Our Mind, Our Thoughts, & A Trip To The Dentist

Our mind is a powerful tool. If we don't stay in control of our thoughts we can keep reliving negative situations over and over again. Certain things, such as music, a noise, or just an everyday experience, can take us back to a memory of something we didn't enjoy. When our mind starts thinking about it we can start to believe it was so much worse, or by repeating it, it will be even worse than before.

Stay in control of your thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Jacqueline and welcome to my Tranquil Spirits podcast.

Today I want to talk to you about the mind,

Our mind,

The human mind and how clever it is.

When we're in control of our mind,

Of our thoughts even,

We are then in control of the way we think,

The way we feel,

The things we do,

How we react to certain things.

But sometimes something will happen that will take us right back to either when we were a child or to something that happened in our life somewhere along in our past.

We go straight back there because of a song,

Because of something someone says,

Because of anything at all.

I know when I hear the music of Doctor Who,

That Halloween sound that starts,

It takes me right back to childhood when my brother used to love to watch it and I was scared of the Daleks and had to hide behind the sofa.

I still go right back there being that child again and other things as well that would take me right back to being a child.

But in that moment when that's happened,

I realized that,

You know what?

I am in control of my thoughts and my feelings and I can bring myself out of it.

So it's not a problem at all.

But it is difficult for some people to do that because they then keep thinking about whatever it is that's happened.

And it's normally something that's negative that's happened that we kind of get lost in and we get carried away on that roller coaster ride of being negative,

Of going back to that time when that person was mean to us,

Going back to that time when something negative happened and we stay there with those emotions,

We relive it,

We go over and over and over it.

And then the longer that we stay there with it,

The harder it is to bring ourselves back because we find we just go down this slippery slope of depression or sadness or negativity,

Whatever it is.

But when you realize that,

You know what?

You are in control of your thoughts and your feelings.

You can bring yourself back.

You haven't got to stay with those memories.

You can bring yourself back into the now,

Into the moment and start thinking happy thoughts.

Start thinking about things that make you happy.

Just going out for a walk,

Just doing something that would take your mind off of it because that's all it is.

You are giving the attention to something that is negative,

Something that's happened in the past that isn't even going on now,

But you're giving the attention to it,

You're fueling it,

You're giving it energy and that's why we get carried away with it.

So you take that energy away and the energy is your thoughts,

Your feelings,

Your emotions.

You're allowing those to run with that.

And when you bring it back,

When you say,

No,

I'm not doing this,

I'm going to think of something else or I'm going to do something else,

Then you take that control back.

I'd like to read you something that I wrote.

Um,

It's about a trip to a dentist.

No,

Into the dentist.

And I don't know about you,

But I'm not a big fan of the dentist,

Although I know that we have to go,

But I'd just like to read this to you and hopefully you'll find it interesting or entertaining at the least.

I sit waiting with a smile on my face trying to look cool and relaxed,

But my heart is racing and my thoughts are scaring me.

I am at the dentist.

I have never been a fan of the dentist.

Actually,

Let me correct that statement.

I have never been a fan of sitting in the dentist chair.

Many years ago,

About 38 to be exact,

I worked in a dental practice and really enjoyed the whole experience.

I learned so much about root canals,

Making crowns and bridges,

Preparing a tooth for a filling and even which instruments to use for an extraction.

Maybe I know too much because my experience in any dentist chair is always approached with nervous apprehension.

I can remember as a child taking myself to the dentist in my hometown,

I would walk the mile and a half into town for my house,

Have a checkup with the dentist and then walk back to my house with the form for my mom to sign.

I don't remember not wanting to go to the dentist,

But I do remember feeling anxious and nervous throughout the whole procedure.

That has not changed.

Today,

As I sit in the light and airy waiting room,

Waiting my turn for my appointment,

I wonder why I feel so nervous.

After all,

I'm only having a checkup and cleaning.

Nothing serious,

Right?

I look around the large open room at the other people who are also waiting for their appointment.

There's a mother with her two children who are sitting quietly reading their books.

They don't look nervous.

There's a man reading his newspaper.

He doesn't look nervous.

There are a few people looking at their phones.

They also don't look nervous.

So why do I feel the need to be nervous?

I have been to this dental practice many times before,

And I know the hygienist and dentist very well.

They are lovely,

Gentle ladies,

So nothing to be nervous about there.

I also know what the treatment will be like,

So no surprises there either.

So why be nervous?

I have experienced pain sitting in the dentist chair in the past,

And I have witnessed people in pain when I worked at a dental practice.

The more I think about the negative things that have happened,

The more I worry about what could happen because after all,

I don't really know what is going to happen.

The more I think these thoughts,

They become my focus,

And the more I believe they are going to happen again,

But this time much worse,

I'm sure.

Whatever our focus is on,

We think about it more and more and the bigger we make it.

So when we focus on something that we don't like,

Or remember a negative experience we have had in the past,

The bigger and more exaggerated we make it in our minds.

Plus,

We add more negative things to it,

Thereby making the thought of the new experience even worse.

That was exactly what I was doing,

And I didn't try to stop myself.

Instead,

I just allowed momentum to gather and went along for the scariest ride.

But I know that I am in control of my thoughts and therefore my feelings.

At least I know I am when I am not sitting alone in a dentist waiting room.

Deep down inside,

I know that no one is making me nervous or worried.

I am choosing these emotions.

I am choosing to think whatever I want to.

I have been creating this nervous feeling inside of me.

Suddenly,

I was brought back to the moment as I heard Jacqueline,

Called by the hygienist,

Oh no.

I have just been sitting here thinking negatively all this time.

I need to change my thoughts and do it right now.

I walk down the corridor with a hygienist and she asks me how I am doing.

I reply by asking her if she would like to go for a coffee now instead of heading to her room.

As we walk,

I am thinking to myself,

This will be okay.

There will be no pain.

It will be over very quickly.

I can do this.

I believe in me.

Over and over again,

These thoughts roll around my head.

Entering the room,

I settle onto the dentist's chair with these positive thoughts running through my head.

Any problems since I last saw you?

She asks as she presses the buttons on the side of the chair,

Making it tilt me back until I am lying down.

No,

Everything is fine,

I reply,

Pulling my positive thoughts forward.

Okay,

That's great.

Now let me take a look.

I clasp my hands together tightly,

Close my eyes from the glare of her bright light,

Open my mouth wide and repeat my mantra in my head.

I can do this.

I am relaxed.

I am in control.

I believe in me.

I can do this.

I am relaxed.

I am in control.

I believe in me.

After what felt like only a few seconds,

I hear the hygienist say,

Okay,

Jacqueline,

Your teeth are looking good.

Here's some water.

Let's swish this around a few times.

Doing as I am asked,

I steady my breathing and continue with my positive thinking as I swish some water around my mouth.

Now at the end of my appointment,

It wasn't as bad as what I'd built it up to be,

But that's how easy it can be sometimes if we allow our thoughts and feelings of something negative to go on that roller coaster ride.

If you're about to face something that you're a little worried about,

A little anxious about or something that you had a bad result of in the past,

Then just try and leave those thoughts in the past and just try and put a positive spin on things.

Say some mantra,

Say some affirmations.

This is going to be okay.

This is going to be great.

This is going to be good.

There's going to be no pain,

Whatever it is that suits the situation that you're in.

Whatever you're doing today,

Have a great day and always remember,

Follow that dream because if you've got a dream to follow,

That makes everything else just so amazing.

Thanks for listening.

I'll catch you all again soon.

Bye for now.