Hello and welcome to Stopping Negative Thoughts.
My name is Elisa Di Napoli and this experience is specially designed to give you a more positive thought process.
Before you begin to relax deeply we will take a look at how negative thoughts occur and ways in which you can train yourself to have a more positive outlook.
Negative thoughts are characterized by all or nothing thinking.
Words like always and never signify unshakable views of how things are when realistically events are not really quite so black and white.
Here's the ABCDE model that explains how this happens and how you can practice ways to overcome these thoughts.
A stands for adversity or an event that didn't happen as you had hoped.
An example might be a friend not calling you when they said they would.
B is for belief and how you interpret this event.
This may have made you think that they didn't call because they didn't like you for example.
C is for consequence and how this affects you.
Stopping here and brooding will probably make you feel bad.
The trick is to move on to the next stages in order to feel better and more positive.
So next is D which stands for diversity or disputation or thinking of other possible explanations.
In this example perhaps they didn't call because they were too busy or they just forgot which leads on to E for energy.
Breaking away from the negative thought helps you feel much better.
The key is to create multiple possible explanations without necessarily believing any of them until you can get outside evidence.
So if you become aware of a thought that seems negative try this out.
The more you practice it the more it will become second nature or a habit.
Now listen to this guided meditation as often as you need to get this clear in your mind and if you listen to this regularly you'll be able to train your mind to let the negative thoughts just drift by.
Stepping out of the situation in this way will help you to calm the mind down and by opening your awareness to new possibilities you will begin to observe your thoughts and let negative ideas simply drift away.
Now while you're feeling very calm and open you'll accept these ideas so you can make these changes at a subconscious level before they enter your conscious mind and the results of this will ripple through your life far into the future.
Remember it is the calm and still surface of water that reflects reality as it really is.
So too when your mind is calmer for more of the time then you'll notice your thoughts becoming more focused even and enjoyable.
So just take a few moments now to make yourself comfortable and sit or lie in a way that helps you to let go of any tension.
It's a good idea to uncross your arms and legs to let that body unravel so that each muscle can begin to release and unwind.
Ensuring you're in a situation where you'll be uninterrupted for a while and when you feel supported in the right way just close your eyes and allow your breath to become regular and easy so that each breath it fills your body with blissful feelings of calm and peace.
Out is a further release of any less comfortable feelings.
And as the breathing begins to become steadier you can just follow its course,
Rhythmically relaxing like the ebbing and flowing of the tide or the waves that wash up on the beach and sink into the sand.
Waves of calm just drifting through the body and mind and you can begin to imagine yourself resting in a serene setting,
Perhaps looking out towards the horizon to the vast view beyond.
It might be that you're surrounded by lush nature or perhaps just resting somewhere peaceful by the sea.
Enjoying moments of calm clarity that help you to feel completely at peace within yourself.
The colors and shapes,
Blues and greens,
The natural flow,
A subtle breeze upon the skin,
A gentle breeze.
Watch in a cloud drift by and then passed again.
Getting a sense of how the mind and body can unite in a way that allows you to relax and let go of all.
It's getting absorbed in the beauty of sight and sound that rests deeply within the depths of your mind.
Wondering what it is about this place deep inside that helps you to feel good.
And as you look out towards the distant lands beyond,
Just noticing the clouds drifting by in the sky.
Just get a sense of yourself looking across at these clouds while completely rested and calm.
That distance between you and them,
Allowing you to feel safe,
Feel secure,
While over there everything just floats by.
Just following one that drifts in front of you until it disappears again.
And you can notice perhaps a darker colored cloud drifting into your range of vision.
And you can just allow that to continue through.
So just letting it drift away.
Just noticing,
Developing now,
Seeing that sense of deep clarity that you get.
A view that gives the sense of satisfaction that a brief moment could just last forever.
Calmness drifting through the body and as you remain relaxed within yourself,
You can appreciate how things outside can at times be turbulent.
While inside you can be calm and just wait for that turbulence outside to again become calm.
Calm.
And so,
Getting a sense of this just entering into your life.
So that in the morning,
When you get up,
You can think more positively.
Rest.
You can think more healthfully.
You can think more optimistically.
Sometimes you can just stop thinking easily,
Simply by allowing yourself to become more calm.
You can have a sense of detachment from what happens when you're away.
An activity alone makes you think more optimistically about those other times.
And you can experience this new mindset in every conceivable situation right into the future.
You know how to think differently,
But the vital ingredient is calmness.
Calmness.
And as you listen to those sounds inside and out,
Once again become aware of that negative voice within the mind.
How it sounds.
The pitch,
The quality.
You can be quite detached from its negative ideas.
Almost as if you're just listening to something boring on the radio or on the TV.
You can become quite bored with that.
And find that your attention wanders on to other things.
You can imagine what it's like for that negative voice to change in the way it sounds.
So perhaps it starts sounding like a cartoon duck or a cartoon mouse with absolutely no believability to it at all.
Just chattering away in the background there,
Getting fainter and fainter.
And you can give yourself the permission to finally let go and allow that voice to quieten down.
And in its place,
You can hear a different sound.
A calmer sound.
A slower sound.
A wiser sound.
That helps you to think more positively.
Just notice the pitch and sounds of this new voice.
As you regain the power within yourself,
You can encourage this new voice to take over.
So that that old out-of-date voice becomes quiet and still.
And of course,
That cartoon duck or that cartoon mouse can come back at any time,
But you can choose whether it has anything sensible to say.
You can sit back and relax,
Listen to it for a second or two,
And then just let it drift away.
And you may have heard that old worn-out cliché that negative thinkers are somehow being realistic.
However,
Research shows it's those who are optimistic who show greater resilience and staying power.
Because they keep going.
They're far more likely to manifest their positive expectations.
And you can look forward to that.
Look forward to the things that a new positive attitude brings into your life.
Without you even having to try to do anything.
And it can be delightful and incredible and amazing to notice all the changes that take place.
When you allow that old negative voice to just drift away.
It's like watching those clouds drift by and out of sight.
The you that's much,
Much more than just thoughts can relax.
Just listening to those subtle sounds.
The rhythm of your breathing that's been flowing so gently all by itself.
Becoming aware of that leg there now,
Or that hand.
So that in a moment or two you can notice that you just feeling perhaps like stretching an arm or a foot or a leg.
Just as the muscles begin to wake up now and feel more alive.
Just notice that as that body begins to feel more like moving around the mind begins to wake up.
And you can forget about anything you have listened to just now.
And if you like you can just allow things to happen nicely in their own time.
Just becoming alert in your body.
Just taking a few moments now to take a deep breath and slowly open your eyes.
And enjoy just coming back into the room feeling refreshed and ready.
To carry on with the rest of your day.
