Changing your thoughts
- Karen
- Mar 3, 2020
- 2 min read
I was talking to our eldest daughter this week, she was saying that when she walks back to her car at night her mind races with thoughts of What was that sound or What if someone is watching. It’s not that she heard anything or saw someone; it is her mind filling with bad thoughts. Thinking this she walks faster to her car making her palms sweaty, her heart races, she will be out of breath by the time she reaches the car. However the minute she gets in and locks the door she instantly feels relieved, her heart rate and breathing slow down and she feels safe.
Everyone experiences this kind of feeling regardless if you suffer from anxiety, it’s your body’s automatic response to fear. The GOOD NEWS is that your brain is healthy and working normally. Your mind races which in turn explains all the physical responses – Rapid heart rate, Sweaty palms, and an increased rate of breathing. This is your built-in safety system designed to protect you from any kind of threat or danger. Your brain is there to help you act on those frightening thoughts.
However too much fear is bad for you and your brain does not know the difference between a real threat and a false one. Your brain can keep you from doing fun things like being out and having to walk to your car at the end of the night. So by learning to adjust those fear responses in your brain, although hard it’s not impossible.
Just one false, scary thought can trigger a reaction in your body.
Because it was ALL just a thought, not necessarily a really scary situation.
You can stop the reaction in our body by changing your thought.
There are many ways to bring your mind back to the now so that it stops racing I have shared many posts about this. Breathing, Breathing Dear Self Dear Self there are many more simple ways to bring you and your mind back into the NOW.
They can be as simple as wiggling your toes regardless if you have shoes on or not. Take in 3 or 4 deep breaths while you wiggle away, concentrate on how your toes feel.
Look at number plates of the cars around you and add the numbers up or make up a sentence using the letters from it. Count the cars that are the same colour or make.
The same applies to anyone who is having an anxiety attack and is spiralling. Bringing your mind back to the now and focusing on tangible things around you can help focus on positive things rather then the negative. By distracting the mind and bringing it back to the now helps to calm those thoughts it’s a great way to centre yourself and slow down the brain from overthinking creating a calmness around you.
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