Stopping Automatic Negative Thoughts

[BioSattva]

isn't mindfulness what it says,, being mindful of your thoughts not trying to get rid of them, be they negative or otherwise?

I think you have hit the nail on the head!

Yes.

Practising smiling compassionate acceptance into our whole body when the negative thoughts arise can allow them to dissipate of their own accord - Thich Nhat Hanh calls this 'smiling yoga'. Our upright posture gives us dignity, our smile brings compassion.

[larorra]

Thanks Gordo. Have Been Having quite a new negative thoughts due to an ongoing family situation but mindfulness has Been a god send and is,helping me through a very difficult period and feelings that would have Been ranger towards a family member have now surprised myself for actually feeling compassionate towards them. I can't change anyone and dont have to like the way they are but i am accepting them for who they are as do not want to loose them from My life.

[Gareth]

Thanks Gordo. Have Been Having quite a new negative thoughts due to an ongoing family situation but mindfulness has Been a god send and is,helping me through a very difficult period and feelings that would have Been ranger towards a family member have now surprised myself for actually feeling compassionate towards them. I can't change anyone and dont have to like the way they are but i am accepting them for who they are as do not want to loose them from My life.

Mindfulness is very powerful.

[Bils42]

Automatic thinking, particularly of the negative variety, has received a lot of attention in the field of neuropsychology (both clinical and research-based). Stopping these thoughts is a major aim of a number of therapeutic approaches, the most effective of which, I would argue, is mindfulness.

The more we engage in a certain type of thinking, the easier it becomes to think those thoughts, plain and simple. As everyone knows, those thoughts occur with increasing automaticity as we train the brain, intentionally or unintentionally, to think them. Habits become harder to break as the neural pathways underlying them grow stronger through repeated activation. Soon enough, the feeling of falling into a spiraling abyss of negative thoughts becomes a regular occurrence.

Unfortunately for many of us, the brain is evolutionarily adapted to hone in on the negative as a survival mechanism; considering all negative outcomes used to be to our advantage insofar as it allowed us to weigh our options quickly when faced with immediate danger (a predator, for instance). Now, however, automatic negative thinking appears to do more harm than good.

Automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) have a way of sneaking up on us. As their name suggests, ANTs can be major pests. However, thanks to the brain's remarkable plasticity, our brains can be re-trained through simple exercises in mindfulness to exterminate ANTs as they are in the process of invading - a proactive, preventative measure. Even by the time the mind becomes fully infested with ANTs, the most reliable exterminator is mindfulness: simply noting, non-judgmentally, our habits of thought and letting them go. Too often, we become swept away in negative rumination as the ANTs take over. Yet the simple act of noticing, with neither attachment nor aversion, when this happens can decrease the frequency and intensity of these thoughts over time. And as flow mentions, pausing to take note of what we need in the present moment is an immensely helpful strategy for warding off ANTs before they get out of control.

Mindfulness is a powerful tool.

Very well put Enigma, I agree completely.

From my personal experience I would like to add that NLP (nuro linguistic programing) provides powerful tools for changing specific negative thoughts. In my case I had a lot of negative thoughts about illness that were causing my CFS (Chronic Fatigue Symdrome). These thoughts had become embedded in my mind over a long period of time and the NLP techniques that I used helped me to break them relatively quickly. My health improved dramatically as a result. I also started practicing Mindfullness meditation at the same time and this helped enormously in identifying the thoughts in the first place.

NLP seems quite crude to me but it was certainly effective. Mindfullness is a much more elegant practice and has more potential for me in the long term. However I don't think my recovery from CFS would have progressed half as quickly if I hadn't used the NLP techniques to break the toxic thought cycles that made my sympathetic nervous system over active, which then led to the symptoms of my illness.

[bimbabruna]

Hi everybody I'm Maria,

I'm really happy to be here, I love to share mindful thoughts with a mindful community . I've been practicing daily mindfulness meditation for about 2 years and since the begining my overall picture of the practice and the meditation has changed a lot! Now it's like these 2 years mean less and less everyday.
I began practicing because of intense thoughts of fear, anxiety and depression. They haven't dissapeared. Sometimes for no reason I feel I have to escape, to run, my head explodes, the palms of my hands sweats, my heart is about to explode.
None of these are gone, but I haven't had any pannic attack in these 2 years, I've learned a new way to relate to all these reactions in my body and my brain and these situations are only disturbing me for a few minutes nowadays.
I can say, when I look back, that I have suffered a lot, but now I'm more concerned in the suffering of others --I would love to eradicate the anxiety, stress and the fear from the whole world! So here's my point in mindfulness meditation: the practice allows us to stay in an always completly opened mind, with whatever arises. The problem is that our head is wired with years and years of rejections and graspings to an amount of thoughts and emotions.
The real cause of suffering are our rejections and graspings, and all them are neutralized with the total openness of mind. Is like all these ANT's have to be looked from the boundless mind, all the time, over and over again. The practice is essential to get to that.
Now I'm in a particular stage where I think I need to retreat. Our modern lifes are so directed to do and do and always do and so far from the being state of mind that the retreats seem to be grate oportunities to rewire defenetly.

[JonW]

Hi Maria,
Welcome to the community. I'm so glad to hear that mindfulness has made a positive difference to your life.
Your description of mindfulness is spot on. And, as you say, it leads not only to more self-compassion but more compassion for others.
Of course, one of the greatest challenges is to remain mindful in an increasingly frantic world. It's as though there are times when we almost have to steal those moments of quiet and serenity.
I hope to see more of your posts on the forum.
All best wishes, Jon

[FeeHutch]

Hello Maria, thank you for saying hi and sharing your experiences. I look forward to getting to know you better

Mindfulness has taught me that it is OK to stop and breathe, not everything needs to be done, decided, figured out right this instant. I feel like I interact rather than react a lot more now and that brings a bigger sense of peace and calm.