Reclaim Your Headspace: The Counterintuitive Approach to Defeating Depression, Stagnation, and Low Self-Esteem; and Start Living Your Best Life

By Powella Samson

Reclaim Your Headspace is to your mental health what 'factory reset' is to electronic devices. We are in a critical period, and if there is ever any befitting time to learn and practice real-life self-help and empirically proven strategies to help improve your life, now is that time and RECLAIM YOUR HEADSPACE is the right book for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Powella Group
• Release date: Dec 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781735935317

Powella Samson

Powella Samson is a behavior therapist with several years of both local and international work experience who enjoys sharing health, motivational, and success tips, and that is exactly what he did in Reclaim Your Headspace. He has a Bachelor's degree in psychology and a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education. Powella uses the techniques of Applied Behavior Analysis in conjunction with psychotherapy to provide a well-rounded and evidence-based treatment to clients with behavioral or mental health issues. He hopes to continue to explore the fields of psychology and education and obtain more credentials in the future so as to continue to bridge the lingering gap that exists between society, education, and mental health. Powella has a knack for helping and uniting people and providing useful tips to those struggling with everyday life challenges. He was one of the 2017 Peace Jam mentors at the Florida State University's Center for Leadership & Social Change, headlined by Shirin Ebadi─ (a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran and a 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner), where he served as a mentor to twelve Bainbridge, Georgia, high school students. Powella worked as a behavior tutor/therapist at the Psychology Center for Growth and Development, Thomasville, Georgia, and Coastal Learning and Behavioral Center, San Francisco, California before joining the U.S Army in 2019 to check off one of his wildest bucket list items. He has participated in several Nonviolent communication programs and was nominated and awarded the Peacemaker Award based on his contributions to furthering world peace and for being an outstanding Ambassador for peace to the community of Thomasville, Georgia. In Powella's honor, a brick commemorating the award was placed in the Peacemaker Circle next to Balfour Chapel, Thomas University joining bricks honoring previous Peacemaker Award recipients. Powella Enjoys writing, volunteering, reading, traveling, exploring different cultures and foods, and meeting new people.

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Introduction

Just like the popular saying: An apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In this book, you will learn how to heal your mind and how to get tangible answers to your everyday questions from within and around you, as opposed to looking for answers in far-away places where there are none and further worsening your case. Knowing that the answers you seek in life are wholesomely embedded within and around you will boost the self-esteem and help facilitate a brighter physical, economic, and mental health for not only you but also for each and everyone around you who agrees with your transformative power. Do you know that your body and your mind are like two sides of a coin? And that, every answer your body needs, your mind can provide, and vice versa, only if they agree? Well, whether you already know this, on the fence, or completely oblivious of this fact, hang tight, free up your body, mind, and soul, let’s embark on an awakening expedition together.

In this book, I will help you understand why your physical health is a direct reflection of your mental and spiritual health. The basic premise of this book is to teach you how to detox and declutter your mind from all forms of irrelevant, external bombardments (mental oppression, mental stagnation, brainwashing, stigmatization, low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety) by helping you source for a lasting solution deep within you (your inner-world), and around you (your outer-world), which will, in turn, grant you the clarity you crave in every facet of your life.

Modern science tells us that man is a product of all aspects of the universe and an outcome of all its laws. In this book, you are going to learn how to leverage all the beauties embedded in you and your universe to facilitate a healthier and more productive lifestyle. You are your universe; your level of self-awareness and the people you surround yourself with form your reality, your universe. Just as Mufasa told his son Simba, in the classical Disney movie, The Lion King: Everything the light touches is our kingdom. See, this universe is very rich in healing, peace, love, and all of the good stuff, but not until you align yourself with this fact and get more definite with what you want, how you want to live your life, and the emotions you choose to express, will you be free from the abyss of stagnation, depression, poverty, and mental fogginess. I want you to understand that the universe and her forces are bigger than any one of us. People of the old knew these facts; hence the reason they were so determined, focused, and productive during the agrarian and industrial ages.

