8 Ways to Stop Negative Thoughts and Overthinking - Rachel Devine
Overthinking everything and chronic negativity can make daily life feel overwhelming and bleak. It can exasperate depression. It also is a block to healing from any emotional wounds we may have in life. Learning techniques to dial down obsessive thoughts and shift inner dialogues to a more positive, balanced state provides relief. With consistent practice, you can stop detrimental and self-criticism and cultivate mindfulness, peace and optimism instead. Let’s look at some techniques on how to stop negative thoughts and overthinking. The more you shift to a positive state of mind, the more your life will go in a positive direction.
Catch and Challenge Distorted Thinking
Cognitive behavioral therapy helps reveal distorted thinking patterns like catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, or jumping to conclusions that amplify anxiety. Catch these thoughts as they occur and analyze them objectively – are they overly dramatic or illogical? Are these negative thoughts conveying truth or anxiety? Challenging distortions with rational questioning is the first step.
Set Aside a Daily ‘Worry Timeout’
Rather than trying to suppress anxious thoughts throughout the day, set aside a short dedicated worry time daily, like 20 minutes. Jot down a list of concerns to examine objectively. The rest of the day when intrusive thoughts strike, remind yourself to save it for worry time. That should help clear your day of worry.
Live in the Present Through Mindfulness
Overthinking is exaggerated when focused on the past or future rather than the present. Practice mindfulness meditation and focus intently on your senses, bodily sensations, emotions and thoughts in the exact moment without judging them as good or bad. This cultivates presence. Staying in the moment brings serenity. You can also look at motivational quotes for inspiration.
Visualize Pushing Out Anxious Thoughts
Use positive visualization during meditation to practice pushing anxious thoughts out of your mind. Imagine each obsessive thought as a ball and visualize yourself gently batting the thought-balls away each time, clearing your mind’s space. Or visualize them as balloons and watch each negative thought float away.
Write Down Your Thoughts to Express Them
Journaling or stream-of-consciousness writing provides an outlet to express worries and limiting beliefs on paper so they don’t endlessly repeat internally. This process releases and processes obsessive thoughts. Just write out what you are worrying about and try to look at it objectively, which might bring your worry down to size. Also, write out ways to get your life in a state of living on purpose, which can be very positive.
Limit Stimuli and Distraction
Minimize stimuli like news feeds, overplanning, social media, and multitasking that feed into a frazzled, overwhelmed state, especially in the evening. Reduce clutter in your home to bring more calm.
Refocus on Solutions, Not Just Problems
When you catch yourself ruminating on problems, consciously shift to focusing on practical solutions and productive next action steps. Negativity thrives when problems seem insurmountable. Reframing issues as solvable weakens obsessive worry. Keep the focus on the solutions and become proactive at solving the challenge in a productive way, pushing away the temptation to worry about it. It’s important to shift your thoughts. Perhaps some happiness quotes will help.
Surround Yourself with Positivity & Gratitude
Hang around people who inspire optimism, self-confidence and solutions-focused thinking. Our thinking patterns are contagious. Choose to immerse yourself in positivity. Therapy is a great way to get to the root of the inner child dialogue of negativity. The inner child experiences are usually behind the negative thoughts and obsessive thinking. Having this awareness can help you. Gratitude is also the true equalizer when it comes to negative thinking. If you start your day off with listing 10 things you are grateful for, negativity will be hard to penetrate that mindset. Stay in a grateful state of being. Most people have so much to be grateful for, and yet they choose to look at what is missing, rather than what they have. Be thankful for the little things, as well as the big things in your life, and stay in that energy. With some effort, you can transform your life.
In conclusion, it’s important to bring yourself to a point to commit fully to transforming limiting inner messages, and shift from exhausting overthinking to mindful presence and you will see optimism will unfold. It will make your life happy again. Recognize negative thoughts but don't believe or react to them. Your power lies in choosing which thoughts to give energy to. You do have the power to change your thoughts to positive thoughts. It’s all a matter of recognizing the negative thought and then changing it to a positive thought. I suggest you get a rubber band and put it on your wrist. Whenever a negative thought enters your mind, gently snap the rubber band as a reminder to change to a positive thought. With some practice you will be on your way to a more peaceful life.
Rachel Devine is the author of, The Third Road, a book that gently guides one to the power within and your purpose in life & Lessons from the Needle in a Haystack, a spiritual book on dating and relationships.
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