Imagine this: You’ve always dreamed of picking up
a new hobby like gardening. You try it for a bit,   but since hobbies aren’t easy to master,
your negative thoughts start spinning. “I’m terrible at this, I can never
do anything right.” So you quit,   and feel a little sad when you pass beautiful
gardens in your neighborhood. Sound familiar? Countless studies have shown that cognitive
behavioral therapy, or CBT, can improve   depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, and many
other conditions. It is a powerful tool therapists   use to help you identify the patterns that exist
between your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. All three are interconnected: the way you
feel affects what you think and what you do,   and what you do has a big impact
on how you feel and what you think. Most of us have over six-thousand thoughts a
day. Imagine your brain is a stream, and your   thoughts are individual leaves traveling through
the current. Some pass through without much fuss.   But there are usually a few that we pull out
of the stream and hold onto really tightly. CBT challenges you to hold those thoughts at a
distance, and evaluate them objectively before you   act on them and let them dictate how you feel. Ask
yourself: Is this thought accurate? Is it helpful? CBT also empowers you to change your behaviors.
If you’re stuck on the thought that you’re   terrible at gardening, maybe you can start
by keeping a simple potted plant alive,   read an article for useful tips, or speak to
a neighbor with a green thumb. Your actions   can prove your original thought wrong—and
you’ll notice you’ll feel better as a result. By challenging your thoughts like
this and seeing them more objectively,   in time CBT can help improve symptoms of
depression and anxiety, and be a valuable   tool to help you through bumps in your daily
life. Remember: You can change your feelings   by changing your thoughts and behaviors, which
in turn, can improve every domain of your life.