An habitual onslaught of negative thoughts can feel like circling a vortex from which there is no escape, We can feel as though we have no control over them and the spiralling and looping can generate huge amounts of anxiety and stress.
This in turn can lead us to feel as though this repetitive negative cycle cancels out any good feelings of peacefulness and joy.
If you find yourself thinking negatively in this way, ruminating on what if's about the future and regrets about the past, worrying what people think of us, beating ourselves up or feeling anxious, unworthy and 'not enough', try using the following technique to activate the positive neural connections in the brain:
Take and examine predominant negative thought, eg 'I'm not enough' then deliberately turn it round into its positive opposite: "I AM enough", and write this down (where possible, or simply imagine yourself doing so). The act of doing so, or even imagining doing so, activates the motor cortex and slows down the spinning cycle of negative thoughts, whilst strengthening the neural connections with those statements, creating a sense of ownership. It also means you hold the positive counter-statement in your mind for several seconds, which the brain automatically interprets as "important", so that in time, with repetition, the brain prioritises the new thoughts as valuable. Having written down your positive statement you could go on to write down 5 reasons why the positive statement is true:
For example:
"I keep showing up and giving it my best shot"
"I continue to try to improve every day in every way"
"I have a 100% track record of getting through challenging times"
"My opinion of my own value is more important than anyone else's"
This will have your brain seeking evidence that support the new positive statements which creates a shift in the brain, causing it to begin firing positive neural networks more readily than negative ones.
This technique, like everything we practice repeatedly, will get easier and be more effective with regular use. Try it and see, and let me know how you get on!
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