It can be easy to rush through life without stopping to notice much. if you are struggling with negative thinking, I can tell you from my own experience that it is possible to turn things around and cultivate inner peace and happiness.
Negative thought patterns are repetitive, unproductive thoughts. They serve no real purpose and directly cause negative emotions (emotions are a reflection of our thoughts, felt in the body).
Negative thinking can have a strong and sometimes devastating impact on all aspects of our lives. With a little practice, I believe anyone can break free of negativity for good.
Getting drawn into a pattern of negative thinking can be likened to building a prison in your own mind. It holds you captive. I know. I’ve been there.
Once we learn to recognise and identify these thought patterns as they occur we can start to have a choice about how to react.
Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental well-being.
Some people call this awareness "mindfulness". Mindfulness can help us enjoy life more and understand ourselves better. Mindfulness will allow you to recognise the negative thoughts that cause and then let them go bringing your mind and body back to the here and now.
Mindfulness helps us be more emotionally intelligent, more present, more creative, better able to make better decisions, better able to manage stress, and become more resilient.
By also using mindfulness breathing and meditation exercises you can bring the conscious mind to the forefront. As its name implies, the ‘Mindfulness of Breathing’ uses the breath as an object of concentration. By focusing on the breath, you become aware of the mind’s tendency to jump from one thing to another. The simple discipline of concentration brings us back to the present moment and all the richness of experience that it contains. It is a way to develop mindfulness, the faculty of alert and sensitive awareness. As well as this, the mindfulness of breathing is a good antidote to restlessness and anxiety, and a good way to relax: concentration on the breath has a positive effect on your entire physical and mental state.
With Mindfulness you can establish yourself in the present
in order to touch the wonders of life that are available in the moment.
Nhat Hanh
