5 ways to Reduce Those Niggling Negative Thoughts

Dr. Tracey Cole - Over the Oxer Hypnotherapy, NLP, Time Line Therapy in Leek June 04, 2014

Negative thoughts drain us tremendously; sapping our energy and leaving us prey to anxiety and overwhelming emotions. Whilst positive thinking, affirmations and mantras go a little way to help, they are easily overridden by our unconscious minds and we revert back to the negative mental chatter once more. The changes we are striving to make can only have permanency if we decondition the unconscious mind by replacing the thoughts with far more compelling alternative ones. The conscious mind – the part of the mind that is everything we are thinking about right now - and the unconscious mind – the part that is everything we’re not thinking about right now – need to communicate well. The conscious mind is the goal setter and the unconscious mind is the goal getter. When they work in synergy, the negative thoughts are vanquished. Here are a few easy steps to start thinking differently.

1. As your mind chatters away, limit the importance of these unhelpful thoughts by imagining it’s a cartoon or children’s character talking, or even someone with helium-infused vocal chords; hearing the thoughts back as Donald Duck, Miss Piggy or Bugs Bunny starts to break down the issue.

2. Identify what the problem is. How do you know what the problem is not? What is it that you need to not know to know this? What are you not deciding when you don’t do the problem? How is that different from how you were?

3. Use peripheral vision whenever a negative though creeps in. This is the hazy, defocused vision we have when we daydream. When the negativity surfaces, you drop out of peripheral vision and become focused on a point. Just like chastising a naughty child by firmly saying, “No, no,” tell yourself to push that thought away by assuming peripheral vision once more. Our minds cannot hold negative thoughts and peripheral vision simultaneously.

4. Anchor something positive. This is a visual or auditory cue that can be used to bring us out of negativity. It may be a favourite song or a mind’s eye picture of a happy event. Think about feeling relaxed, calm, confident and positive as you listen or see your cue. Intensify the positive emotions in your mind and press your thumb and forefinger together. Really turn up the great feelings; when they subside, release your finger and thumb. You can now use this as a resource anchor, each time negative thought comes forward, fire the anchor by pressing your finger and thumb.

5. Don’t play the victim. By acknowledging that only you can change you, that you are the architect of your life, you recover your power. It may mean very tough decisions, but knowing that you have a choice in all things allows you to move forward and not remain in a rut. In the same vein, you can manage the type of internal self-talk you wish to hear!