We all experience negative thoughts, and it is completely normal when they pop up in our heads sometimes. Some days might feel more negative than others, and vice versa. It is how we react to these thoughts that can help us feel that bit better.
Reframing our thoughts is a technique used that helps us identify our negative thoughts and helps us challenge them with more balanced and positive thoughts and reactions, this can help improve anxiety, stress and depression and this has worked wonders for me when I’ve been struggling with my mental health.
Steps on reframing your thoughts:
- Gather evidence: write down your thoughts in your journal or on your notes app on your phone and gather evidence to support the thoughts. This way you are able to see in front of you how the negative thought may not be supported and therefore there is no reason for you to give it meaning.
- Recognize and pause: Notice that you are having a negative thought and rather than reacting to it straight away and overly worrying about it, pause, take a step back and recognise the thought it is there, and it is not harmful.
- Turn a negative thought into a positive one: This can be easier said than done but sometimes this can help, for example, if you have a negative thought such as “I’m not getting anywhere in life and I am a failure” instead reframe this to a positive thought “I have achieved this goal and I am so proud of achieving this, even if it is only a small goal”. This has also helped me massively with changing my mindset and the way I see things.
- Use affirmations: I have spoken about the use of positive affirmations on the blog before so if you would like to revisit and use these, please do. Positive affirmations are positive statements that you can say out loud or write down, these give you an uplifting feeling and give you more a positive outlook on life. I highly recommend these.
I hope you have found this information helpful, and you can use these to your advantage just know that it is normal to experience negative thoughts, we all do, so don’t feel you are alone in this.
Lots of love x