5 Thought Exercises That Can Elevate Your Mental Health
Many of us are susceptible to negative thoughts, and uncontrolled negative thoughts can significantly impact mental health in the long term. Negative thinking can affect your day-to-day life, however, thought exercises are a simple and free way to tackle negative thinking.
Thought exercises can help ease stress and can help improve the quality of our subconscious thoughts. If you are wondering how to get started with thought exercises, you have come to the right place.
This Pacific Prime Thailand article has put together the top 5 thought exercises that improve mental health. Read on to learn what they are!
What are Thought Exercises?
Thought exercises are different ways to think about a given situation or experience that can help keep unhelpful thoughts at bay. Wonder who structures thought exercises?
Psychological researchers have been studying it extensively, and psychologists and clinical mental health counselors have because they’ve been helpful anecdotally for specific types of patients.
When it comes to mental health help, there is no such thing as “one solution” that fits all. Hence, try one of the exercises for a few weeks and see the impact of exercise on your mental health.
Also, note that thought exercises are meant to set a method of seeing the world differently and are not a medical treatment.
Advantages of Thought Exercises
Reframing your thoughts is one of the main elements of cognitive behavioural therapy, which has been found to be helpful in many studies.
Maintain calm – a go-to-thought exercise, such as deep breathing, counting backwards, and more, can help maintain calm during a stressful moment and continue functioning, staving off a more severe reaction.
Helps with anxiety – studies have shown that thought exercises can reduce the duration and intensity of anxiety symptoms.
Manage emotions – thought exercises can make us more mindful of stressors that trigger our anxiety and help us make lifestyle choices that help us experience anxiety less often.
1. The Self-Observation Exercise
If you notice that you are developing symptoms associated with anxiety, use the following exercise to learn more about what you are experiencing and going through.
Step 1: Give Yourself a Few Minutes
We’re living in a fast-paced world which can leave us exhausted, tired, and stressed with not much time to breathe, think and feel. That’s why it’s important for you to give yourself a few minutes if you are feeling uncomfortable, and it’s completely normal.
A few minutes of peace and solitude can give you the opportunity to stand your ground. It gives us a chance to disconnect from the outside world and reconnect with ourselves.
Step 2: Pay Attention to Yourself
When you’re anxious, take note of how your body reacts, starting from the head, back, shoulders, and stomach, along with other potential symptoms such as nausea or headache. Remember, everybody is different and will feel different things, so it’s important to pinpoint what causes you to feel that way.
Don’t overthink the feelings, judge them, or push them to the side; note them down.
Step 3: Self-Reflect
An effective method for controlling and dealing with the causes of stress and anxiety is to pay attention to, reflect on, and categorize your thoughts and feelings. Different people will have their own set of stressors or factors that make them anxious.
These might include:
- Work-related factors such as a high workload, or a tight schedule.
- School-related factors such as exams, and expectations from parents.
- Life transitions such as moving to a new country, getting a new job, or going to a new school.
- Environment problems such as long commutes, or noisy living conditions in apartments.
Step 4: Letting Go and Embrace Positivity
If you’re feeling anxious or tense, try letting go of those thoughts. The more you dwell on what makes you anxious, the worse it can become. Instead, you could try redirecting your thoughts to something enjoyable or focus on what you want to do later.
However, taking control of your anxiety isn’t easy, and it requires time and practice. It’s normal to make multiple attempts before finally reaching a point where you can effectively relax when feeling anxious.
2. Maintain a Thought Journal
By recording your thoughts, you can better understand your anxiety symptoms. Make a new folder on your phone or download an app that can help keep track of your thoughts. If you like to do old-school things, carry a notebook and pen.
Reviewing your thoughts from time to time can help you draw connections between sleep, exercise, and nutrition impacting your anxiety symptoms.
3. Block Anxious Thoughts
The best way to deal with anxiousness is by getting distracted. These experiences are more about what effectively distracts you and not so much about the “right” method.
- Breathing with the intentional count, like four counts in and four counts out.
- Listening to music, a podcast, or audiobooks disturbs your thoughts and brings your mind to think about something else.
- Verbal affirmations that you are thinking about something can help get you out of your head and think more broadly.
- Counting backwards sometimes works to interrupt the anxiety from building up.
- Watching a movie can help you occupy your thoughts, and have fun in the process.
4. Try Cognitive Defusion Exercises
Cognitive defusion exercises are nothing but thinking out of the box. Anything you can do to detach from your thoughts and look at them clearly – here are some commonly used techniques in cognitive therapy.
- Label your thoughts: Some find it helpful to label thoughts such as “it is an anxious thought, or “it is a scary thought” as they are experiencing it. This gives them a sense of reality and helps them treat the thought for what it is rather than being overwhelmed by a mixture of feelings.
- The power of visualization: Some people let their thoughts fly with the wind or flow with the river, coming to them and going away to see the thoughts as separate from their core identity.
- Using a silly voice: making silly sounds or voices can help people detach from their thoughts. Something like, “you think this is concerning, don’t you?” or any other observation from the thought.
5. Practice Self-Compassion
Negative thoughts can consume your mind, and anxiety sometimes presents as an excessive worry that one isn’t good enough or has negative traits. It may help to practice self-compassion. You could start by seeing your current situation as if a friend was going through it instead of the harsh critique you often give yourself.
Another way to achieve self-compassion is by focusing on a childhood picture of yourself. Instead of directing the thoughts to your grownup self, please direct them to your younger self. Recognize that your adult self deserves the same kind of comfort a child deserves, as you also learn something new daily, albeit different things.
Contact Pacific Prime Today
While thought exercises can help you maintain good mental health, it’s not a solution. If you have unpleasant thoughts and anxiety is affecting your day-to-day life, it’s a good idea to see a professional.
Without a comprehensive health insurance plan, paying for a therapist out of your pocket can get very expensive. If you want to learn more about health insurance that also covers help for medical health, get in touch with Pacific Prime Thailand today.
With over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, Pacific Prime has helped cover thousands of people across the world. Pacific Prime Thailand can help you with your insurance needs, from travel insurance to group insurance solutions!
Call Pacific Prime Thailand today for a FREE quote!
Since joining Pacific Prime, Lakshmi has gained a comprehensive understanding of different kinds of health insurance and their importance in people's lives. Her expertise in this area has allowed her to produce informative and engaging content that helps individuals make informed decisions regarding their health insurance.
Lakshmi's clear, concise, and engaging writing style makes complex insurance concepts accessible to readers of all levels and also adheres to Pacific Prime’s motto: - “Simplifying Insurance.”
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