This is not a religious, or any kind of voodoo or magical book; this is a book for progressive people; the crème de la crème of sound mind, meant to defrost the fog that has formed over your mental space. It’s tailored for all open-minded individuals who are ready to take charge of their emotional health because those who are emotionally healthy are in control of their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and life in general. They can cope with life’s challenges more productively and lead a joyful and fulfilled life. You can read and meditate with this book anywhere and anytime: home, school, hospital, religious houses, hotel, street, bus, and even on your flight. Just make sure you are in a calm and relaxed state of mind while practicing the various concise mental exercises and the definitive affirmations that follow. I highly recommend that you observe them first thing in the morning or incorporate them into your morning ritual and do the same before going to bed at night consistently. A consistently calm, collective, conscious, and coherent mind produces a healthy body and life. I called this book the workbook of a healthy and sound mind.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and many other suicide prevention organizations all over the world have identified depression as the major top risk factor of suicide in the world. Depression is often the end product of a bio-psycho-socially distorted mind frame. Research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology proposes that chronic stress can aggravate mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, bipolar disorder, cognitive problems, personality changes, mood swings, and problem behaviors. Depression and its many subliminal companions can be very complex to decipher most of the time; their subtleties make it very difficult for a lot of sufferers to understand when they are a victim, and the urgency to seek help. These are parts of the major reasons why a lot of health professionals try to shy away from taking up the responsibility of working with certain severely depressed clients because of the likelihood of getting thrown into depression themselves. Nobody is safe. Anybody could be a victim, both the rich and the poor. That is why in this book, Reclaim Your Headspace: I consider it an honor to intimate you with several counterintuitive approaches to help you better understand who you truly are and the importance of the different energy within and around you at every given point in time so as not to be bamboozled into the destructive web of depression, stagnation, low self-esteem, and false self-image; and start living your best life.

Utilizing the different counterintuitive components of psychology, anthropology, mental physics, positive thinking, inspirational anecdotes, universal facts, and positive philosophy embedded in this book will help you defeat depression, suicidal thoughts, mental oppression, and low self-esteem. To understand and defeat the main culprit here, which is Depression (because the moment anyone becomes depressed, they immediately start underperforming); you have to be a multifaceted or a divergent thinker, freeing yourself from any sorts of mental constraint. I will teach you just how to hit the RESET or BLOCK button of your mind against contrary vibes, just come along with me.

Numerous scientific studies have proven that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is a branch of psychology, is an effective intervention for treating anxiety and depression. The concept of cognitive-behavioral therapy is basically the replacement of negative thoughts and ideologies with positive ones. Here is an excerpt from a publication by Pyschologytoday.com, to explain the behavior of your brain during happiness and sadness: Through functional MRI (fMRI) technology, Dr. Richard Davidson demonstrated that the left side of the frontal lobe known as the left prefrontal cortex is more active when people feel happy. In contrast, the right side of the frontal lobe, the right prefrontal cortex is more active when people feel sad. Thus, by learning what stimulates the left prefrontal cortex, we can encourage or even train people to be happier. Similarly, by learning what calms the activity in the right prefrontal cortex, we can discourage or train people to reduce sadness. So evidently, if you are able to identify the several factors that trigger your right prefrontal cortex, that causes you to feel sad, act out of character, make you do things you never premeditated, and all kinds of negative emotions," you will be able to block or reduce those factors and increase only those factors that trigger your left prefrontal cortex, which is the feel-good section of your brain that makes you indulge in acts that will constantly trigger your happiness hormones, and continue to live a joyful, healthy, stress-free, and productive life.

Ever wondered why we hear folks use these statements: Oh, I lost my mind, oh I didn’t know what I was thinking when I committed that crime, oh someone lured me into committing that act; I never premeditated it, after finding themselves in hot water? See, unless you come to the awareness of those factors that uninvitedly hijack your mind to make you feel or act in ways that are contrary to your true nature, you will continue to wallow in depression and setbacks. This book is your companion in your quest to understanding the different kinds of vibes within and around you, and to help train your mind always to make the conscious effort only to circulate, retain and emit positive (healthy) vibes. You are the key player when it comes to the reclaiming of your mind and living a happy life.

This book is majorly inspired by the science of psychology and anthropology, which are basically looking at the 360 degrees interrelationship of you as a person and your environment: spiritual, biological, geographical, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global factors. Since we are the products of our environment (religions, traditions, and relationships, etc.), it will make perfect sense for us to open-mindedly turn to the whole of our environment for not only financial and social help but mental help too. By having a solid awareness of the types of energy present within and around you, you will be able to make an informed judgment to either entertain or restrain such perceived energy. Self-awareness boosts your discernment acumen, which helps you block out all contradictory energy meant to subject your physical and mental health to the down cycle of depression. It also helps you to embrace and prioritize all cooperating and positive energy around, which will grant you mental clarity and help channel your mana (superpowers) into your core values in life to promote a healthy lifestyle in every facet.

Applied Behavior Analysis has taught us that any behavior that is not reinforced will fade away over time. So, in this book, you will learn how to program your mind only to reinforce those energies that are only beneficial to you, bio-psycho-socially. And by doing so, you would have escaped depression and all other forms of subtle mental torture.

