Skillpower—Caring for Ourselves Mentally: Advanced Skills

Hi there,

As we continue exploring mental self-care, this second part focuses on how repeated patterns in the brain can be reshaped through small, consistent adjustments. The goal this week is to understand how repetition strengthens certain pathways—and how we can teach the brain new ones that make daily thinking more workable.

One member shared that every morning, she sat down to begin her workday and immediately assumed something was wrong. If she saw a new email, she expected it to contain a correction. If someone asked to meet, she assumed she had made a mistake. None of these situations were negative, but her mind produced the same conclusion automatically. She had not reviewed the information or evaluated what was being asked. The interpretation arrived before she had a chance to look directly at the situation.

This wasn’t intentional. It was a well-rehearsed mental habit—the brain inserting a familiar conclusion before she could take in the actual facts.

The brain develops patterns through repetition. When the same sequence happens day after day—jumping to the hardest conclusion, predicting a problem, or assuming something has gone wrong—the brain treats this as the default route. It activates quickly not because the situation calls for it but because the pathway has been strengthened over time. Mental self-care works by interrupting that automatic pattern long enough to offer the brain a different experience. Each interruption lowers the dominance of the familiar habit, and each redirection gives the brain practice using a calmer, more deliberate pathway.

Skill of the Week: Strengthening Thought Control Through Three Simple Steps

This week, we’re practicing a clear, repeatable process for interrupting automatic thoughts and guiding the brain toward a more accurate interpretation:

• Step 1: Notice what your mind is doing, without judgment.
You may catch the mind jumping ahead, predicting something negative, or filling in a conclusion before you have information. Noticing this is the first shift.

• Step 2: Take an opportunity to interrupt what your mind is doing.
Even a small pause disrupts the momentum of the original thought and gives the brain a moment to reset.

• Step 3: Choose where you want your attention to go instead — or choose the thought you want to think.
This gives the brain new input. Redirecting attention reinforces a different pathway and weakens the automatic one.

These steps create gentle, workable conditions for the brain to learn a new pattern. Each repetition matters more than the intensity of any single moment.

If you’d like to watch this week’s lesson, you can find it here:
Click here to watch

As you work with these steps, keep them simple. Each time you notice a thought, interrupt it, and choose your direction, you’re giving the brain a chance to learn something new. Those small shifts are what create different habits over time. And we’re learning how to support these changes together.

Warmly,
Sheila

Join the Weekly Skillpower Workshop

If you’d like to walk through this together, you’re welcome to join the live Skillpower workshop. You may attend either session:

Wednesday at 11 AM EST
Wednesday at 7 PM EST

🔗 Join here
Please edit your Zoom name to include SP when joining so we know you’re part of the Skillpower program.

We’re rebuilding this gently, steadily, and together—one small moment of clarity at a time.

Warmly,

Sheila Gravely
ARC Director, Certified FARA