Female Speaker: With all that life throws at us everyday it's natural to be overwhelmed by negative thoughts.
Male Speaker: I should have known better, I'm never on time, I can't do anything right.
Dr. Herbert Benson: We have the normal stresses of worries about family, worries about economy, worries about deadlines and what have you, worries about our own health.
Female Speaker: And our health can be affected by negative thoughts. Now there may be a way to break the pattern. Dr. Herbert Benson, a professor at Harvard Medical School says the answer is a process called the Cognitive Restructuring.
Dr. Herbert Benson: Cognitive Restructuring is how you can frame your thinking.
Female Speaker: First you relax and breathe deeply for a few minutes, all the while chanting a chosen word or phrase. After achieving your relax state Benson says it's easier to challenge and change your negative thoughts.
Dr. Herbert Benson: You give a thought to must it be that way? And then you choose, perhaps I can retrains that thinking, Stop, Breathe, Reflect, Choose.
Female Speaker: According to Benson regular practice of this exercise can give you a more positive outlook on life and even ease some medical conditions resulting from stress.
Dr. Herbert Benson: It has to be based on opening of your mind, so that the mind is more receptive, quieter, less noise, less static, so that you could change your thinking.
Female Speaker: So the next time your stress level start to rise, remember that impossible situation you're facing may not be so bad after all.
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