Invaluable Advice On Resilience & Healing From a Holocaust Survivor

By Dr. Caroline Leaf on March 24, 2021

In this podcast (episode #267) and blog, I speak with Holocaust survivor, world-renowned psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Edith Eger about her experiences in Nazi Germany and as a psychologist working with other trauma survivors, as well as the incredible power of the human mind and vital life lessons we all can benefit from.

Dr. Edith Eger used her experiences during the Holocaust as an opportunity to learn how to live life from the inside out. As shenotes in her incredible memoir, The Choice, Dr. Edie came to see hatred as something to be pitied—she recognized that the Nazis who abused and tormented her and killed her loved ones were the true prisoners during the Holocaust. They were prisoners in their mind, brainwashed and controlled by their learned hate.

Through her experiences and her practice, Dr. Edie has observed that:

• No one can take away from you what you put in your mind.
• Never allow yourself to be a victim or prisoner of your own mind. The way we think is what we create.
• To live in reaction to someone else your whole life, to try prove your worth, will make you a prisoner.
• If you wait for someone else to liberate you or make you happy, it won’t happen.
•You will enforce whatever you pay attention to the most. Whatever you think about the most grows!
• It is not just about what happens to you—it is about how YOU view what happens or happened to you.
• There is no certainty in life, but there is a lot of probability in life!
• Know the difference between responding and reacting. Brain power is the best power. Learn to think before just reacting to what happens to you.
• Positive thinking doesn’t do any good unless it is followed by positive action.
• If you are willing to embrace what you have gone through, you are going to go through a journey of grieving, feeling and healing. You cannot heal what you don’t feel. It is not what comes out of your body that makes you ill, it is what stays in your body that makes you sick. The opposite of depression is expression.
• Look at your pain. There is something in it. This darkness, this suffering, it will transform you and make you stronger.
• We are not born to hate and judge. We learn it.
• Love is not what you feel, it is what you do.
• How you think about your thinking is important. You have the choice to live your life for something, rather than just thinking about what you are against. What kind of life are you leading?
• We all have trauma, one way or another.

For more incredible life lessons from Dr. Edie, listen to my podcast (episode #267) and check out her website and book, The Gift.

This podcast was sponsored by:

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Podcast Highlights

3:22 Dr. Eger’s experiences in Auschwitz 

7:26 Why you need to pay attention to what you are paying attention to!

8:30 The power of perspective

9:35 The power of a probability mindset

10:41 Why you need to love yourself 

14:33 How to see the current COVID-19 pandemic 

15:20 Why time doesn’t heal everything 

26:28 Would you like to be married to you? 

28:05 The power of choice

31:40 The power of connecting with others 

40:06 Why reframing the past is so important 

44:10 Trauma recovery and the power of feeling 

59:50 Getting to the root of your thoughts, feelings and behaviors

1:00:42 The worst prisons are the ones we create in our minds

This podcast and blog is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional. 

Switch On Your Brain LLC. is providing this podcast as a public service. Reference to any specific viewpoint or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by our organization. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. If you have any questions about this disclaimer, please contact info@drleaf.com.

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