Taking antidepressants for depression does help to balance the different chemicals in our brains called neurotransmitters that affect mood and emotions. Such an impact may last for a very short while if you lack an understanding of the different factors that got you depressed in the first place and how to regulate and transmute them to your advantage. The likelihood of crashing in the cold hands of depression again is possible if you still don’t know who you are internally and externally.

As a trained behavior/neurodevelopmental therapist with quite some years of work experience, I have utilized the field of positive psychology and positive thinking in helping several of my clients and their family members to eliminate their negative perceptions of disorders, basically, reframing their minds to view things from an optimistic standpoint, which has helped in improving their personal life and that of their children tremendously. And I love the feedback I get from them. See; when you fully understand who you are as a person, then and only then can you help others. Negative thoughts were taught to your brain by perhaps your past dreadful experiences, negative people you associate yourself with, poverty, abuse, rejections, fears, past failures, and all sorts of negative vibes. In this book, you will learn how to erase those negative and unbeneficial thoughts from your mind, and replace them with more positive, practical, useful, hopeful, pragmatic, productive, confident, worthwhile, beneficial, effective, and efficacious thoughts, which will promote productivity in your mental health and other areas of your life.

Each chapter of this book is succinctly tailored to uplift your soul and is geared toward helping you live a happy and fulfilled life. There are specially curated inspirational philosophies, motivational quotes, mental exercises, and definitive affirmations on each chapter, explicitly crafted to stimulate your mind into greatness. Also, in chapter eight, there are sixty special affirmations inspired by my African grandmother that has rescued me personally from all forms of depression and turbulence times, for a great number of years now. I will advise that you approach each chapter, quote, and affirmation with an open mind and wait for the transformation. I have found the different techniques and information in this book to be very helpful to me and to most people I have encountered in life. Still, you should test it yourself and see how the different strategies, anecdotes, definitive affirmations, mental exercises, testimonies, and philosophies embedded in it helps to transform your life for the better, consciously and unconsciously unify your inner-self with the universe again. If you find this book useful or you know of anyone who might need it direly, please, don’t hesitate to recommend it to them, including your family, friends, loved ones, and even those you claim to hate. Let’s save the world, one person at a time. Congratulations on your journey to reclaiming what is rightfully yours —YOUR MIND.

Chapter 1:

You are the head of your headspace.

I

Your headspace is literally your workplace;

please, protect it at all costs.

The Oxford Dictionary defines headspace as A person’s state of mind or mindset. Yes! Let me reiterate that louder: A PERSON’S STATE OF MIND. Not everybody’s state of mind, but a person. That means your personal state of mind. That means your brainpower. That means your emotional mind. That means your exclusive mental space; a paramount space uniquely reserved for you and not for anyone else to invade without your mental consent. Your headspace is the power-house of your existence, which controls both your physical and spiritual being. Science has proven to us that people who are emotionally aware are in control of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. And they are better able to cope with the challenges of life more productively. See, sometimes, we get invaded and subjugated of our headspace, unknowingly, by those we love and even those we claim to hate, by our surroundings, luxuries, possessions, jobs, social media platforms, society, and all other sorts of external forces. You may ask how? By the time you sheepishly allow those things or people you claim to love to influence your decision-making processes without your complete mental consent incessantly, you have been hacked of your headspace. Also, if the presence or thoughts of those you claim to hate or dislike incessantly influence your emotions, demeanor, or actions, you have also been hacked of your headspace. Expressing your emotions is not a bad thing at all. The bad thing is when you are not the regulator of your emotional thermostat, but an external force. I want you to have a hundred percent control of your emotional thermostat and not a non-native because that is what everyone else is when it comes to your headspace. You are the only true native of your emotional landscape, so go on and possess the dominance of your kingdom. Be emotionally smart and seriously prioritize your mental lucidity.

