Are thoughts and their energetic charge contagious? How does negative self-talk impact our journey? Are your thoughts holding you back from embracing change?
In this podcast episode, Jennifer Froemel speaks about thought broadcasting, what it is, and how you can use it to your benefit.
In This Podcast:
What is thought broadcasting?
Letting go of fear and shame
How you can direct your thoughts for the better
What is thought broadcasting?
Thought broadcasting is a fancy way of saying what you think and say out loud, or what you think inside yourself, [are both] thought broadcasting, plain and simple.
Jennifer Froemel
Thought broadcasting is something that most of us do, day in and day out.
Some examples of thought broadcasting could be;
“Ah man, could this guy move his car?”
“Gosh, why am I such an idiot!”
It is important to notice and pick up on when we use thought broadcasting because it can potentially change us, for both better or worse, depending on how the thoughts run.
When we are younger, we often learn these types of internal dialogues from our families, friends, and close relations. We observe how people speak when facing challenges or situations, and we adopt them without realizing it.
Once you notice how you talk about yourself and the world around you, it becomes clear that you are viewing it a certain way, and perceptions can be changed. You can change how you view the world by changing how you talk about it.
People may have heard the term “generational trauma,” and this is not at all that different. When we’ve been wronged or things have happened, we assume something about ourselves, and part of that assumption could be that we install shame.
Jennifer Froemel
Letting go of fear and shame
Letting go of shame and fear means that we are exploring other ways to connect with the world.
When we are angry at the driver in front of us, we assume what the situation is. There’s a very likely chance that the real situation is something completely different.
In thought broadcasting, I could think, “God, what’s wrong with this guy in front of me”, but what I don’t necessarily know about the guy in front of me is that his wife just died and he’s going to the hospital … I don’t know that this horrible thing has happened to this other person and I just went ahead and got mad and honked my horn at them … I was just thought broadcasting about me.
Jennifer Froemel
Thought broadcasting can make you think that the entire world revolves around you when you do not address it. It’s important to notice your thoughts and shift them because when they are left unaddressed they can make you more negative. Change them for the better.
How you can direct your thoughts for the better
I think if all of us could take things at 200m at a time rather than allowing the fear to shut us down entirely or allowing the fear to have us act foolishly, [or] … put us in harm’s way, [we can] lean in and take things 200m at a time is a good way to look at things.
Change can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. The Fear of Change podcast is all about helping you embrace change and live a more fulfilling life. Hosted by Jennifer Froemel, LCPC, a therapist with nearly 30 years of experience, we cover topics like mental wellness, holistic health, and improving relationships.
Jennifer’s down-to-earth approach makes it easy to understand why we fear change and how to move past those fears. Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, relationship issues, or just feeling stuck, there’s something here for you.
Podcast Transcription
Jennifer Froemel 00:00:00 The Fear of Change podcast is part of the practice of The Practice Network, a network of podcasts seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like the Sensitive in Nature podcast, go to practice of the practice. Com forward slash network. Welcome to the Fear of Change podcast. I’m your host, Jennifer Cromwell, a therapist dedicated to helping you change your perspective. See if there is only one option, and discover that finding yourself is a lot of work, but totally worth it. In each episode, we’ll explore the depths of change, uncovering strategies to embrace it with confidence and resilience. So get ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery and transformation. Let’s face our fears together and find the courage to create the life we truly desire. Thank you for joining me. Welcome back to the Fear of Change podcast. I’m your host, Jennifer Froman, and I am here today to have us talk about thought broadcasting. And I wanted to start with a little, little story about how thought podcasting has kind of impacted my life.
Jennifer Froemel 00:01:27 And share with you what I’ve really learned as a direct result of my own experience, as I’ve been doing so far this series. So thought broadcasting is ultimately a fancy way of saying what you think and you say out loud, or what you think inside yourself is not broadcasting. Plain and simple and thought. Broadcasting is something that most of us do day in and day out, whether it’s something as simple as, oh man, will you move your car to God? Why am I such an idiot to why won’t she just do that to I suck, I’m the worst thing ever. Nothing good is ever going to happen for me. You may have heard me in previous episodes. Talk about Lynn McTaggart, talk about Neil deGrasse Tyson and the work that is coming out of those really, really intelligent, smart, wonderful people. And the the work that I want to share with you today is recognizing how thought broadcasting can change us, and how part of thought broadcasting as it relates to our fear also connects to our shame.
