How Neuroscience Is Proving What God Told Us All Along-The Power Of Intentional Thinking

keywords
intentional thinking, faith, neuroscience, cognitive overload, positive mindset, emotional wellbeing, therapy, scripture, mindfulness, community

summary
In this episode of the Faith-Filled Therapy podcast, Jo Hargreaves explores the powerful connection between intentional thinking, faith, and neuroscience. She discusses the importance of managing negative thoughts, the gut-brain connection, and how intentional thinking can enhance emotional wellbeing. Jo emphasises the need to address deep-rooted beliefs and the role of community in supporting mental health. Through scripture and personal insights, she encourages listeners to cultivate a positive mindset and engage in practices that promote holistic health.

takeaways

• Intentional thinking can help manage worst-case scenario thinking.
• The gut-brain connection is significant and should not be ignored.
• Positive thinking aligns with biblical principles and enhances peace.
• Mindfulness can reduce cognitive overload and improve focus.
• Deep-rooted beliefs may require therapeutic intervention to address.
• Positive mindset can be cultivated through intentional thought replacement.
• Community support is vital for mental health and wellbeing.
• Scripture can be integrated into everyday life for spiritual grounding.
• Cognitive overload can lead to stress and anxiety if not managed.
• God's love and acceptance can transform our self-perception.

titles

Chapters

00:00
The Intersection of Faith and Neuroscience

05:11
Intentional Thinking and Its Benefits

10:05
Cognitive Overload and Mindfulness

15:12
Deep Beliefs and Positive Mindset

19:52
Community and Support in Mental Health

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Transcript

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Faith-Filled Therapy podcast. I'm looking at the power of intentional thinking and as always, I love to look at that intersection of scripture and neuroscience, therapy and theology. But also I'm really, really putting it into practice for myself today because I'm recording this just before I'm about to get a train to go to London, to get a plane, to go to America.

to do some work over there at a conference in Texas. And I'm really, really excited, but I really have to manage my mind around these times whenever I go and travel of worst case scenario thinking, not really to do with me. think, it's okay, I can manage myself, but to do with my family, to do with my kids that I'm leaving behind. They've gone off today to preschool and primary school and secondary school.

And I always have to really, really manage my mind. And I found actually one of the best ways to try and manage my mind when I'm getting overwhelmed. I, and I definitely, and I'm sure that we can relate to this. I feel it in my physical body as well, mostly in my gut. this kind of uncomfortable nervous, just

anxious to use like the language that we all use nowadays, but it's more complex than I just feel anxious. It's always more complex than that, isn't there? There's a whole layer of stuff going on, but definitely feel it in my gut. And the reason why, and it really helps me to understand why I have this feeling in my gut is the link between our gut brain and the brain that resides in our head.

is incredibly strong. And often as Christians, if you're listening to this as a faith-filled person, as a follower of Jesus, often you might have experienced that theology where we talk about like denying our feelings, not listening to our gut. And I'm not sure I subscribe to that because our gut is actually incredibly intelligent. It's able to almost think for itself in some ways.

Jo Hargreaves (02:20.962)
That's a whole other podcast to explain that. But actually, if we look at the gut and the brain connection, they're connected via the vagal nerve, but the gut-brain connection is incredibly strong. So when we feel something in our gut, it's not something just to write off and think that it's not important. I think it's really important to listen to that. God's created our gut and it is incredibly complex. Incredibly complex bit of kit.

And I think for us to completely deny it doesn't align with the truth that we've been knitted together, that we're fearfully and wonderfully made, that we've been created in God's own image. And yes, as we discover more about how the gut and the brain is linked, we can understand that actually the things that we think, the thoughts that we ruminate on, the thoughts that we give space to in our mind are gonna directly affect our gut.

directly affect how we feel in our stomach, those butterfly feelings, the feeling sick, even down to things like IBS, very, very linked to what we've been thinking about. So we are so incredibly fearfully and wonderfully made, so unbelievably holistic. And this, maybe like me, this brings you to a place of worship, of saying, wow, God, we are.

so beautifully complex and that reflects God's character and his care and his nurture over us. But going back to what I was originally saying, that I found that when I am ruminating worst case scenario thinking, rather than try and go to war with those thoughts, actually doing some intentional, what the world would call positive thinking, and I'm doing inverted commas here,

if we can engage ourselves in some of that positive thinking, it can actually be more beneficial than trying to go to war with the negative thinking. And when we talk about positive thinking, really the biblical roots of this are Philippians 4 verse 8 of whatever's true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, admirable, not in that order, by the way. It's a different order, I'm sure. But when we think about those things,

