It is Important to be Mindful of How We Feel
We are creatures of habit and our thoughts are similar to any other habit we form. We think roughly 50,000 thoughts a day and most of those are repeated from the day before. It is important to be mindful. Are our thoughts positive or negative? Thoughts have energetic power so whether they are positive or negative will begin to affect every facet of our lives either positively or negatively. When you are experiencing a negative thought start to notice how you feel physically. Your heart is most likely racing, and your body is probably tense. Negative thoughts are often driven by fear or past trauma and are distorted from reality because we are in the fight or flight mode. Unreal, or distorted thoughts, cloud up our mind and cause anxiety.
Practice the Pause
Practice The pause when you feel these sensations and pivot from a negative mindset into a more positive one through breath-work. Inhale deeply, and slowly, through your nose and exhale deeply, and slowly, though your nose. As you breathe in and out say the following affirmations to yourself silently:
Inhale peace
Exhale chaos
Inhale acceptance
Exhale judgement
Inhale love
Exhale love
Re-frame your thoughts to practice positive self-talk.
Now, observe how you feel. Hopefully you are more relaxed, your breathing has slowed, your body may feel cooler, and you may even have more clarity. You can take control of your thoughts not only by practicing the pause and breathing, but also by challenging those thoughts. Ask yourself if what you are thinking is really there and true, or maybe that was an experience from your past that you are re-living. Ask yourself if your best friend would have this thought about you. Then you can try to replace the negative thought with a more positive one that is more realistic.
Practice Self Acceptance
Forget about who you think you “should” be and just be YOU. Often the negative thoughts come from feelings of inadequacy because we are trying to be someone we aren’t or trying to people please. It is so important to be authentic. Let go of overgeneralization and catastrophizing because most likely the worst-case scenario is not going to happen. We want to come back to reality. The present moment is all we really have and when we stay present the trauma and pain from the past cannot hurt us and the worry of the future cannot hurt us, the present is all we have, remind yourself that you are safe. Positive thinking fosters self-acceptance which then builds self-confidence and reduces anxiety. Our thoughts create our reality, so we want to create one that is joyous and peaceful, calm and clear.
Calmly Yours,
Libby
P.S. Do you have favorite ways to reduce anxiety that work for you? If so please comment below and share with our community. We would love to hear from you. As always, I appreciate you taking the time to read this article. If you feel your anxiety is overwhelming or you are experiencing depression please seek professional help. You are never alone.