Reframing your thoughts for mental wellbeing
We can all get stuck in the negative self-talk cycle. It gets even harder when you have been through a series of tough times and even those who usually have a really positive mindset can find themselves getting a bit stuck.
It is a well known psychological aspect that the human brain is geared towards negativity, a self-protective mechanism that evolved millions of years ago and is designed to allow us to survive and thrive by being on the alert for potential threats.
This is great when there is a potential threat, but not so great when you are comparing yourself to others, viewing yourself as somehow lacking or being late for a meeting. All impactful in today’s society however not life-threatening. Sometimes we (our bodies) can respond as if it is.
And when this happens, it sparks the interest of our security guard - the Amygdala - which then acts a bit like a Meerkat sentry and starts being hyper-vigilant, looking for all potential threats or perceived threats (including the unknown aspect of how the boss is going to respond when you’re late for the all-important meeting).
Short-term, this has little effect and usually we bounce back to some kind of equilibrium. However, over a long period of time, these ‘stressors’ seek to change our neurophysiology on a cellular level. Accessing the states of anxiety, worry, depression, panic, fear, self-berating becomes easier and stronger.
There are a number of ways to change this, hypnotherapy, CBT, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to name a few and perhaps you are someone that needs the input of a coach or a therapist to set you back on the path of wellness. But there are many steps you can take to start bringing a sense of balance back to your thoughts so that you have a more accurate representation of the world around you.
Be aware of your thoughts, are the majority negative? If so, then you might benefit from learning how to reframe them to change the predicted pattern back to more positive thoughts.
Challenge your thoughts, a CBT technique that allows you to ask a few questions about the validity of the thought: Is it really true? Does thinking this way help me get closer to my goals? Are my thoughts self-limiting?
Reframe your thoughts; commonly used in NLP, an example of this would be - I am worried that I will let my friends down if I agree to meet them and I am in a low mood. Replaced with - My friends value me for who I am and I know that I will feel uplifted after I have seen them. Click here for a worksheet
Learn to self-command your thoughts. This can best be achieved by using your other senses of sight, touch and sounds from outside your head to interrupt the thought and then give you the ability to redirect your thoughts to something more useful to be thinking/doing at that moment. My audio 321 for beginners will help you start taking back charge of your thoughts.
