Releasing negative thoughts is very helpful for getting a more positive mindset and getting more energy. You may know it that when you get out of bed on the wrong foot, it is not helpful for the rest of the day.
Effects of negative thoughts
Negative thoughts often seem to do something to make you more tired than when you have positive thoughts. Things often don't seem to go as well.
Research also shows that people who worry a lot, a form of negative thinking, have more difficulty performing a thinking task than people who do not worry a lot[1]. Then when you find that such a task is not going well because of worry, it also causes more negative thoughts.
This is part of why it is so important to let go of negative thoughts, because before you know it you have conjured up a tsunami of negativity in your mind.
As if that were not enough, negative thoughts can also affect the pain you experience. For example, people who suffer from sickle cell disease, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain find that certain negative thoughts cause them to experience more pain.
The study examined negative thoughts about yourself, negative thoughts about social issues and blaming yourself. People who suffered greatly from these also experienced more pain than those who thought less negatively[2].
Negative thoughts also make it harder to bounce back after a setback.
Where do these thoughts come from?
Negative thoughts are often triggered by your beliefs, and those beliefs often originate in childhood.
Chinese research shows that when children have been abused or neglected, they are more likely to suffer from automatic negative thoughts later in life than children with "normal" childhoods[3].
All those unpleasant events in your childhood may have made you feel that you are not good enough or bad or something, and in your mind you may then repeat things that caregivers or even classmates have said to you.
This is incredibly unfortunate, because as an adult in particular, you no longer need to be around these people, and it would be a shame if their statements were still on your mind.
Releasing negative thoughts
Generally, cognitive behavioral training is used to release negative thoughts. Therefore, you can do certain exercises to release the meaning of something to let go of negative thoughts.
By 1916, people had already discovered that if you repeat a word very often its meaning becomes less and less[4]. Suddenly, for example, you hear how weird a certain word actually sounds and you only listen to the sounds of the word.
This is also nicely represented by Hans Teeuwen when he repeats the word boom several times in one of his performances (which has been around for at least 20 years or so).
These types of exercises help reduce the discomfort that negative thoughts can give you and help you reduce the credibility of negative thoughts.
But then again, what word should you start repeating?
To make it a little easier for a random person, I also have an exercise for you.
Exercise for releasing negative thoughts:
You might think you need to go into therapy to release negative thoughts, but sometimes certain exercises can get you a long way.
In a series of spiritual lessons, I have instructed you to think with your thoughts for one minute, "These thoughts don't mean anything." This exercise can help you tremendously in releasing negative thoughts.
What's more, any thoughts you have - including positive or negative - can be released for a while.
First, you just start observing your thoughts and in doing so you think it means nothing.
Don't do this for more than a minute and don't do it more often than three or four times a day.
Also listen to this podcast with the exercise and explanation of the exercise:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/195236/7109677-eciw-les-4?play=true
Hypnosis and negative thoughts
One thought that can incredibly bother you is the thought of not being loved.
Before this, a woman was treated with cognitive behavioral therapy with hypnosis. She also learned self-hypnosis to suffer less from this.
In this she got:
- Positive suggestions;
- Techniques to be aware of her mood;
- Visualizations;
- Other relaxation techniques.
This helped her feel normal again[5].
You can let go of negative thoughts, but what often happens then is that a kind of void is created.
You can then use the positive suggestions to fill that void that can be created by letting go of those negative thoughts. Then there is no place for them to come back either.
These may include suggestions such as:
"I am loved."
"I can do anything."
"I'm good enough."
These are just examples, these can work well for you, but do you still notice they don't? Then a hypnotherapist can help you find suggestions that will help in your specific case.
Becoming aware of negative thoughts
Another way to suffer less from negative thoughts is to say to yourself - as soon as you notice that you are having a negative thought:
"This thought means nothing."
And then, with all your senses, you then start to fully focus on the task you were actually working on. This is a form of mindfulness meditation. The idea of this is that you live more in the moment and are less concerned with the past or your future.
Visualizations against negative thoughts
A visualization can also help you very well against negative thoughts. Multiple visualizations are possible to resolve them.
For example, you can simply have a relaxing visualization. For example, you then visualize a pleasant place where you are relaxing.
But you can also shape that negative thought and then make it disappear. Like a balloon full of negativity that you let fly away.
Sometimes you visualize the very source of your negative thought, such as someone from your past who was often negative, and start forgiving that person .
Or you visualize yourself, your younger self, telling that younger self that the past is already over and that now everything is fine.
Visualizations can be used in a very versatile way. Which visualization helps against negative thoughts varies from person to person. If you know hypnosis, you can do a lot with self-hypnosis to use visualizations to release negative thoughts.
Which visualization is best for you, you can ask a hypnotherapist first.
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation techniques against negative thoughts especially help you recover from your physical reaction to those negative thoughts. You may notice that negative thoughts make you very tense.
Then when you have done the exercise from this text, but the tension is not gone from your body, it can be very annoying.
Relaxation can also help you perform the exercise more easily.
For example, it is an important step before performing self-hypnosis.
There are a few steps to help you relax:
- Step 1: Find a quiet place where you can lie or sit comfortably.
- Step 2: Make sure you have comfortable clothes on and sit or lie down.
- Step 3: Close your eyes and breathe calmly. Breathe through your belly through your nose.
- Step 4: Relax your muscles. If necessary, use a mindfulness body scan for this.
After a while, you will find that you are completely relaxed and may even have fewer thoughts at all in this state.
Want to learn more about how hypnosis works and how it helps you release negative thoughts?
Please join us for a free online master class on hypnosis.
Or register directly for one of our training courses. Great for helping yourself or just others.
Training is conducted online from a professional studio with enough assistants for one-on-one attention when needed. This is done to ensure quality and continuity of training. No pause in your training due to stupid rules you can't do anything with.
Sources:
[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1097-4679(199001)46:1%3C78::AID-JCLP2270460113%3E3.0.CO;2-R
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005789405803363
[3] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260520912582
[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0005796703002894
