We all know that diet, exercise, social connection and sleep, all work together to impact health, but did you know that your thoughts – what you tell yourself, also has a major impact on your health and stress levels?
Every day, every single one of us has thousands, if not millions of random thoughts racing through our mind - each of them having the power to influence your emotional and physical state in a positive or negative way depending on what they are. This is sometimes referred to as your ‘monkey mind’.
The effects of negative thinking can and do have serious health consequences, increasing stress, the number one cause of ‘dis-ease’. So, while it’s not easy to always be positive, the idea is to focus on what you can control and not on what you can’t.
What you perceive, visualise or think determines how you feel and to some extent what you get. In other words, your thoughts create your reality. So, by changing your thoughts, you can change not only the physiology of your body, but also how you feel.
To test out how your thoughts affect your body, remember a painful memory and hold it in your mind for 20-30 seconds. How do you feel? Probably not good. Now remember or imagine a happy and joyful moment and hold it for 20-30 seconds. How do you feel now? Very good I presume.
Hopefully you are now clear on how your thoughts can change how you feel both physically and emotionally.
The reason for this is that our mind can’t differentiate between our thoughts and actual physical reality – it treats both the same. So, without being aware of your thoughts, you are actually allowing life to happen to you rather than you being the conscious creator.
So honestly evaluate your thoughts through a mindfulness practice, and ask yourself are they helping or hindering me? Do they make me feel positive, hopeful and energetic or do they leave me feeling drained and exhausted?
What is the point of stressing on situations you can’t change? Your worry is not going to make things any better, all it will do is reduce your capacity to work on what you can change.
Take a good look at your life, as it is an accurate indicator or mirror of the quality of your thoughts. The simple truth is that ‘like attracts like’. If your thoughts are constantly negative, then you may find yourself feeling down, lethargic or unmotivated. Life will feel like a struggle and it will be difficult to find joy in the simple things.
Sometimes our thoughts focus on ‘the what ifs’, or on ‘should haves’. Neither of these help you to move forward, as you can’t control the future, nor can you change the past. So, stay focused on the now and on what you can control.
Hopefully you are now clear on how your thoughts can create your reality to a certain extent. So, as science has recently shown, you can really improve your health by changing your thoughts.
Rosanna Commisso - Founder, StressCare Solutions Living with extreme long-term stress has shaped my passion for helping others find their path to stress resilience through self-care. If you need support, I’m here to help you understand the impact of stress and provide guidance on how to improve your health and quality of life.
M: 0402 917 064