#LENINA THOUGHT TRAIN HOW TO#

Victim 1 – believes the bully, distressed, reacts automatically (bully carries on) Along comes bully, and takes on 3 potential ‘victims’ who all react differently. So neither can we escape our thoughts, we cannot stop them, but perhaps we can learn to live with them by seeing them differently. The children are all fenced in together, and ideally, they have just got to learn to accept and learn to be with each other. This particular bully uses verbal abuse, shouting, teasing, and threats (rather than physical violence). Any bullies in that playground mean that the other children can’t escape for long. Our minds are like school playgrounds that are surrounded by secure high fences – they keep children in, and others out. You can allow those passengers to shout and chatter noisily, whilst keeping your attention focused on the road ahead, heading towards your goal or value. You can be in the driving seat, whilst all the passengers (thoughts) are being critical, abusive, intrusive, distracting, and shouting directions, or sometimes just plain nonsense.

#LENINA THOUGHT TRAIN HOW TO#

Just that alone, seeing thoughts differently, helps to create a space, a distance, between us and our thoughts, which helps us to stand back a little, see things a bit more objectively, and make wiser and more helpful decisions about how to react effectively. The example metaphors here are to help us see thoughts – their nature and role - in a different light. Every culture and religion uses these types of stories, analogies, parables to improve understanding, make a point more memorable, and help us make positive changes. Therapy metaphors use a story or illustration to see alternative ways of looking at something.

Lenina thought train