Says Who? Ora Nadrich on Mental Health News Radio
What can we say about Ora Nadrich? This interview changed my mind chemistry! It was lovely, yummy, and insightful. A must listen from the author of Says Who?
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What inspired you to write your book, Says Who? (How One Simple Question Can Change The Way You Think Forever)
When I was fourteen years old my sister had a nervous breakdown. It was devastating for my family, and extremely traumatic for me. I went into complete fight-or-flight mode, and told myself that what happened to her was going to happen to me, so essentially I believed a fear-based thought that wasn’t true. As a result of this belief, I started to experience anxiety, which was affecting my life. This eventually sparked me to embark on a deep, two-decade psycho-spiritual journey, which led me to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Jungian Analysis, and studying many different techniques and modalities to learn the workings of the mind. I became a certified Life Coach, and was inspired to write a book with a highly effective, yet user friendly method that could help people overcome their negative and fear-based thoughts to support their well-being, achieve their goals, and improve all areas of their life.
How did you come to create the Says Who? Method
I was in a life coaching session with a client who seemed to be on an upwardly mobile trajectory. She was a creative woman, and was starting a new business she was very excited about. Out of nowhere she said something that completely undermined what she was setting out to do. It was an extremely fear based thought, and when she said it, I felt as though I was speaking to someone with two minds; one positive, the other negative. In that moment, I intuitively felt that her thought was something she had heard someone else say before, and “Says who?” popped into my mind. I literally blurted it out to her, and she looked stunned. When I went further and asked her if that was her original thought, or had she heard someone else say it, she had a complete breakthrough by realizing that it had been said by her father many times when she was growing up, and she had been carrying his fear-based thought in her mind for most of her life. She felt this questioning process was life changing for her, and I realized that I was onto something powerful and very effective. I developed more questions that I felt were essential to complete the method, and it became the basis of my book.
Why do people think negative thoughts?
It’s part of the thinking process. We think between 40-70 thousand thoughts a day, and many of them don’t serve our well being, and yet people will accept them as true, and continue to think them. Part of the reason we think negative or fear based thoughts is because we evolved from hunters and gatherers, and functioned primarily out of a survival need, which meant anticipating being attacked by a saber tooth tiger at any minute. Well, that doesn’t necessarily apply to us today, and yet that fight or flight mechanism is still active in our brain, and sometimes not for the right reasons. It’s one thing if our survival is truly being threatened, but another thing if our fear or negativity is stemming from things we are telling ourselves that aren’t true. Negative and fear based thoughts exist, but we need to know how to handle them, and not allow for them to rule our mind.
What are some examples of the types of negative thoughts people think, and are there common ones?
Everyone has had thoughts of insecurity and self worth, but it varies with each person. Some people are much harder on themselves and more critical so their negative thoughts might be harsher and less forgiving. Thoughts like “I’m a loser, unlovable, worthless, ugly, fat, stupid, an idiot” are some of the common ones, but it can be much more specific like “I’m not good at anything” or “I’ll never amount to anything” or No one will ever love me” or “I’ll end up alone” or “My life is meaningless” etc., and things like this can be said to oneself with expletives mixed in and in a very reprimanding and angry voice.
How do you feel the Says Who? Method can help people with their negative thoughts?
The Says Who? Method gives people a simple, yet highly effective technique to question their thoughts, which is something most people don’t do, or never thought to do. For the most part, people readily accept whatever they tell themselves, so right off the top, Says Who? has you look at your thoughts in a whole new way. It teaches you how to be the observer of your thoughts and not the reactor, which again, most people don’t do or haven’t done before. The Say Who? Method is an inquiry, an investigation of your negative thoughts to find out if they are true or not, and shows you how to challenge them instead of accepting them. It gives you a daily practice to release a negative thought, and replace it with one that is positive, wholesome and life-affirming, and most importantly with one that serves your well-being; mind, body and spirit. By using the seven Says Who? questions daily, it becomes a healthy habit like brushing your teeth, and when you use if with consistency, you begin to see extraordinary changes in your thinking, and how it affects your life in a completely productive way.
Why is questioning our thoughts so important?
It’s important to know what our thoughts are trying to tell us, especially the negative and fear-based ones. Some of our most troubling thoughts don’t go away, and even if you try to push them down or away, they will invariably come back around to get your attention, and sometimes in a much more aggressive way, which can be through a physical or emotional manifestation like anxiety or illness. I say that our negative thoughts can create “side affects” which means they can manifest symptomatically through the body, and that is when we are forced to deal with what’s disturbing us on a deep, subconscious level, which is where we bury many of our negative and fear-based beliefs. Questioning our thoughts begins the healing process so our thoughts don’t turn into suffering and disease.
Can Says Who? change the way you think?