Jennifer Froemel 00:02:56 And for many of us, we come from these family systems that have loads of fear and shame laden in them. Right? Even many, many cases where we’re looking at fear and shame coming from our family of origin, coming from years and generations. Right. People may have heard the term generational traumas. Well, it’s not all that different when we’ve been wronged, when things have happened. We assume something about ourselves. And part of that assumption could, in fact, be that we install a shame, right? If we are abused, we think that we’re not good enough because we were abused. And that is, again, a very normal thing for our brains to do. Remembering, as I’ve said in previous episodes, our reptilian brain is totally there to keep us alive. It isn’t to rationalize with us. It isn’t to help us to, you know, talk through what’s going on and teach us to to learn about it or see it in a different way. It truly is the basis of how we exist.
Jennifer Froemel 00:04:17 It’s keeping your head on a swivel to make sure you stay alive. Then when we’ve stayed alive, that’s when the prefrontal lobe of the brain or the frontal lobe of the brain comes into a space. It says this happened because X and as your brain. Because again, most of us are geared to think things through. Right. You hear about all the different types of isms, right? Alcoholism, substance abuse. workaholism. Shopaholics, hoarders or collectors, right? Many of those people. It’s not necessarily that it’s a disorder of the the alcohol. The disorder is the thinking, the disorder with regards to the hoarding. It’s the thinking. The disorder with regards to the workaholism is the thinking. Right. And again, so all these things have underpinnings in that back of the brain, that reptilian part of our brain that keeps us alive. And then somewhere, as it makes changes into the thoughts, as we then take it to the frontal lobe and then go, why is this happening to me? That’s where things can really kind of jump off track, if you will.
Jennifer Froemel 00:05:45 So letting go of shame. Letting go of fear means that we’re in many ways. We’re we’re looking to try to connect to something else. Try to make it about something else. And of course, you know, in thought broadcasting, I could think, you know, God, what’s wrong with this guy in front of me? But what I don’t necessarily know about the guy in front of me is that his wife just died, and he’s going to the hospital to, you know, to identify her body. I don’t know that, you know, this this horrible thing has happened to this other person. And I just went ahead and got mad and honked my horn at them. Right. I wasn’t thinking about that. I was just thought broadcasting about me, about what was impacting me in that moment, what I wanted. So thought broadcasting can really, really negatively impact us. And looking at shame is in its underpinnings, right? We look at that and go, wow, yeah, I really didn’t know how I was supposed to do that thing.
Jennifer Froemel 00:07:02 And so I’m feeling shameful. So I said I was going to tell you a story. So recently when I was trekking in Nepal, in the Himalayas and, you know, in some pretty rough terrain, my first day out was intense, to say the least. I, of course, as I’ve mentioned before, I like the challenge. I do like that there’s something about the challenge in doing things that works for me, right? It might not work for other people, but it works for me. And so the day that I started the trek, we were supposed to go on, you know, these ups and downs and I think I mentioned in a different episode about the Nepali flats, that was a haha. Funny, because there’s not a flat in the Himalayas. unless, of course, all you’re doing is walking along a riverbed, which then that’s a whole different ballgame. but what I found myself doing as I was trekking was I found myself thought broadcasting. Sometimes it would come out externally, other times it would stay internal.
Jennifer Froemel 00:08:10 And what I found happening on this first day was I kept thinking, gosh, I really didn’t train enough. And then I thought, gosh, I really suck. Gosh, I’m really not good at this. Gosh, what was I thinking in thinking I could do this? And if this is hard just getting to the mountain, how in God’s green earth am I going to make it to the summit? I started thinking really negative thoughts about myself. Like, God, I, I really need to start doing more work. I really need to start lifting more weights. It’s kind of true. I probably do for my age, but my whole point in telling you this story is that I started going down this wormhole of of insanity, where I just kept thinking negative thoughts about what I was, who I was, how I was. I then started thinking, and then I did say this out loud. Are you sure Raj did the same track because he acted like, you know, it’s hard, but he didn’t act like it was this hard.
