anxiety and depression.
In order to combat these feelings, you must first identify the negative self-talk you initiate and stop it dead in its tracks. In preparation for a presentation, for example, you may catch yourself thinking,
“I can’t do this. What if I forget the words? I’ll look like an idiot. I can’t breath.” In response, your body releases adrenalin as you prepare to fight or flee, and you may very well feel breathless.

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Stop. Breath. Think:
“I can do this. I have prepared. Of course I feel nervous, I’m about to stand before my colleagues and give a talk. Adrenalin is coursing through my body. I will use this energy to give an engaging presentation. I am calm. I am in control.”
Lame! Like that’ll work, right? Wrong. We feel what we think, remember? The key is to recognise what you are feeling. Give yourself the permission and room to feel nervous. But, before you blow whatever you're thinking, feeling or doing out of proportion and send yourself into a panic with scary thoughts, stop and talk to yourself as you would to a dear friend - with love and compassion and honesty.

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Perhaps we should sometimes reverse the Great Commandment – love yourself as you do your neighbour. We are our own worst critics. Be kind to yourself because, as Buddha once said, “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
#Depression
#Anxiety
#Anxious Episode
#Panic Attack
#Self-Love
#Positive Self-Talk