Absolutely! When you realize that you are the creator and master of your inner dialogue, and can see how you can transform your thoughts from negative to positive, your whole thinking process changes, and you become victorious over your mind instead of a victim of it having power over you with fear and negativity.
If there was one central message you’d like to convey about the importance of Says Who? what would that be.
That you are the creator and master of your inner dialogue, which creates your reality. You are in complete control of your thinking mind, and can create your thoughts to be exactly what you want them to be to serve your well-being.
Can you give us some examples of how Says Who? has helped people in their lives.
Says Who? has helped people stop believing the lies they have told themselves for so long. I have seen people completely transformed by realizing that their negative thoughts didn’t originate with them, but instead belonged to other people who influenced them at one point in their lives to believe something about themselves that wasn’t true. It’s also helped people let go of a negative thought they’ve held onto for so long, and replaced it with one that is positive and supportive of who they really are today. It has helped so many people understand their thought process better, and if, or when a negative thought pops up in their mind, they know exactly what to do to transform it.
How is Says Who? different than other “think positive” or motivational books?
Says Who? gives you an actual method to use to transform your negative and fear-based thoughts. It doesn’t lead you to believe that positive thinking is possible all the time by simply thinking positive thoughts, but instead tells you exactly what to do when you feel taken over by a negative or fear-based thought that is causing you unhappiness or suffering. It’s like having an invaluable tool kit to use daily to maintain a consistent state of well-being.
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Ora Nadrich is a Certified Life Coach, Certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher, and author of Says Who? How One Simple Question Can Change The Way You Think Forever.
New York Times best-selling author, Marianne Williamson says, “Ora Nadrich is a treasure. Her voice bears the passion of her own experience; she’s able to reach deep into our hearts because she’s culled so much wisdom from her own. When she speaks, I listen; when she writes, I read it; when she gives advice, I heed it. Her sparkle and power are not to be missed.”
Ora is a frequent blogger for the Huffington Post, and has been featured as a panelist on Huffington Post Live. She’s written many articles on Mindfulness, and can be found in Women’s Health Magazine, Yahoo Health, Conscious Lifestyle Magazine, Conscious2, MindBodyGreen, Elevated Existence Magazine, LA Yoga Magazine and many other publications and radio shows. She leads workshops on “The Says Who? Method”, a step-by-step process of confronting our negative thoughts, which are what often create the obstacles in our lives. Providing both tangible and practical lessons, Ora’s students are able to address and overcome their negative thoughts and outlooks to live their lives at their highest potential. Among her other workshops are “Living a Mindful Life”, “The Authentic Self,” “Conscious Manifestation” and “Love, Sex, and Mindfulness.” Ora has also facilitated a popular Women’s Group for the last several years. Her classes and workshops have been taught at The Den Meditation, Unplug Meditation, Full Circle Venice, Tikkun Holistic Spa and other locations in the Los Angeles area.
Ora was an actress and screenwriter, where she worked in film, episodic television, and commercials for more than a decade, which she feels provided her vast experience in exploring motivation and the process of self-discovery. During that time, she simultaneously embarked on a two-decade psychological and spiritual journey toward self-awareness and transformation, which lead her to becoming a Life Coach.
Ora’s extensive psycho-spiritual exploration in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Technology of Change, Jungian Analysis, Buddhism and Kabbalah has influenced her work. She is also a licensed Marriage Officiant, and a member of the National Association of Professional Women, and The International Women’s Leadership Association.
An active philanthropist, Ora supports a variety of organizations like the Water Buffalo Club, Generosity.org, and Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.
Additional Endorsements:
“Says Who? is a wonderfully articulated method of deep mindful inquiry integrating knowledge and practices from the fields of mindfulness, positive psychology and coaching. A wonderful guide taking one into both the power of the thinking mind, the nature of our thoughts, and how best to understand and then transform them. This book is an excellent exploration into self-healing, and a treasured toolbox of exercises to assist us in the process of self-transformation. This unique book will set your mind at ease and bring forth profound tranquility of body, mind and spirit. A guide for all seekers, students of transformation, and most helpful for coaches, therapists and people helpers.”
Dr. Ronald A. Alexander
Founder, Executive Director of the OpenMind Training Institute
Author of Wise Mind Open Mind: Finding Purpose and Meaning in Times of Crisis, Loss and Change
“Rooted in the liberating Buddhist principle, ‘What we believe, we become,’ Ora’s wise and timely book presents a clear and simple method-a series of seven insightful and revealing questions-to not only identify self-limiting thoughts, but to mindfully challenge and transform them into insight, passion, and freedom-the requisites that help us achieve our goals while living in peace and dignity in the process.”
Alan Clements
Founder, Executive Director of World Dharma Institute
Author of The Voice of Hope: Conversations with Burma’s Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi
Author of A Future to Believe In: Reflections on the Art and Activism of Freedom
Author of Instinct for Freedom: Finding Liberation Through Living
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