POSITIVE thinking
Posted: 15 Mar 2014, 10:45
I am doing a self-awareness course entitled 'Overcoming Depression' by Paul Gilbert. It is basically an outline of the cognative behavioural therapy method widely used to treat depression and extreme mental states associated with it that I personally have battled against since 1997. CBT is basically an exploration of the theory that our thoughts, our feelings and our behaviours are linked. If we think we're crap, we behave like we're crap, which makes us think we're even crappier. If we think we'll never learn the piano then we will never learn the piano. CBT tells us that we can break these cycles. If we SAY something positive then we begin to FEEL positive and we BEHAVE in a more positive fashion.
One interesting point the course touches upon is the fact that humans have evolved to respond to kindness. At large, perhaps it is a cultural and social issue and even a holistic one that we don't get many fellow humans that are kind to us nowadays and this is a reason why depression is such a big problem in the West, but we have a brain system that is in charge of emotions linked to feeling happy, content, soothed and at peace (as we have two others, one associated with drive and motivation, and one that produces natural anxieties designed to keep us safe from harm and enables us to respond to natural threats)
Kindness from others stimulates both our drive system and our contentment system. We feel happy but also we get a 'buzz' of happiness that makes us feel like we want to take on something. If on the other hand someone is unkind to us, then we feel crap, but also belittled and threatened, so we retreat, but we also feel angry because we feel we're treated unfairly and we know it because of our own evolved reactions. So our 'threat' system is over-stimulated and our other two systems are toned down...which basically is the cause of depression. You could say in my case my threat system has been getting more and more out of control for the past 16 years and now I am applying the brakes.
So, in the context of learning to play a musical instrument (more specifically the piano) there are a number of measures a human can take to alleviate negative thought. Firstly, recognise that learning the piano is all about enjoyment, and although lots and lots of hard study is required it is not a torturous chore. It has become such a thing for me on more occasions than one, but before I realised that I was indeed aiming too high and trying to be 'too much' like my teacher in too short space of time. Aim low so that you do NOT arouse any unnecessary anxieties but also so that you can be happy with what you've done. Study in your own parameters, then you'll feel more pleased with the results (contentment system) and you will WANT to study more. Then, when your teacher gives you a piece of music that's a step up, do NOT think 'I'll never be able to play that!!!'. That's what I said earlier on about thinking you'll never play the piano. Just do the first two bars with the right hand that night. It's a start. You will feel a sense of achievement so much so that you will WANT to learn the next two bars and so and so....until.....lightbulb....'I CAN play it, Why did I even think about making such a fuss!"
Basically, if you think you can learn to play the piano, you will learn to play it, in a nutshell.
One interesting point the course touches upon is the fact that humans have evolved to respond to kindness. At large, perhaps it is a cultural and social issue and even a holistic one that we don't get many fellow humans that are kind to us nowadays and this is a reason why depression is such a big problem in the West, but we have a brain system that is in charge of emotions linked to feeling happy, content, soothed and at peace (as we have two others, one associated with drive and motivation, and one that produces natural anxieties designed to keep us safe from harm and enables us to respond to natural threats)
Kindness from others stimulates both our drive system and our contentment system. We feel happy but also we get a 'buzz' of happiness that makes us feel like we want to take on something. If on the other hand someone is unkind to us, then we feel crap, but also belittled and threatened, so we retreat, but we also feel angry because we feel we're treated unfairly and we know it because of our own evolved reactions. So our 'threat' system is over-stimulated and our other two systems are toned down...which basically is the cause of depression. You could say in my case my threat system has been getting more and more out of control for the past 16 years and now I am applying the brakes.
So, in the context of learning to play a musical instrument (more specifically the piano) there are a number of measures a human can take to alleviate negative thought. Firstly, recognise that learning the piano is all about enjoyment, and although lots and lots of hard study is required it is not a torturous chore. It has become such a thing for me on more occasions than one, but before I realised that I was indeed aiming too high and trying to be 'too much' like my teacher in too short space of time. Aim low so that you do NOT arouse any unnecessary anxieties but also so that you can be happy with what you've done. Study in your own parameters, then you'll feel more pleased with the results (contentment system) and you will WANT to study more. Then, when your teacher gives you a piece of music that's a step up, do NOT think 'I'll never be able to play that!!!'. That's what I said earlier on about thinking you'll never play the piano. Just do the first two bars with the right hand that night. It's a start. You will feel a sense of achievement so much so that you will WANT to learn the next two bars and so and so....until.....lightbulb....'I CAN play it, Why did I even think about making such a fuss!"
Basically, if you think you can learn to play the piano, you will learn to play it, in a nutshell.