Jo Hargreaves (04:41.358)
that scripture goes on to tell us that we will get a sense of peace. And of course, neuroscience is backing up what scripture has told us all along, that when we think intentionally, that when we do Philippians 4, 8, brothers and sisters, true noble, right, excellent, praiseworthy, when we engage in that type of thinking, it does bring a sense of peace, not just to us at a spiritual level, but to us at a soul level, which is our mind, our will, our emotions, but at physical level as well. It impacts and...

Let's unpack that today. I need to do this for myself and maybe you do too. Maybe you found yourself going to war with some of those negative thoughts and feeling like you're not coming out very victorious. Why don't we try and flip the script a little bit and instead do some intentional positive thinking. So let me give you some benefits of this intentional thinking.

First of all, this good old prefrontal cortex that I always talk about. The prefrontal cortex is this kind of decision-making, focus-based, highest executive function part of our brain. And when we take time to intentionally think on something, excuse me, I don't edit these podcasts, mostly because I don't know how. And I think if it takes too much time, I tend not to do it, but I really need to cough. Excuse me.

yeah, I don't, still recovering from that Christmas cold. Maybe you had it too, but, yes, this brilliant prefrontal cortex that when we think intentionally, it enhances our focus. gives us a sense of clarity. it switches us into that prefrontal cortex and strengthens, actually strengthens the prefrontal cortex. So it's a really healthy, holy habit to get into is intentionally thinking.

enhancing focus and mental clarity. Then we've got this brilliant idea of it reducing cognitive overload. Put your hands up if you're overwhelmed or have been overwhelmed in the past 24 hours, 48 hours past week. And we know for women, that's very much cyclical. There's times of the month where, wow, we can spin all the plates, we're doing really well, got loads of capacity and then fast forward seven days, 10 days and our capacity has shrunken somewhat.

Jo Hargreaves (07:05.678)
shrunken, shrunk somewhat and we can feel overwhelmed, overloaded and all of us are in a place of cognitive overload because of the amount of information we have thrown at us every day. So intentional thinking helps us reduce unnecessary distractions by helping us really focus. Our brain does really well with focused thought. When we think

in a focused, streamlined, intentional way when we're mindful, even just in terms of when we're making a cup of tea. I know that I'm guilty that when I'm making a cup of tea, I'm also thinking of everything that I need to add to my shopping list. I'm remembering whose birthday it is. I'm thinking what I need to get out of the freezer.

to defrost for tea, but actually this multitasking really creates cognitive overload for our brain, which we then know out works in our whole body. It's not too far fetched to say that when we do that, we get a shot of adrenaline, cortisol, which is all of the stress hormones, and that can really cause havoc for us in our human bodies. But when we choose which thoughts to engage with, when we become intentional,

And that kind of reminds me of that 2 Corinthians 10 of taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ. That when we become intentional about what thoughts we're going to take captive and what thoughts we're going to engage with, can actually, we have the ability to prevent cognitive overload, which helps maintain mental energy. It improves our productivity. It helps us stay grounded. It helps us stay regulated. And I think we can ground this in our everyday ordinary life in a very easy way.

When we're having a shower, that's what we're doing. We're intentionally tuned into the moment having a shower. Even better in those moments when you're intentionally shaving your legs. If you do that, I remember, I always remember, think it was my middle son walking in on me shaving my legs and saying, mummy, what are you doing? And I was like.

Jo Hargreaves (09:09.612)
I don't even know how to describe actually what I'm doing in terms of the deeper answer to that question. On the surface, I'm just shaving my legs, but actually, why am I doing that? Yeah, let's not get into a conversation about the male gaze and societal pressures on women, because again, that's for another podcast. But anyway, when you're shaving your legs, when you're scrubbing your body, when you're washing your hair, just be intentional.

in that moment to tune in and you might want to habit stack it or layer it with a scripture. thank you that as I wash my hair, I remember that I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. We're intentionally thinking, thank you God that as I wash my body, I remember that you are the one who knitted me together, that you love me, nothing can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Whatever it might be, you might want to...

