“Your body is a reflection of what you think.” – Dr. Aldo Pucci
To uncover the root cause to why you feel the way that you are in any given situation, a great approach comes in the form of a simple question: “I’m acting as if I believe what about his situation? (John C. Maxwell. Thinking For A Change. 2003)” Our beliefs hold up the foundations of our overall perceptions of the outside world. Ask yourself this question and you may find that the answer pops up from out of the void. Why do many anxiety sufferers, including my past self, experience an overwhelming amount of negative thoughts every day? What can you do about it?
When I was suffering from an anxiety disorder in my past, the amount of negative thoughts I was experiencing daily was debilitating. I reacted to every negative thought with such great emotion. Little did I know, the more emotion I gave an unwanted thought, the more I kept it around. The more emotion, the more value you place on that thought. The unconscious likes to keep thoughts that hold great value to you around. That is why you may find it hard to push away these intrusive thoughts – they hold great meaning to you, even though they are irrational.
A great analogy for this scenario is the big pink elephant. Try not to think of a big pink elephant and your mind will instantaneously come up with an image of a pink elephant. That is because your mind does not understand negations like “nots” and “don’ts”. When an anxiety sufferer pushes away a thought and says to him or herself: “I don’t want to think this,” what happens? The thought remains present and continues to stick around. What can you do to reduce the constant pestering of negative thoughts?
Engage in rational self-talk: The way you communicate with yourself is important for feeling the way you want to feel. When A negative thought manifests themselves, phrases/questions such as: “I am just going to accept this thought and let it FLOW through me,” or “I reject that thought,” or “Does this thought serve my higher self?” – help with the separation process between the thought and the value you attach that certain thought with.
Journal: When I began my anxiety recovery journey, journaling was one of the first habits I adopted. Writing every negative thought I had onto paper was like confronting the snakes I did not want to face. This was a great way for me to face the truth, rather than pushing the negative thoughts down into my unconscious mind. After I wrote the thought(s) down, I noticed that my unconscious mind would come up with many rational solutions to the many negative thoughts I had. I was blown away. I noticed I began to feel lighter and more conscious of the thoughts coming in and out of my mind.
The elastic band: An amazing CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) technique to overcome anxiety is the elastic band technique. Wearing an elastic band on your wrist allows you to catch and replace negative thoughts. Snap the band whenever you encounter a negative thought and then replace that thought with a positive replacement. Even when you notice that you are feeling an emotion you do not want to feel, snap the band. Thoughts have caused that emotion, and so after you snap that band, create a thought you do want instead and watch your emotions change. Very powerful.
Negative thoughts that continuously cycle throughout the day can leave you feeling emotionally drained by nighttime. Believe me, I couldn’t wait for bed. It felt great to shut off my mind for the time being and to have a break from those hellish thoughts. It can be overwhelming, but practise the strategies I laid out here and you will notice a change in yourself and the thoughts you experience daily.