Thousands of thoughts run through your mind each day.
How many are positive? How many are negative?
With so many things going on in the world right now, it can be extremely difficult to keep negative thoughts from festering in your mind. Though wholly justified in light of recent events, concerns over your (and your family’s) physical, mental, and financial future can keep you in a perpetual state of fear.
Unfortunately, the impact of negative thoughts can go even deeper. Do you have hurtful statements, made by a teacher, relative, or bully in the past, set on repeat in your mind? Or, are you plagued with self-doubt to the point where you believe negative thoughts about yourself?
The Truth About Thoughts
What you think has a powerful effect on your life. While it’s common to trust everything you think, the reality is many thoughts can skew in a negative direction.
For example, you may incorrectly assume something about another person. Or, you may inaccurately interpret how others view you. This presents a real danger: if you think the same thoughts enough, they become your beliefs.
Negative Self-Talk
Habitual, negative self-talk trains the brain to see things pessimistically. Negative thinking can effectively rewrite your neural networks, reinforcing pathways in the brain that make it more likely you’ll continue seeing the glass as half empty.
Additionally, having negative thoughts can reduce activity in the area of the brain involved with self-control, judgment, and planning. This can lead to harmful behaviors and poor decisions.
So, how can you keep from believing every negative thought that enters your mind? These 7 strategies can help retrain your brain to think more positively and stop negative thoughts so you can have more fulfillment in life…
7 Helpful Ways to Stop Negative Thoughts So You Can Feel Happier
1. Exterminate the ANTs
Automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) can cause your brain to release chemicals able to negatively affect every cell in your body and make you feel bad. The opposite is also true – positive, happy, hopeful thoughts release chemicals that help make you feel good.
You can disinfect your thoughts by exterminating the ANTs that steal your happiness. Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or stressed, write down what you’re thinking and then challenge that ANT. When you stop believing every fearful thought you have, you can start to regain control of your life.
2. Turn Off the News
When news channels present unsettling projections and shocking images, the fear centers of your brain may be activated. News can induce a state of FOMO (fear of missing out) that keeps you riveted to each new alarming or controversial event, which can make you feel even more on edge.
Watching news on TV or the internet can infest your mind with negative thoughts. In fact, it can increase both anxious and sad moods. Minimize your exposure to negative news by establishing time limits and stop watching TV at least an hour before you go to sleep at night.
3. Relaxation and Meditation
Make time for yourself every day. Taking breaks for meditation and relaxation provides benefits for both your physical and mental health. Spending just 15 minutes alone, without distractions, may give you a fresh perspective.
Clearing your mind and slowing your breathing can help restore inner calm. Repeating a simple Loving Kindness Meditation like “May I be safe and secure,” can increase positive thoughts and decrease negative ones.
4. Visit a Haven
Choose a haven – a place you can imagine with all your senses. If it’s the beach, visualize the ocean, feel the sand beneath your feet, and the warm sun on your skin. Your haven can be any real or imaginary place where you feel comfortable.
Begin to envision yourself not as you currently are, but as you want to be. Spending 20 minutes a day on this refueling exercise can help banish negative thoughts from your mind.
5. Write It Down
The process of journaling gives negative thoughts a place to live other than your brain. Once those thoughts have been expressed, they often lose their intensity and urgency, which will allow you to focus on the positive things in your life. Writing in your journal 10 minutes before you go to bed can help release the stresses of the day and put you in a restful state of mind.
6. Give Grace
How easy is it for you to give grace to others? Okay, now how easy is it for you to give grace to yourself?
Letting yourself off the hook for past mistakes, especially common ones, can help you overcome negative thought patterns or destructive behaviors. You might find that your outlook on life is much more positive when you’re not being so hard on yourself.
7. Nutritional Support
If you struggle with regulating your mood, you might consider getting nutritional support. BrainMD offers brain directed dietary supplements formulated with ultra-pure ingredients to help you feel calm and content. We’re pleased to present our premier mood supplement…
Happy Saffron Plus
This breakthrough formula was scientifically designed to promote a positive mood. It brings together highly refined nutraceutical preparations of the two most traditionally revered “happiness herbals” – saffron flower extract and curcumin from the turmeric root – with zinc, a mineral essential for life and vital for positive mood.
Why You Need It
It’s been estimated that in the U.S. at least 1 in 5 people endure serious mood problems and at least 1 in 4 experience significant feelings of anxiousness at some point in their life. Happy Saffron Plus was developed from clinical research with three nutraceuticals for brightening mood, coping with anxious feelings, and enhancing alertness while under mental strain.
Benefits of Happy Saffron Plus
Based on the most current research, this supplement provides:
Here are the 3 highly effective ingredients found in Happy Saffron Plus:
1. affron® Standardized Saffron Extract. Saffron has been the happiness spice in the Middle East for at least 2600 years. affron® is a water-extracted saffron concentrate standardized for its most active constituents. In clinical trials, this extract has improved mood and anxiousness in adults and adolescents.
2. Longvida® Optimized Curcumin Extract. Like saffron, the turmeric root has been hailed as a happiness herbal in Asia for at least 2600 years. Curcumin is the molecular complex from turmeric root that improves mood, but is very poorly absorbed from turmeric powder. The Longvida® curcumin preparation features excellent absorption of curcumin and has worked well in clinical trials at 400 mg per day or higher.
3. Zinc, as Glycinate. This mineral is essential for the functioning of at least 300 enzymes essential for our life processes, and for the functioning of about 2000 different human proteins. People with mood problems typically have low blood levels, and taking supplements with zinc often enhances mood. Zinc glycinate is excellently absorbed and well tolerated.
The combination of zinc with affron® saffron and Longvida® curcumin has the potential to elevate mood, perhaps even in individuals who don’t realize they have a mood problem. All three of these ingredients are documented to improve mood in controlled human clinical trials.
What others are saying about Happy Saffron Plus:
“Much less apt to feel down by current events or being cooped up in the house.” – Sally
“Gives you a nice feeling of wellness & happiness.” – Jennifer
Give Happy Saffron Plus a try today! The only thing you’ve got to lose is your blues.
At BrainMD, we’re dedicated to providing high-quality supplements and devices to improve your physical health and overall well-being. For more information about Happy Saffron Plus and our full list of products, please visit us at BrainMD.
Keith has been a member of the BrainMD team for several years, providing his research and writing talents. Keith is grateful to have the opportunity to write about supplements since many of them have made a dramatic difference in his life. He is often heard around the office saying, “We have supplements for that.”
