Clearing your mind from negative thinking

Do you ever feel flooded with thoughts? About the past, present and future or your internal and external environment. It’s incessant, constant, never-ending and every single day. Yeah? Me too…

You and I are human beings, with human minds. Although you might feel like you are the only one with a busy mind, that you overthink more than what's 'normal,' you’re not. It’s so common and part of the human experience.

The mind is complex, It has evolved so we think about things as a means of surviving and reproducing. It scans and processes information, thinks about daily tasks and deep matters about life and the world. It is said we have up to 60,000 thoughts a day. According to research from Stanford University, 90% of these thoughts are repetitive.

So any negative thoughts you might have are perhaps being repeated over and over again, making them strong, and perhaps allowing them to take control of your life: how you feel and behave.

Our thoughts lead to our feelings which lead to our behaviours.

So, although it’s normal to have negative thoughts (I believe there is no avoiding it!), if they start taking control of our lives, there are things we can do to help ourselves in order to clear our minds.

Clearing our minds of negative thoughts

The first step is accepting negative thoughts as part of being human.

With this acceptance, we can start to question the thoughts, rather than believing them. For example, if we believe the thought “I am not enough” it isn’t going to make us feel good.

But if we choose not to believe it and counteract it with .“ Actually, I am enough, just as I am” it'll allow us to feel much better about ourselves.

• The thought “I am not enough” comes from your inner critic.
• The thought “I am enough, just as I am” comes from your inner cheerleader, the voice of support.

It’s not the thought itself that has a negative impact, it’s the thought about the thought that does.

If we carve out time and space from incessant thinking we can choose the inner cheerleader. Meditation, yoga, a walk in nature, self-reflection, and journaling, help you to step back, detach & become an observer of your mind; and be curious of the thoughts, rather than just reacting to them and believing them to be true.

This isn't easy, but through practice (lots of it) and patience, you'll notice improvements and take back control of your mind. After a bad day, or periods of spiralling, try some self-reflection, so you tap into your inner cheerleader. This will help to increase self-awareness.

If you find that challenging, think about what your best friend might say to you, or someone who has always been there in times of need. The more we do this, the more we can bring self-awareness into times when we don’t feel good and are flooded with negative thoughts. This doesn’t get rid of the negative thoughts, but it helps us respond in a clearer, calmer way.