layer that kind of intentional reduction of cognitive overload by tuning into what you're doing in that moment, washing your body, making a cup of tea, vacuuming the floor, pairing the socks, driving to work, know, everyday ordinary life stuff, but you might want to have it stuck back with a declaration of scripture because again, we're back in Philippians 4.8. If it's noble, true.

right, pure, lovely, admirable, if anything's excellent, praiseworthy, think that might be the right order, think about those things. And then there's a promise that comes after that or a consequence, a natural consequence is that there will be a sense of peace. also have Colossians, I think it's one of my favourite books in the New Testament, Colossians 3.2 tells us to set our mind on things above, not on earthly things. So even when we're doing earthly things,

we can still keep our mind focused on things above. So intentional thinking gets us in that prefrontal cortex, enhances focus and clarity, reduces that sense of cognitive overload, which feels very familiar in my life and probably does in yours. And it really does improve our sense of emotional wellbeing because intentional thinking can reduce negative self-talk. It can reduce rumination and all of these things are linked to stress, anxiety,

Jo Hargreaves (11:30.21)
And here we get into this wonderful little intersection again between cortisol and oxytocin that actually if we're intentionally thinking about the love of God, if we're intentionally zooming into those scriptures, John 3.16, For God so loved the world, Ephesians where beautifully describes about God's love being high and wide and deep and long. Again, I think that's in the wrong order, but you get the gist. Romans that tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. When we're intentionally thinking about those things,

Our bodies designed to release oxytocin when we're intentionally thinking about being loved. Also, not just loved, about being lovable. I'm always really intentional to say to my kids, I really love you, but you're really lovable. You're really lovable. And I just think we can, it's not too far fetched to look at scripture and say, God finds me lovable. Nothing can separate me from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. And when we're focusing on this,

We know that we get that beautiful hit of oxytocin and oxytocin is the very thing that reduces cortisol. I talk about this often, probably talked about it in previous podcasts, but when we're getting into negative self-talk rumination, to use my example at the start of the podcast, worst case scenario, fear-based thinking, and all of the cortisol that comes with it that actually, if we can instead be intentional about what we're thinking, the oxytocin that's released in our body,

will help negate the stress and the impact of cortisol in our body. In fact, oxytocin as a neurotransmitter, as a hormone, whatever language you want to use actually helps get rid of cortisol. And we know that through scripture already in one John, when it tells us so beautifully that perfect love, oxytocin, casts out fear, cortisol. So it's not just a spiritual principle that comes and lives in our physical body. Isn't God just?

unfathomably wonderful, clever, intelligent. I mean, those things don't even begin to describe this awesome God that we serve, that came to live amongst us with skin on with Jesus. Just beautiful. it improves our emotional wellbeing that when we intentionally replace negative and helpful thoughts with positive, healthy, holy, Philippians 4, 8 type ones, we really do promote this emotional balance and wellbeing. And that then helps give us a positive mindset.

Jo Hargreaves (13:53.838)
Don't know for any of us that were kind of growing up in the nineties, maybe the late eighties, there was that advert. I think it was for Mars bars, positive mental attitude and positive mental attitude does work, but only because it's hijacking the way that God's created us to be positive mental attitude is like a counterfeit of Philippians four eight things that are true noble, excellent praiseworthy. I mean, it works, but actually if we're going to look at it this slightly deeper.

If you've looked in the mirror every morning and tried to speak declarations over yourself and nothing's changed and you're thinking, I still don't feel great. I still struggle. I still feel anxious. Let me tell you something you probably already know is that you cannot trick your brain into believing something it doesn't believe. Your brain will hold on to its most deep rooted beliefs and you can stand in front of that mirror every single day and

To some level it will work because your brain's neuroplastic, it's open to rewiring itself when we give it new information. However, if you've got deep held beliefs, I'm not lovable, I'm not worthy. I would argue, and you know, people who maybe know more about this stuff than me might be able to unpack it and we could go head to head and disagree on this. I mean, that would be interesting, wouldn't it? But I would argue that no amount of standing in the mirror and doing that is gonna change those deep rooted beliefs.

We need to go to work with some of the deep, limiting beliefs that we might have, which is why I'm a big fan of therapy, particularly psychotherapy that helps us go back in order to move forward in a healthy, holy way. Declarations are great, but they can cause people to feel frustrated because like I said, often, maybe not always, but often standing in front of a mirror, repeating, repeating the same declarations every single day. If we've got a deeply held belief, it doesn't really...

deal with that. I think that's where therapy, prayer for work, going to God in an uncensored way and really helping him renew our mind. so we can not just get rid of that surface level belief, but also renew, renew, and be transformed by the renewing of our mind. As we read in Romans 12, two with some of those really deep held beliefs that we might have around our lovability, around our inherent goodness.

