Welcome to the Phoenix Helix podcast dedicated to autoimmune resilience. Today, I have a mindset minisode for you, so let's dive right in.

Thank you. Hey friends. So today's mindset minisode is called Don't Believe Everything You Think.

And this is actually a bumper sticker I saw in a car decades ago. It made me laugh out loud because I think it is so true. Our minds are very convincing and they present thoughts as if they are facts even when they are not.

So I immediately went out and bought that bumper sticker for my own car because I knew I could use the daily reminder.

Fast forward, I think it's probably 20 years ago now, with autoimmune disease, that catchphrase, don't believe everything you think

has been really helpful for me. And techniques to identify and overcome negative thoughts is a skill

that can really serve us well.

So I think a lot of you know that our brains have a negativity bias.

They pay attention more to what's wrong than what's right.

Because if things are going right, they're not worried about it.

If something's going wrong, the brain does worry about it, it's looking for solutions.

And so I think the brain is actually trying to be helpful. It's just not always helpful when it's constantly scanning for

things it sees as negative and then generating a lot of thoughts in our minds, playing like

worries and grievances on repeat, like a very demoralizing soundtrack in our heads. So this is

especially true when we have a chronic illness. And so I'm going to give some examples to you of

negative thoughts. Let me know if any of these sound familiar to you. I am never going to get better.

I am in constant pain. I have nothing to offer. I am never going to get better. I am in constant pain.

I have nothing to offer.

I am a burden to those I love.

I am a failure and my future is bleak.

No one can help me.

This flare is going to last forever.

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