Jennifer Froemel 00:09:23 And then internally I would say, wow, I really, I really I don’t know if I can do this, but again, as I’ve mentioned, the only way through it is through it. And so I would just, you know, pull up my big girl pants, maybe take some more stuff out of my backpack, maybe drink more water to lighten the load. Literally. That was on my legs and my feet in my back. And then it dawned on me, oh my gosh, I’m not broadcasting negative stuff. All right, what do I want to broadcast? How do I want to end this day? And so I started thinking the thoughts of I, I, I just want to I just want to sit down on, on a nice space. I, I want to get to the summit. So the more I started to switch the thoughts from shaming myself to recognizing like my legs are still working. I’m still capable. Yes, my my my sight is is is a bit of a difficult thing right now because of the fact that it’s so dark.
Jennifer Froemel 00:10:36 but we have a flashlight. I have my phone. I could pull my camera out. I started to realize I He wasn’t alone. I had things I actually had, you know, two guides with me, and they were there to support me. And in that thought, broadcasting, I didn’t have to shame myself. I then started to really align myself with the fact that, like, I, I can do hard things. So I realized that the more I thought the good thoughts, I thought the thoughts of like, I can do this and how lucky I am right now that I do have these two people with me. Oh, wow. Yes, Jen, that was your logic model was if you have people there to support you, you’re going to make it. And the more that I thought those thoughts, the more I just let go and the more that I felt like, I can do this, I am going to do this. I’m going to get to sit down in a warm space, and I am going to get to sleep tonight.
Jennifer Froemel 00:11:52 I’m not going to be stuck here on these rocks covered in mule poop. I’m going to make it. And it’s because I set myself up for success. Well, day two came and I woke up thinking all the positive thoughts, right? So grateful for a good night’s sleep. Today is going to be another hard day, I think. But I can do it. I did a hard day yesterday. I did a really hard day yesterday, but I can do it. And so day two started and it was again, it just started as a ball buster and I’m sweating. I’m like, it’s not dripping yet, you know. And again it’s probably like 40 degrees between 30 and 40 degrees. So it’s not like it’s warm, but we’re moving and we’re doing a lot of that ascending and descending. Descending. And I. I started it again. Why is this so hard? Oh my gosh. I don’t know if I can keep doing this. This is just day two. I have 13 days of this.
Jennifer Froemel 00:12:59 What is going to happen? How am I going to get through? I also recognized as I was walking that the night before I wasn’t speaking. Once we got to the warm place, I wasn’t speaking in my usual tone. I was kind of whisper talking and I started thinking, why was I whisper talking last night? So I was kind of trying to get my brain and my body off of the how, how hard this is because we just had started. We were maybe 40 minutes in and it started already. And then I started to focus on what am I seeing, you know? Can I see some beautiful things? Because then maybe that will distract me. I started saying out loud when I can’t see these beautiful, majestic mountains. I’m not as motivated. So I started saying it so again. Thought projecting. I’m not as motivated. This is hard. I’m saying it internally. I’m saying it externally. And then again, it dawns on me. You had a really hard day yesterday and it was day one and you made it.
Jennifer Froemel 00:14:08 I went back and forth and back and forth all day long. And what’s interesting about that is what I realized once we actually got to where we were supposed to get to that day. It takes me longer. I slow down when I am having those negative thoughts. I speed up when I’m in the more positive mindset. And I never noticed that before. I never had given myself the awareness to, like, recognize that. But suddenly I did. I started to recognize like that. It’s it’s it’s all happening inside of me. It truly is. Mind over matter. I had I have legs, right? I’m lucky that I have that. I’m lucky that I have a brain that works. I’m lucky that I am not afflicted with injuries. And so I. I turned back and started thinking about what I do have, what I am capable of, and who I am. So thought broadcasting. I found out then to the what was it two days later that when I was having these negative thoughts, unbeknownst to me, my guide started having negative thoughts too, and I.
