Is there really such a thing as exercising your brain? Doesn’t it sometimes get on your nerves how people can be so positive when you feel like the world is literally caving in on you?
Well if it’s any consolation you can feel positive too and this isn’t just pop psychology and a case of fake it till you make it.
Good mental health can be cultivated and here are a few simple hacks that will help you achieve this:
Think about what you’re thinking about
Check in with your thoughts. That is what mindful thinking is all about. Think about what thoughts are constantly running through your mind. Observe them.
Reflect on where you’re going with your thoughts
See where you are going with your thoughts, are they taking you to a good place or on a downward spiral? Once you have recognized the direction in which you are going in you can make the right choices on how you may want to change these thought patterns.
Acknowledge that you have the power to change your thoughts and choose again.
Don’t feel like a victim. Try to get out of the concept of thinking that things are always ‘happening’ to you. Just see them as circumstances rather than taking them personally as events that are happening to you.
Every time you have a negative thought, tell yourself to STOP.
Challenge negative interpretations
Bad things are going to keep happening but our reaction really matters. The survival mechanisms of the brain are actually wired to place more weight on negative events. In caveman times someone dying in a river infested with crocodiles would put the whole village on guard and people may say it is cursed to prevent children from venturing even nearby.
So we are wired to have a negativity bias as part of our survival mechanism. In today’s world it may not always be useful or necessary so it’s important to check that bias.
Create different thoughts instead
Try and see if you can have productive thoughts. So instead of sitting in traffic worrying you will be late, make a mental note to leave earlier and use that time to do some mind mapping on how you intend your day/meeting or event to go. Make a mental plan of how you will conduct that presentation or client meeting or that paperwork that you need to get around to doing.
Take deep breaths
When you’re angry or stressed a chemical reaction in the body makes your breathing shallower. So the next time you find yourself in such a situation, close your eyes and practice the 4-6-8 breathing method. This basically means inhaling for 4 counts, holding for 6 and exhaling for 8. It allows your body to get into a relaxed state.
Stress and anxiety results in shallow breathing or under-breathing known as hypoxemia, which results in abnormally low oxygen levels. The inhale and hold method floods the body with fresh oxygen and energies your cells.
Believe that success is possible
Optimistic people work hard at being optimistic, they always look on the positive side of things. They use words like obstacle instead of failure and opportunity instead of calamity.
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