I am here to remind you that you have the superpowers to choose what emotion or action you express at any given point in time, irrespective of the situation. What or how others choose to treat you is none of your business, but how you choose to respond to them is every inch of your business. I am saying: be deliberate about your emotions and actions and not how or what someone else wants you to feel or act. I know this sounds so cliché. But until you are able to take back the remote control of your emotions and actions, you will continue to wallow in depression and stagnation. Make sure when you get up from your bed in the morning, you are only doing those things that are beneficial to your biological, psychological, and social well-being; and not what everybody else wants you to do. To be in charge of your headspace on a daily basis, you have to detox your mind from every form of unproductive interference; like perusing social media the first thing in the morning just to see what is going on in your folk’s or foe’s lives, rushing to see what is going on in the news networks, and all other sorts of avoidable mind meddling routines. I bet if you check on social media, switch on your television or radio, all you will hear is news of wars, genocide, riots, political brouhaha’s, and all kinds of rubbish. See, there is a lot of time to catch up with the rest of the world, but first, you need to catch up with yourself — your life and your core priorities. Productive people are very deliberate about what they allow to annex their headspace, so if you want to be productive in every facet of your life, you have to adhere to the traditions of productive people. Social media and all these other mediums I mentioned are beautiful; I love and use them myself, but you are supposed to use them, and not them using you. In a nutshell, I want you to be deliberate about the things you get yourself involved with, both physically and mentally, at all times, especially in the mornings. You are supposed to plan your day in your head even before getting off your bed, and should already know what you would be doing for the day, and not what or how social media, the news, a lover, a hater, or any sorts of external factor wants you to do or act. I guess the iconic Warren Buffet said it best in this aphorism: You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing everything with logic; true power is restraint. If words control you, that means everyone else can control you; breathe and allow things to pass.

You are not in charge of your own headspace anymore when the negative things that others say to you can make you act out of character, or when those who you claim to love dearly are able to incessantly sweet-talk you into doing things that are totally against your will. You have been subliminally conquered by an in-house intruder if that is the case. In other words, you have been successfully hacked, and that is why some people are lured into committing crimes that they never premeditated because someone else succeeded in taking over their personal workplace, their minds, and their universe; hence, they have no other options but to dance to the tune of their hijackers. Sometimes, we somehow find ourselves in an exploitative space, and that is fine. What is not fine is, knowing that you are being exploited and choosing to remain in exploitation. As soon as you come to your senses, all you have to do is take a mental pause, and if necessary, make a physical move. Take off your ignorance veil, and put on your self-awareness cap. Ask yourself these seemingly simple questions — Who is in charge of my headspace at this point in time regarding this particular event? Is it me or someone else? Most times, if you could ask these seemingly simple questions, and take a few seconds to reevaluate your values and priorities as it relates to such given situation; you would be more than aware enough to know who is in charge at that point in time, and be able to make swift and necessary adjustments there and then to your benefit. Be it a good or a bad idea, knowing who is in charge of it, and if you are mentally in consent with such an idea is very crucial and cannot be overemphasized. Always knowing who is in charge of your headspace is a big deal and shouldn’t be compromised. If you are going to suffer, I think it is best to suffer because of your personal decisions and not what someone else lured you into.

Several kinds of research on the influence of peer pressure on crime have proven to us that a huge percentage of inmates in our prisons are there because of what someone else lured them into, because they allowed someone else to make them act out of character, because they allowed a temporary situation to land them in a permanent mess because they were trying to please someone else, hence indulging in illegitimate acts in order to be deemed brave by their cool guys associations or be loved or validated by their peers, or because they felt pressured by society to measure up to standards. I used to be a part of my local church’s prison visitation team. Whenever we would go to visit inmates at the local prison, and you dared to ask one of the inmates their reason for being there, you would most of the time hear: Oh, it was this man/woman who lured me into doing certain acts. Or, Oh, someone provoked me, so I did this to them. It was always an external factor responsible for their actions and never them; listen, that will always be the case as long as you are unaware of the importance of your headspace and the occupant and controller of it at every point in time. Before going full throttle on any uncertain situation you find yourself, try to pause for a few seconds and have a few needful conversations with yourself: "Is this my ideology? Do I agree with this philosophy? Have I given enough thought to this decision? Am I being pressured by society? Whose idea is this, really? Am I in control of my headspace? The list of these questions is endless, but you can scan through within seconds if you are self-aware enough and ready to take back what is rightfully yours — YOUR HEADSPACE, and live a mental−stress−free life. Nothing will bring you more joy than knowing that you are in full control of your thoughts, mind, and life. The highest form of captivity is the captivity of the mind. No wonder Bob Marley sang that we should emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. Your mind is a terrible thing to lose; please reclaim it now and secure it very dearly forever.

Mental Exercise

Adjust your body and mind to a refreshed state. Take several deep breaths and imagine yourself reclaiming 100% ownership of your headspace. Now, consider your headspace reclaimed. Take a few deeper breaths this time. Now, repeat this after me; SAY:

I consider myself in charge of my headspace. I am never going back to giving away my mind. I have now shed off every skin of external control.

Definitive Affirmation

I am the head of my headspace today.

II

Respect your headspace. This is the birthplace of

every