Most of us spend a considerable time 'in our heads' each day and
unfortunately much of this is based on worries about the past or fears
about the future. Often this revolves around personality traits that
cause us pressure too, such as our need to be right or good, being
self-critical or needing to analyse everything. Where this is the case
it can cause us a lot of self-induced stress. It is said that stress is
just 10% of what happens and 90% how we deal with it. This reframing
exercise is one technique that can help you deal with external stress
better and reduce the stress inducing inner critical voices.
Reframing your thoughts - this can be done in the moment whenever you notice a negative thought or one that is causing internal resistance, anxiety etc. e.g. "I have to...", "I shouldn't have...", "I can't...", "I'll never..." etc
Ruminating about things takes time, so this technique can actually save you time! It can take as little as seconds to reframe a thought, or if you have time you can ramp up the positive emotion to develop a stronger memory. The more positive emotion you can build into this the better and the more quickly you will retrain your brain to have a more positive association with something you are fearful of or are resisting for some reason.
1) Recognise thoughts that are not helpful to you, maybe causing doubt, fear, internal resistance or even triggering or increasing a symptom.
2) Examine the truth in the thought - is it based on old fears and is it really true? Question it and then remind yourself of why you know it can't be true. Use examples where possible to reinforce it.
3) Frame the thought in a more positive way which doesn't cause you any resistance. Use positive words and expressions rather than using terms such as: "I don't have a bad back/neck/etc.....", "There isn't anything wrong with....", When possible come up with a specific positive affirmation you can learn and use immediately in the future whenever you have this same negative thought process. Frequent use of this can actually help you develop a more positive and constructive trigger when thinking of something fearful.
4) Ramp up the positive emotion by talking to yourself about how good it is now that you recognise it is your thoughts that are causing this reaction and you now know you are able to consciously change them. Gain perspective, look at all the positive aspects of the situation and look at the 'evidence' that supports these new positive thoughts.
5) Amplify the emotion even more by using your imagination to visualise a really positive outcome/outlook. Use all your senses to really build a new positive 'memory' and break the old association with that thought and the feeling/behaviour/symptom you experience with it.
6) Move on to doing something else once you have successfully reframed the thought into something positive and you can actually 'feel' the positivity, or you have at least reduced any resistance to the original thought. This is not bottling up how you feel, rather preventing you from creating more stress about something you will have already acknowledged.
7) Expect to keep practicing this in order to succeed. Persistence and commitment are paramount in retraining our brains to break the negative associations between our thoughts and negative emotions, negative behaviours and symptoms of stress illness and replacing them with more positive, supporting associations.
In brief: Notice the thought - Stop it - Reframe it into something more positive - build the positivity and the emotions related to this by positive self talk and using your imagination!
Reframing your thoughts - this can be done in the moment whenever you notice a negative thought or one that is causing internal resistance, anxiety etc. e.g. "I have to...", "I shouldn't have...", "I can't...", "I'll never..." etc
Ruminating about things takes time, so this technique can actually save you time! It can take as little as seconds to reframe a thought, or if you have time you can ramp up the positive emotion to develop a stronger memory. The more positive emotion you can build into this the better and the more quickly you will retrain your brain to have a more positive association with something you are fearful of or are resisting for some reason.
1) Recognise thoughts that are not helpful to you, maybe causing doubt, fear, internal resistance or even triggering or increasing a symptom.
2) Examine the truth in the thought - is it based on old fears and is it really true? Question it and then remind yourself of why you know it can't be true. Use examples where possible to reinforce it.
3) Frame the thought in a more positive way which doesn't cause you any resistance. Use positive words and expressions rather than using terms such as: "I don't have a bad back/neck/etc.....", "There isn't anything wrong with....", When possible come up with a specific positive affirmation you can learn and use immediately in the future whenever you have this same negative thought process. Frequent use of this can actually help you develop a more positive and constructive trigger when thinking of something fearful.
4) Ramp up the positive emotion by talking to yourself about how good it is now that you recognise it is your thoughts that are causing this reaction and you now know you are able to consciously change them. Gain perspective, look at all the positive aspects of the situation and look at the 'evidence' that supports these new positive thoughts.
5) Amplify the emotion even more by using your imagination to visualise a really positive outcome/outlook. Use all your senses to really build a new positive 'memory' and break the old association with that thought and the feeling/behaviour/symptom you experience with it.
6) Move on to doing something else once you have successfully reframed the thought into something positive and you can actually 'feel' the positivity, or you have at least reduced any resistance to the original thought. This is not bottling up how you feel, rather preventing you from creating more stress about something you will have already acknowledged.
7) Expect to keep practicing this in order to succeed. Persistence and commitment are paramount in retraining our brains to break the negative associations between our thoughts and negative emotions, negative behaviours and symptoms of stress illness and replacing them with more positive, supporting associations.
In brief: Notice the thought - Stop it - Reframe it into something more positive - build the positivity and the emotions related to this by positive self talk and using your imagination!
Georgina Oldfield MCSP Chartered Physiotherapist and Pain Specialist.
Unfortunately chronic pain usually develops due to misdiagnosis because of the widespread belief that pain must have a physical cause. My work helps people recognise just how inextricably linked the mind and body are and how hidden stresses not only affect pain, but can cause debilitating and long term pain and other chronic conditions. Once this concept is recognised, understood and worked with, recovery is possible because Stress Illness is fully reversible.
It is said that stress is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we deal with it. My work is based on helping people in pain resolve their pain by learning how to deal with external stress (past and present) as well as moderating any self-induced inner stress.
Understanding and accepting a psychophysiological cause is necessary to fully recover but my articles provide helpful tools to effectively help people either prevent or resolve pain, or other persistent health conditions.
Please visit my website to find out more http://www.georgieoldfield.com
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Unfortunately chronic pain usually develops due to misdiagnosis because of the widespread belief that pain must have a physical cause. My work helps people recognise just how inextricably linked the mind and body are and how hidden stresses not only affect pain, but can cause debilitating and long term pain and other chronic conditions. Once this concept is recognised, understood and worked with, recovery is possible because Stress Illness is fully reversible.
It is said that stress is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we deal with it. My work is based on helping people in pain resolve their pain by learning how to deal with external stress (past and present) as well as moderating any self-induced inner stress.
Understanding and accepting a psychophysiological cause is necessary to fully recover but my articles provide helpful tools to effectively help people either prevent or resolve pain, or other persistent health conditions.
Please visit my website to find out more http://www.georgieoldfield.com
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