10 Ways to Stop Negative Thinking

Negative thinking can lead to problems such as social anxiety, depression, stress, and decreased self-esteem. The key to changing negative thoughts is to understand what you are thinking now (and the problems that result) and use strategies to change those thoughts or weaken their effectiveness.

Thoughts influence our feelings and behaviors because all our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interrelated. Although we all sometimes have useless thoughts. It’s important to know what to do when that happens. Therapy often helps change negative thoughts, but you can also learn how to change your thinking patterns. increase. This article describes some steps you can take to change your negative thinking.

Ways to overcome Negative Thinking

1. Meditate or do yoga.

One of the first things I did was go to a yoga class. It distracted me from my thoughts and brought attention to my breathing. Yoga was also so relaxing that I was able to calm my mind. Yoga has helped me stay in my experience. Instead of rushing what will happen, he has now returned to the only moment, the most important moment.

2. Smile

I didn’t do that much on the weekends, so I had to go out in front of the mirror and laugh. It helps to change your mood and relieve stress. Also, laughing has less muscle than frowning, which makes me feel lighter.

3. Surround yourself with positive people

I called a friend who gave me constructive and affectionate feedback. If you’re in a negative spiral, talk to someone who can take a big picture of things and doesn’t encourage your negative thoughts.

4. Change the tone of your thoughts from negative to positive

For example, instead of thinking “we will have a hard time adapting to our living conditions”, “we face some challenges in our living conditions, but we both Will find a solution that you will enjoy. ” Don’t be a play victim You create your life-take responsibility

In the way I think and act, you may think I’m stuck. Even if our living conditions become intolerable, there is always an escape route. You can make changes at any time as needed.

6. To help someone.

Get out of focus and do something good for others. I decided to make a food tray and donate it to the Salvation Army. It distracted me from things and made me feel good to help someone else.

7. Remember that no one is perfect, let’s move forward

It’s easy to dwell on your own mistakes. It felt awful to waste a weekend acting like this. All I can do now is learn from my mistakes and move on. I don’t want to experience a weekend like this again.

8.  Singing helps

Maybe I’m not good at singing because I don’t remember the lyrics very well, but I feel better every time I sing. When we sing, we express our feelings. It’s an amazing stress reliever.

9. List five things you are grateful for right now.

Being grateful helps us appreciate what we already have. Here’s my list: my cats, my health, a six-week trip to Asia, a new yoga class I’m teaching, and my mother’s biopsy coming out clean.

10. Always look for positive quotes

I like to stick sticky notes with positive quotes on my computer, refrigerator door, and mirror as a reminder to stay positive. It’s a widely accepted truth that the simple act of staying positive can make your day a success or failure. Here’s a positive that helps you stay bright and cheerful all year round. We’ve put together the best quotes and proverbs about life. Regardless of the season, these happy words help keep you motivated and content. “I’m as happy as I want,” (Abraham Lincoln once said) to truly thought-provoking quotes, “get out of sadness without protection.” There is something for everyone, “you can’t protect yourself from luck”).

Replacing Negative Thoughts

One of the basic parts of a treatment plan that includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is cognitive reconstruction. This process helps identify negative thoughts and turn them into more useful and adaptive responses.

Cognitive reconstruction, whether done with treatment or alone, involves a step-by-step process of identifying negative thoughts, assessing their accuracy, and then replacing them.

Thinking in this new style can be difficult at first, but positive and rational thinking will become more natural with time and practice. Cognitive restructuring can help you challenge your thinking by taking the following steps:

• Ask yourself if your thoughts are realistic.
• Think about what happened in similar situations in the past and assess whether your thoughts match what happened.
• Actively question ideas and seek alternative explanations.
• Consider what you will gain and what you will lose if you continue to believe your thoughts.
• Recognize if your thoughts are the result of cognitive biases such as B. Catastrophe.
• Think about what you would say to a like-minded friend.

Avoid Stopping Thoughts

Stopping thoughts is the opposite of mindfulness. It is the act of paying attention to negative thoughts and insisting on eliminating them. The problem with thought-stopping is that the more you try to stop negative thoughts, the more they appear. This is called a thought rebound. Mindfulness is desirable because it takes the weight off your thoughts and reduces their impact on you.

Experts believe that the thought rebound that occurs after trying to stop negative thoughts is far more harmful6. Instead, psychologists generally recommend finding ways to deal with negative thoughts more directly. Stopping thoughts seems to help in the short term, but over time it increases anxiety.

Conclusion

It happens to the best of us. When you’re enjoying your normal life, suddenly the thought, “What if I make a big mistake?” pops into your head, creating a domino effect. I’m doing it. Why did I say that? Why did I agree to this? I can’t do this.” And sometimes repeat the conversation to analyze how stupid you must have sounded or what the other person means.

What follows is a debilitating chain reaction that, with each subsequent negative thought, sends your mind into a deeper downward spiral towards virtual combustion, before paralyzing you. It’s like successfully blowing up your entire world in an instant – all within your mind.