Positive Thinking

Be kind to your cells and you will be healthier

by Ed Bernd Jr.

Positive thinking can energize your workouts, inspire your people around you, and help keep you healthy.

Let me explain to you exactly what a positive mental attitude is and is not:

It is not a matter of bragging about how good you are. It is not running around proclaiming "I'm the greatest!"

Concentrating on avoiding mistakes does not constitute a positive mental attitude either.

Brain-mind research by Jose Silva - founder or the world's Number 1 mind training System - has given us a very precise definition of "positive thinking."

Very simply, a positive mental attitude is thinking about what you want, rather than what you don't want.

For example:

*When the amateur tees up on the golf course and takes a furtive look at the water hazard to the left, then the wooded rough to the right, he has just programmed himself for a poorly aimed drive. The professional, by seeing only the flag at the hole, programs herself for the straight drive.

*The couch potato considers exercising and thinks about how much work it is. The positive thinker focuses on the end result: The healthy, fit, attractive body that results from a few minutes of exercise three or four times a week.

*The aspiring gymnast faces the balance beam and repeats to herself that she won't lose her footing while mounting the beam, which is one of the trouble spots in her routine. The veteran gymnast recalls the times she was "in the groove" and performed flawlessly. Her mind creates the correct mental picture, her brain sends the correct signals, and she scores high marks for her performance, as she expected.

In each example, the first athlete focused on what they didn't want, while the second focused on what they did want.

Jose Silva's research revealed some very basic truths:

*Your mind guides your brain, and your brain guides your body.

*You tend to move in the direction of your dominant thoughts.

*The most effective way to program your bio-computer brain is with mental pictures. When you create a mental picture, your brain will instruct your body to act out what you have pictured. That's one of the reasons it is so valuable to watch game films. Just make sure that the last film that you watch is of successes.

Always remember this:

Positive pictures produce desirable effects. Negative pictures produce undesirable effects.

Practicing Mental Housecleaning

In the Silva Method technique of Mental Housecleaning, you practice identifying and canceling negative thoughts, and replacing them with positive thoughts.

You can use Mental Housecleaning any time there is an undesirable situation: You make an error, you do not succeed at something you attempt, your opponent beats you, you miss a training session...whatever the situation, you can use this technique.

Since your brain operates like a computer, you can do what you would do when you want to cancel something out of a computer: Say, "Cancel-cancel" to get rid of the negative thought - the thought you do not desire. Then immediately replace it with a positive thought.

There are two steps, and it is important to do both:

After an undesirable situation, immediately:

1. Say, "Cancel-cancel" to cancel the negative thought. Then,

2. Replace it with a positive thought.

Examples of Mental Housecleaning

*You swing and miss, say, "Cancel-cancel" and imagine hitting the next ball and it goes where you want it to go.

*You begin to dread the exercise routine, immediately say "Cancel-cancel" and think of the end results - the healthy, fit, attractive body that you want.

*The weight is too heavy, you can't lift it and it falls back to the lifting platform, say "Cancel-cancel" and imagine lifting it.

*Your opponent beats you to the finish line, say "Cancel-cancel" and imagine getting their first.

*You drop the ball and your opponent scores, say "Cancel-cancel" and imagine catching the ball next time.

Now take time to practice

Now I have an important assignment for you:

As soon as possible, go practice what you just learned.

Toss a ball. Lift some weights. Do some exercises. Make some shots. Do whatever it is that you do. When you miss, say "Cancel-cancel" and immediately imagine doing it right...then do it again.

It doesn't help just to know a technique; you have to use it.

So, go practice Mental Housecleaning.

When you don't accomplish what you wanted, say "Cancel-cancel" and immediately imagine yourself succeeding. Recall a time when you succeeded, when you were perfect. With this thought in mind, try it again.

Ed Bernd Jr. has been teaching Jose Silva's mind training systems for more than 20 years. His new book, Jose Silva's UltraMind ESP System, has just been published by Career Press.

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