In this informal YouTube monologue, Tami Grgas introduces the "Freedom Practice," a four‑step technique (Name, Feel, Release, Redirect) designed to help viewers recognize and transform negative thoughts and stress‑inducing mental habits. She frames the practice within the broader challenge of maintaining mental health amid a chaotic world, shares personal anecdotes (first snowfall in Nebraska, coping with increased alcohol use, drinking cold coffee), and explains each step in detail, emphasizing breath work, emotional awareness, and cognitive reframing. Grgas stresses that the practice requires repeated application to rewire neural pathways, likening it to learning to walk or ride a bike. She offers a PDF of her notes for anyone who requests it and concludes with an encouraging call to action for viewers to adopt the habit and keep their minds healthy.
Chapters
Hello, Tami Grgas here. How are you today? I'm doing okay. You know, with what's going on in our world, we— I don't think any of us foresaw the way things have gone in our world, and we have to learn to adapt to it and figure it out, right? Well, how do you do that? Like, what are we supposed to do to keep our mental health healthy? It's hard. So I've been, you know, kind of researching this, and I have a few tips that I'm going to be sharing about how to stay mentally healthy in this wacky, wacky world we live in. Sorry, I got my winter hat on today because in Nebraska we had our first snowfall. Love my new winter hat. It actually covers my ears and stays there. It's always— I've kind of got a big head and my, my— when I wear winter hats, they tend to slide up. This one does not. It's very exciting for me. So there's this thing that I want to tell you about, and it's called the Freedom Practice. Okay. And I am reading notes. Um, this is a, I've put all my notes into a PDF file. And if you would like a copy of these to refer to yourself, please just message me below and I will send that off to you. So the Freedom Practice, I want to share this with you because it can be so useful in gaining freedom from styles of thinking. That don't serve you and keep us stuck in stress, anxiety, depression, or even our addictive behaviors. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't think it's an addictive behavior, but I've kind of become accustomed to drinking more than I should. Um, that's been a tool that I've been using to cope with this craziness, and it's probably not the wisest tool to use. But I have been. Okay. So when you first notice a mind trap or a common negative thought, okay, so your first step is to stop, take an intentional deep breath. And from this more mindful space, move through these 4 steps. Okay. They're name, feel, release, Redirect. And I'm going to tell you a little bit about each step. Excuse me while I drink some of my— I know it's winter and I'm drinking cold coffee. I'm, yeah, I always do the opposite of what I'm supposed to do, it seems. So number 1 is to name it. Okay. So let's say, okay, I'm going to go with a negative thought that I've been working on. I never have enough money. That's a negative thought. I should be looking at what I do have, not what I don't have. So when I feel that, so I'm supposed to name the style of thinking or behaving that isn't serving me in my mind and say it out loud. So I am. I never make enough money. That's ridiculous. I make plenty of money. So this only creates more awareness for you or for me, but also can be found to bring more activity to the part of your brain that has to do with emotional regulation. Okay. I'm fascinated by the brain. there's so much we haven't tapped into in this monstrosity in our heads. So that's the number 1, okay? So for me, I'm saying my negative thought is I never make enough money. So number 2 is to feel it. Okay? So recognize how this moment feels in the body. This grounds us to the reality of the moment and gives us access to a choice point. So in my body, when I hear those thoughts in my head, it stresses me out. It, it brings all these other feelings in, like, I'm not good enough. How am I going to support my family? How am I going to help out? Like, all these kind of things come up. And that's what I don't want to do, right? So I'm feeling it and I don't like it. So now the job is to release it. So that's the third step. Practice this phrase in concert with the breath. Okay? So breathing in, you acknowledge the feeling that's here. Breathing out, you release it. So I breathe in. Stress, ugh, I hate it. Let it go. Stress out. So you bring it in, stress, let it out, let go, let go, get out, release it, release that stress. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Okay, so that's number 3. The 4th step is to redirect it. Now, how the heck do you do that, right? Shift your attention to something that is healthier and/or more important to pay attention to. Bring this awareness into the moments of your day, dropping into what really matters. So for me, I don't make enough money. I've felt it, I've released it, now I'm going to redirect it. The way that I think I'm going to redirect this is that it's a false reality. It's just a silly fear that I feel. So that's where I'm redirecting it. I'm just letting it go. Get out of here. You don't belong. I'm doing fine. And I'm going to make more money. 2021 is going to be my year. I'm going to prosper in 2021. I'm going to have a whole abundance in 2021. And I also, like, I have these little daily mantra things that I say to myself that are helping me go in that direction. So remember, most importantly, this is a learning process. Okay? So just doing it once is not going to make it— happen overnight. This is a learning process. That means you do not measure success by whether it works every time or not. Instead, you're training your brain to name, recognize, release, and redirect. Okay? So those— whenever you have those negative thoughts, I want you remembering those 4 things. And if you can't remember them, please reach out to me, and I will give you this PDF so that you have it with you. This is how we're going to keep our minds healthier. Motion detected at the front door. And not thinking of all the negativity out there because there's a lot right now. So mastery is only created with a learning mindset. So you have to have a mindset that you want to learn. You want to take things in, um, like learning how to ride a bike. As you practice and repeat this over time, your brain will start making the this more automatic. There's a lot of things that, if you think about it, you know, when you were a baby and you learned how to walk, it took a while to get there, but once you got there, it's easy because everything kind of came together. And it's not like you're going to forget how to walk because you're doing it all the time. Uh, the same with riding a bike. I mean, I haven't gotten on a bike probably in 2 years, but if I get on a bike, I'll be able to ride it. Yeah. Because I know how to ride a bike. There's lots of things like that, and we— it kind of becomes a habit. So my plan is to make this freedom practice a habit in my life. Every time I have these negative, ridiculous thoughts going on in my brain, I am going to refer to my freedom practice. I'm going to keep this on my bulletin board so I don't forget it. And your mind is a living organism that we don't— like, your brain, we don't fully understand all that it can do. Um, and it is important, so important to keep it healthy. So important. Um, so yeah, like I said, if you would like a copy Please give me your name below, say yes please. I will contact you and get that copy to your email. And I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful day. Yes, Marie, muscle memory. Your brain is— Yep. Yep, that's what I'm creating that or trying to, you know, it's like they say, it's not perfect, you have to keep doing it. So I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful day. Please keep your brain healthy. Keep your mind thinking good thoughts, not the scary thoughts. I love you all and I will see you all tomorrow. Bye. Bye.
