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When a homeschool mama is frustrated or overwhelmed, she needs to challenge her uncomfortable feelings.
Get familiar with them. Learn from them. Learn about you and why you feel what you feel.
Here’s how to help the homeschool mom when she’s frustrated or overwhelmed.
Dr. Daniel Amen, author of Brain Health, first introduced me to a series of questions that help put all uncomfortable feelings in perspective.
Really? All of them, you ask.
Actually, yes. But I’m hardly saying there isn’t a reason to feel depressed or angry at times or a bunch of other uncomfortable feelings. Feelings have their place.
We are human beings and human beings feel a whole bunch of feelings. But as we also know, a lot of our uncomfortable feelings would benefit from examination and exploration: which often gives us perspective.
First question: “Is what I’m thinking true?”
Usually, I’d answer, “Yes of course,” to that question. “Of course it’s true, why else would I be thinking it?
Second question: “Can I, with one hundred percent certainty, know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my thought is true? What if there was a different perspective?”
Hmmm, maybe an alternative perspective would change the outcome to my assumption. Okay, so now I’m thinking about other perspectives now.
And the third question is the clincher.
“What if there is a different way of thinking about things?
How would a different thought affect how I approach my uncomfortable feeling or the situation that compelled that feeling?
And how might that alternative approach affect the outcome?”
I later discovered these questions were not unique to this well-known brain doctor, Daniel Amen. These questions were part of a psychological approach to cognitive therapy, psychology stuff. Therapy stuff. Stuff you pay a hundred bucks for.
(Caveat: Sometimes you need a friend to sift through your thoughts. And sometimes you need to spend those hundred dollars.)
Another approach to dealing with uncomfortable feelings is reading daily affirmations.
Affirmations aren’t a magic bullet to thought utopia.
But affirmations can definitely be daily influencers to my homeschool parenting approach.
Our thoughts influence our practical, tangible experiences, so consider each uncomfortable thought.
Big Emotions Journal for the Homeschool Mom
Introducing the Homeschool Mama’s Toolbox, a set of resources designed to help homeschooling mothers deal with big emotions and specifically address their thoughts. Your brain and thoughts are important tools that need to be regularly sharpened, and the Toolbox is here to help you do just that.
Incorporating mindfulness practices into your homeschool is one of the most effective ways to separate yourself from your thoughts and be present. The Toolbox includes three questions from Dr. Amen, author of Change your Brain, Change your Life: What am I feeling? What is the thought behind my feeling? What is the story behind my thought? These are questions that you can practice regularly to get the most out of them.
The Toolbox also encourages a daily meditation practice to help you distance yourself from your thoughts and just be present. Guided meditations such as Guided Meditation on Controlling Negative Thoughts and Guided Meditation for Inner Peace & Calm can help you get started.
Additionally, the Toolbox offers a Thought Care Checklist to help you deal with challenging situations that may arise in your homeschool. By considering alternative perspectives, you can reframe your thoughts and deal with the situation in a more positive and constructive way.
With the Homeschool Mama’s Toolbox, you can learn to influence your thoughts and create a better reality for yourself and your family. Download the Toolbox today and start sharpening your tools!
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Call to Adventure by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3470-call-to-adventure
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