Jennifer Froemel 00:15:36 I was floored by that because he had always kind of seemed to always have this like higher power capacity of just, you know, always being so, like flowery and, you know, everything was always rosy and pink. but he shared with me when we had a down day that he too had started thinking things. funny thing, he, you know, he was doing this like. Oh, Jesus. And, you know, I kept hearing it, but. And it bothered me that he would say it because I didn’t know what he was meaning, because as a Hindu man, I’m thinking, why is this man saying calling for Jesus, right? And then I finally asked the question and he said, because this is really hard to rain and we need some help. We need help getting through it. And and some of these paths aren’t really even paths right now because of some of the landslides that had occurred. So where I wanted to go today with our with our podcast is really recognizing that the fears that we have when we start projecting them with this thought, broadcasting, when we start projecting them, much like what Lynn McTaggart has said, it is like you’ve taken a hose like from a from a fire hydrant and just turn it on and you’re spraying it everywhere and it becomes contagious.
Jennifer Froemel 00:17:10 It becomes, I mean, hello, my guide, who is a mountain guide, was having the negative thoughts and I didn’t I didn’t even realize it until I was in it. So it’s so important that we’re able to catch ourselves. We have that capacity. Our brains have the capacity to catch ourselves before we actually are stuck in, you know, Alice in Wonderland place or on the hamster wheel of hell that just keeps squeaking and squeaking and squeaking. And you’re now you’ve thought like, I can’t get off this thing. I don’t know how I’m going to stop the spinning. I don’t know how I’m going to stop the squeaking, but you need to get off of it. Right? So this inner, inner side of you, this awareness that you have, again, looking at things from if you can move your brain to recognizing how inherently abundant you are, your brain, your body, you were created whole. And, you know, even when people lose limbs and they get, you know, they get some sort of prosthetic or whatever, the the reality is, is those things still happen.
Jennifer Froemel 00:18:31 They still feel people will talk about feeling those ghost limbs are there. And that’s not it’s not not real. You know, again they feel that created self, that whole self that exists and they don’t want to they don’t want to have to have to have let it go. And so your higher self knows what you have to bring to the table. Your higher self knows what you’re capable of. Your integrity. You deserve to be aligned with your higher self. But it’s us that that stops ourself from doing that. It’s it’s our brain when it does that whole negative thing in that, you know, oh, we’re going to survive. The only way to survive is to tell you be afraid, be very afraid and just stop while you’re ahead. Now, I will say, while I was up in the high camp before we reached the summit, I met this woman. The 74 year old. Her name was Jill. She to me, I mean, I was like, I want to be you when I’m 74.
Jennifer Froemel 00:19:43 So impressive. She was tracking and tracking and tracking and tracking and her spirit, her sense of who she was. I was, I just I had to talk to her, and so I did. We were sitting I was in my tent. She was in the tent next to mine. And, we were sitting there talking. you know, kind of on the ledge of, of this mountain range. And, and I said, you know, Jill, are you where are you from? And she’s like, I’m from the UK. And I said, Jill, I have to ask. I mean, I’m a woman, so asking woman, a woman, how old are you? And that’s when she said, she’s 74. And I said, wow. And she goes, but I don’t know if I’m gonna make it tomorrow to the summit. I said, well, what’s going on with you? And she says, well, I think I’m dehydrated. And no matter how much I keep putting in.
Jennifer Froemel 00:20:36 No matter how many electrolytes I keep drinking, I still am dehydrated. And you know, I had her pinch the top of her hand to see, you know, how quickly her skin sprung back and it didn’t. And I said, you know, Jill, how many other 74 year olds do you see right now surrounding us on this journey right now on this mountain right now? And she said, well, I don’t I don’t see many. I see some 60 year olds. I said, okay, but how many 74 year olds? And she said none. And I said, how many 74 year old women are up here right now? And she said, none. Just me. And I said, you know, Jill, you’re a badass. You are showing 74 year olds that know you that you’re never too old to seek out your dreams. And she said, Yeah, well, my dream was to hit 6000m, and I don’t think I’m going to do that. And I said, right, but, Jill, we’re at 1800m.
