The average person produces more than 200 negative thoughts a day: worries, jealousies, insecurities, cravings for forbidden things, etc. (Depressed people will have up to 600!) You can’t eliminate all the troublesome thoughts that go through your mind, but you can certainly reduce them, both in number and severity. Here’s how:
1. When a negative thought begins to surface in your mind, pause. Stop what you are doing for a few seconds. Do not say anything—talk will only reinforce the bad feeling.
2. Take five deep, slow breaths. By taking in more oxygen, you flush out your system and lower your level of anxiety. If you do this correctly, you will approach a meditative state.
3. Concentrate on a pleasant, relaxing scene—a walk throughout the mountains, for example. Take two to three minutes for a minor trouble, up to ten minutes for a serious upset.
Use this technique continually until the upsetting thoughts begin to decrease. Many things are beyond your control, but there are also many things you can control. How you handle your thoughts is one of them. By paying more attention to what you can control will help you to lead a more productive life. In return, you will have greater amounts of happiness, and live in better health.
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