You just made an appointment with Northwest Surgery Center when you had a wave of anxiety come flooding into your mind. You feel as though it’s impossible to stop these negative thoughts as they come in. That’s why we’re here to help with some tips on how to overcome negative thinking.
Let’s get into it!
Access the Present Moment
Where do thoughts stem from? If you think about thinking, you’ll find that we are often consumed by thoughts about the past or worrying about what’s to come. Rarely, do we pay attention to what’s right in front of us. Spiritual leader Eckhart Tolle describes this condition perfectly in his book The Power of Now by saying “Compulsive thinking has become a collective disease… the one thing that truly matters is then missing from your life: awareness of your deeper self.”
Awareness is the key to overcoming negative thinking. Instead of getting absorbed in your thoughts, coming back to the present moment allows you to feel a deeper connection with yourself. You see that most of the “problems” you fear are mind-made constructs that are not your actual reality.
Tips to Access the Present Moment:
• Mindfulness meditation practice
• Vinyasa yoga flow
• Full-body scan meditation practice
Practice Gratitude
Experts reveal that practicing gratitude helps to decrease symptoms of both depression and anxiety. If you feel overcome by negative thinking, it most likely means that you’re not feeling grateful. You are stuck within the confines of your negative thinking, and this could become a vicious cycle if not recognized. This is where practicing gratitude comes into play.
By allowing yourself to feel grateful, you shift your attention away from what your mind is telling you to a more positive feeling. Gratitude doesn’t just need to be a thought, but it can be a feeling from inside. You can be grateful for small things such as the sun hitting your skin, hearing the birds singing outside, and listening to the rain fall.
Tips for Practicing Gratitude:
• Keep a gratitude journal
• Remind yourself throughout the day of all the beauty in life that you’re grateful for
• Verbally express your gratitude to those whom you love and appreciate
Consider Therapy
Overcoming negative thinking might require you to seek out professional help. Fortunately, there’s not as big of a stigma with mental health as there used to be. At some point in our lives, we’ve all experienced the suffering that comes along with negative thinking. Once you realize there’s a way out, you should be encouraged to seek this out. Therapy is designed to help people navigate and manage their anxieties and fears.
While practicing mindfulness and gratitude can help you to overcome negative thinking, it might require more than those practices. Should you still feel stressed after implementing these habits into your life, it might be time to consider making an appointment with a therapist or psychologist. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. You deserve to live a life that’s enjoyable – and that starts with working towards overcoming negative thinking.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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