Jennifer Froemel 00:21:42 I mean, let’s just be honest with ourselves again. How many people do you see? You know, in, in in this space right now. And she said, you’re right. I, I don’t, you know, 6000m is 19,685ft, right? And 50 800m is just a little bit less than that. Right? In the long haul, it’s still 19,000ft. So, yes, maybe you didn’t hit your goal of the 6000m. And I said, but you’re only 2000m away from it, Jill. And she said, yeah, I think the thing that I’m realizing right now is I want to go back home whole. I don’t want to go back home having been rushed to the hospital. If I can avoid that. And I said so. Jill, it sounds to me like you’re listening to your inner self. You’ve given yourself what you need. Don’t minimize who you are. Don’t minimize. You know, she said, well, you know, I have a couple of other friends that have, you know, summited things like this.
Jennifer Froemel 00:22:56 And I just, I guess I wanted to, to be able to show that I can. And I said, well, Jill, if they didn’t have issues with dehydration, that’s probably why they were able to do it. But how about this? How about you hydrate yourself more? Maybe you get some rest. Wake up and see what you feel like in a couple of hours. And if then your hydration seems to come back, then maybe you try it. And yeah, maybe, maybe from here you only go 200m, but then that’s going to hit your 6000 meter goal. She goes yeah. Yeah. And she said, you know, I’m, I’m I’m grateful that we’re having this talk because part of me was really beating myself up. Part of me was really shaming myself that like, how did I let myself get like this? And I was like, yeah, like what? And she goes dehydrated. And I was like, again, Jill, that’s the thing about this journey. We don’t know what’s going to show up for us, right? You know, what might show up is like you might scramble to the top with no issues whatsoever, or you might trudge.
Jennifer Froemel 00:24:06 Every single step is fought for. And she was like, you’re right. I’m going to go drink another thing of this electrolyte, and I’m going to go back in my tent and I’m going to sleep for a couple of hours. And and she was like, thank you. You know, thank you for seeking me out because I did. I was like, hey, what’s your name? because I did think, what a badass. I want to be her when I’m her age. I was impressed by her, as I think probably many people are. So the biggest piece here that I want people to take away is our fear. It’s there for us to listen to, and it’s important that we pay attention. Right. Because, like in Jill’s case, it could have really, you know, cost her dearly, right? She could have really had some negative things happen because of the dehydration and not listening to her body. But she also listened a little bit to her fear. And, you know, in that way, I and I was kind of broadcasting like how hard this was and oh my gosh.
Jennifer Froemel 00:25:23 And. Oh yeah. Yeah. Well guess what? The next day when I got up and it was my time to leave to go for the summit, I started thinking some of Jill’s thoughts. Oh, no. What if I die? Oh, no. What if I fall in a crevasse? Oh, no. I want to make it home alive. And I found myself when we had about hit about 200m. So we were at the 6000 meter mark. I found myself thinking. The thought I hit the 6000 meter mark. I think it’s good. You know, Jill would be happy. I should be happy. And then, of course, I started feeling pains and so forth in my body, and I started listening to them and attending to them. But ultimately, what ended up happening was I attended to my body, and then I was able to keep going. And then it happened a second time, But I kept going. I attended to my body. I attended to the thoughts.
Jennifer Froemel 00:26:31 But I didn’t realize that the thoughts were fear based, and that the thoughts I think had started to come in from my conversation with Jill. I let them in. But then I also listened and just, you know, continue to go 200m at a time. So I think if all of us could kind of take things at that 200m at a time, rather than allowing the fear just to shut us down entirely, allowing the fear to have us act foolishly, allowing the fear to put us in harm’s way, right leaning in and just taking it 200m at a time, I think, is a good way to look at things. And so I ask you all to to pay attention to your thought. Broadcasting the inside and the outside. Recognize when talking to others how you might take on their thought. Broadcasting of fear and so forth. And realize that every single time that you identify something like this that impacts you in how you see the world. It’s a gift. It’s a gift to take in and to assimilate that into who you are today.
Jennifer Froemel 00:28:02 Because quite frankly, every download we are given is an opportunity for growth. And aren’t we worth it? Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Fear of Change podcast. I hope you found today’s discussion and lightning and empowering. Remember, change is inevitable, but how we respond to it is what truly matters. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe. Leave a review and share it with others who might benefit from our conversations. Join me next time as we continue to explore new ways to handle change and live our best lives. Until then, I’m Jennifer Cromwell, encouraging you to. Face your fears and embrace the journey of self-discovery. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with understanding that neither the host, the publisher or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical or any other professional information. If you want a professional, you should find one.
