A simple trick for letting go of negative thoughts

Written by Sarah Davies

Registered Psychologist

The key is to acknowledge and bring your awareness to your negative thoughts, rather than trying to suppress or hide from them.

If you’re having a thought like, ‘this is too hard’ or ‘I can’t do this, I’m not good enough’, just image your negative thought is like a cloud passing you by in the sky.

Simply acknowledge its presence, and then allow the thought to float away like a passing cloud, without grabbing onto it.

No need to get caught up in it, or fight against it.

Take a few deep breaths, and then focus on what you want to be doing or thinking instead.

This is a quick and easy diffusion technique for negative thinking.

Remember, thoughts are just thoughts. You can’t stop having them but you can choose how to respond to them.

Read how to manage negative self-talk

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Posted: Mar 29 2022

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