Entering a negative thought spiral is very easy. Especially if we have several negative thoughts accumulated in our minds.
One negative thought can become a contaminant of our emotions, behaviors and other thoughts. These negative thoughts take away our energy and strength. The more time we spend on them, the stronger they become and the harder they are to stop.
Stopping this spiral or wheel of negative thoughts is very important so that we can more easily (and effortlessly) control negative thoughts.
Having these kinds of thoughts is normal. But we shouldn’t feed them or make them more important than they are so that they don’t hurt us. To prevent negative thoughts from affecting us, conditioning our actions, and damaging our self-esteem, we must practice a series of techniques. Below, you will find 5 pieces of advice that you can put into practice when negative feelings invade you:
Techniques to avoid having negative thoughts:
1. Observe your own thoughts:
The origin of our negative thoughts is often due to cognitive distortions or irrational thinking. A good technique to control them is to observe them as if you were a spectator. For example, as if they were a log traveling downstream. Not letting it take over our mind is critical to its dissipation. If we visualize how the log comes down, without allowing it to stay on our bank, it will eventually disappear. The same thing will happen with negative thinking. We must learn to put distance between thoughts and ourselves. In this way we will realize that we are not the thought. Mindfulness will help us a lot in this respect.
2. Replant any thoughts you have:
Reflections are excessive thought patterns. By thinking excessively about a topic we get the feeling that we will find a solution. But, usually, this is not the case. What we should do in these cases is to keep the truth of the thoughts and get rid of the part we have created with our mind. Often, when doing this exercise we will realize that the problem does not exist. Observing the thought without judging it or in an objective way will help us determine how important it is and how real it is.
3. Act according to your thoughts and move:
When we feel trapped by a negative thought, we must move to avoid overthinking it and becoming obsessed with it. Movement, exercising will help us not to obsess about a negative thought and will make us feel better.
4. Avoid negative thought triggers:
Many times it is elements, songs, people, places or moments that bring a negative thought to mind. Identifying and avoiding them is fundamental so that this does not happen. Whenever we can, we should replace them with positive thought triggers and pleasant sensations. This will make our lives easier, we must not martyr ourselves.
5. Surround yourself with happy people and positive experiences:
Surrounding ourselves with positive things, helps us to think positive thoughts and keep negative thoughts away. It is very important to choose well what surrounds us to facilitate our feeling of health and wellbeing.