Jo Hargreaves (16:09.102)
And that's a theological thing that I've just thrown out there, the idea of inherent goodness. Again, maybe another podcast for another day, but positive mindset, focusing on good noble pure thoughts will strengthen these neural pathways associated with optimism, gratitude. And we know that gratitude really does shape our attitude to use that little anecdotal phrase. It really does. It shapes us.

at a spiritual level, because we're aligning ourselves with the truth of who God is. It shapes us in our soul because it helps us manage our mind, our emotions, and it carves out new pathways. It impacts us at a physical, neurobiological, cellular level. And again, to repeat one of my favourite facts, our brain can't be anxious and grateful at the same time because of the two distinct neural pathways, which brings us straight to Ephesians. No, Philippians 4 verse 6, don't be anxious instead, prayer supplication.

Thanksgiving and gratitude. So over time, whilst we continue to think intentionally, it does help us rewire our brain, rewire our mind, but we do need to get to work with those deep, sometimes unhealthy beliefs that we might hold about ourselves. And I guess the offshoot is that it encourages healthy thought patterns, intentional thinking helps us break harmful thought cycles. We can get stuck.

in loops, thought loops, can't we, that just repeat themselves. Some of us can be predestined to these thought loops. I really believe that there is some predestination wired into, sorry, not predestined, that sounds very Calvinistic, Calvinism, Calvin. No, we can have a predisposition. Sorry, that's the language I mean. We can have a predisposition. I think looking at my maternal line,

I have got an epigenetic and look it up cause that's so incredibly interesting. Epigenetics is like the Google translate for our DNA. but again, another podcast for another time. I feel like I have got some kind of predisposition towards that, but it doesn't have to be my predestination. There's a catchy phrase. Our predisposition doesn't have to be our predestination because of how we've been wired. neuroplastic.

Jo Hargreaves (18:29.85)
We're able to rewire our thinking and we can break thought cycles. We can step out of them by doing 2 Corinthians 10.5, demolishing arguments, every pretension, predisposition that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. So when we have the ability, we have the conscious ability to consciously replace negative thoughts with intentional, healthy, holy.

noble, true, right, excellent, praiseworthy one. And this rewiring just really promotes a sense of emotional health, I think. So hopefully this has been helpful. It's just 20 minute quick podcast that I'm recording before hopping on a train and then an aeroplane. Mostly because maybe I need to talk over this and process this today, that instead of going to war with some of my ruminations and some of my worst case scenario thinking,

I'm actually gonna spend my time intentionally positive thinking on not just positive things, not just happy things, not just positive affirmations, but deep biblical truths that are true, noble, excellent, praiseworthy. And I hope you can do the same. I've written about this post on my Instagram page, which is at thefaithfilledtherapist.

I am talking about it more with my monthly subscription, which is the Faith Filled Collective. You can join that. Anyone can join that. It's open to join. Well, I anyone. Women. It's open to women to join. that is a monthly subscription. Works out as like £5.50 a week, £22 a month. You can cancel any time. No big sale from me. But if you are wanting to have a connection point,

with psycho education, with newsletters, with a supportive group of women who are pursuing health and wholeness in body, soul and spirit, then you can join that. You can either email at hello at faithfilledtherapy.com. You can go onto my website, which is joehargreavestherapy.com and you can sign up there. And yeah, you can join for a month, get a free place on the upcoming webinar. And the webinar this month is...

Jo Hargreaves (20:49.134)
about healthy, holy habits for 2024. How can we integrate all of the stuff that I've been talking about and more into our everyday, ordinary lives? I love that Romans 12 in the message paraphrase, how can we take our everyday, ordinary, going to work lives and place them before God as an offering? Yes, and you also get a group call with other women who are on the Faithville Collective. And if you can't make that

you always get the recording. So it's available for you should you wish to get involved a little bit more and to find out more about this intersection of science, scripture, therapy and theology. But God bless you, God bless your mind. May it be a healthy, holy, whole place to be. And I'll finish by the message paraphrase of 1 Thessalonians 523, just to remind you that God is making you holy and whole in your body, soul and spirit. Bless you guys.