Black women have a lot on their plates!
We seldom have time to really think about how we’re feeling. We seldom have time to think about our thoughts. I mean…we’re already thinking enough! NOW we gotta think ABOUT our thoughts. I get it, I get it.
But really though, have you ever sat down and taken an inventory of your negative thoughts? Have you ever assigned a word, emotion, feeling or color to those thoughts? Well, this week at Sisters of the Yam we did. Its easy to just say “I’m in a bad mood” or assign a judgment to a strain of thoughts but what if you took time to put your thoughts on display and review their texture and tone. This process is called meta cognition or being aware of the thoughts you have and the way you’re thinking about your life.
This week we took a journey into our inner worlds. Using a dialectical behavioral therapy worksheet we took one pervasive thought we had during the day and charted the action or behavior that might stem from that thought. Afterwards, we took time to label that thought process. Labeling your thinking is important. If we understand that we are having self conscious or angry thoughts we can prepare for the behaviors and actions that might follow. We have time to think about whether or not we want to act on our insecurities or anger.
So, just to be clear Sisters of the Yam is not ALL talk. We get down to business. Eventually, we created a mural together. We painted an artistic representation of our favorite unhelpful thinking pattern (see: Unhelpful Thinking Styles Worksheet) and then an artistic representation of how we would combat that unhelpful thinking pattern.
For more information about sisters of the Yam click this link. To submit an application to join the group email [email protected]
