Exercises To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts
, Tips to Quiet Anxious Thoughts
Ever have a thought that you can get to stop repeating in your mind? Or times when you simply can shut out the noise as thoughts and worries preoccupy your mind? Anxious thoughts can overwhelm you, making it difficult to make decisions and take action to deal with whatever issue bothers you. Anxiety can also lead to overthinking, which makes you more anxious, which leads to more overthinking, and so on. Repressing anxious thoughts won’t work; they will just pop up again, sometimes with more intensity.
Practice Mindfulness. Practice observing your thoughts, rather than reacting automatically to them. Think of your thoughts as clouds floating by. Which draw you in and which make you want to run away? Is there a way you can untangle yourself and just observe your thoughts, rather than reacting?
Thoughts Are Not Facts. Stop treating them that way! Often times thoughts are only a theory, about what is happening or is about to happen. It is important to notice that our thoughts are not real experiences. The worry you have about the future MAY OR MAY NOT happen. Sometimes our minds are biased by negative past experiences. What is your experience in the present moment? Is this something that is actually happening or something that might happen? Notice that they are not the same thing, even though your mind may treat them as the same.
Focus On The Present. Is your mind regurgitating the past? Just because something negative happened in the past doesn’t mean it has to happen today. Ask yourself if the circumstances, or your knowledge and coping abilities, have changed since the last time. As an adult, you have more choice about whom to associate with and more ability to identify, preempt, or leave a bad situation than when you were a younger person.
Try to DO Something. Often when we worry activating a behavior, getting some exercise or simply starting a task can help us cope through the anxiety. When your mind is stuck in a loop, you can interrupt it by getting up and moving around or doing a different task or activity. When you sit back down, you should have a different perspective.
Decide If Your Thoughts Are Helpful. Just because a thought is true doesn't mean that it is helpful to focus on—at least not all the time. If only 1 in 10 people will get the job you seek, and you keep thinking about those odds, you may become demotivated and not even bother applying. This is an example of a thought that is true but not helpful. Focus your attention on what is helpful and let the rest go!
-Regina Myers, LMHC
