Be the Observer of Your Thoughts…Go on a Healthy Thought Diet

Top 5 Ways to Shift Your Thoughts

By Karen @ KB Naturally

 
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Just as your body needs healthy food to survive, it also needs healthy thoughts to thrive!  All the organic kale in the world cannot keep us healthy and happy if our thoughts are constantly filled with fear, self-doubt, or negativity.  Just like when we sometimes add and eliminate certain foods from our diet to get healthier, that’s the same thing we need to do with our thoughts.  Keep the positive thoughts and toss out the ones that make us feel bad and low.  Go on a healthy thought diet! Lose those bad thoughts and lighten up your whole life! 

If you’ve ever thought about losing weight to look better and feel healthier…well, I believe losing certain thoughts can do the same thing and even more.  It aligns us with who we really are, and happiness becomes a priority in our lives. 

In my own life I have found that being an observer of my thoughts is the first major step to changing them and releasing the ones that don’t serve my life.  So, I’m going to ask you to be the observer of your thoughts as well.  When certain one’s pop into your mind, ask yourself, ‘does that make me feel good’?  If the answer is no, then work at shifting it to a better one.  If you are really in tune with yourself, you will know instantly if it a high or low thought…just by the way that you feel. Try it for a week and see what your inner dialogue is really saying. 

  • What are you thinking when you look in the mirror, when you’re trying on clothes, when you’re around certain people? 

  • Are you showering kind, loving, and supportive thoughts over yourself...or are you berating yourself constantly and comparing yourself to others? 

  • Do you find yourself being offended easily?  What are the thoughts within you that is creating that?

  • Are you your own best friend or are you an enemy to yourself?  If it is the latter, well, it's time to stop and create a better thought environment!  Throw the old outdated thoughts in the trash and remember that all we want is to feel good! 

Often, we have accumulated unwanted thoughts that aren’t even ours but a projection of someone else’s negativity or baggage.  Sometimes it happened when we were children and just took what was said to us as truth.  This isn’t to blame anyone or to take on a victim mentality, instead it empowers us to take charge and release what wasn’t even ours to begin with.

It can take practice to break the cycle and habits of bad thoughts creeping in, but since we are the boss of our mind, we just need to take charge.  We need to strongly affirm we are no longer going down that same road.  We need to make an internal dialogue shift.  A commitment to ourselves, and for ourselves.  And it starts by being the observer of our thoughts and life. I speak from experience when I say it isn’t always easy, but it is definitely worth it!

When you first wake up, try smiling at yourself in the mirror.  A really big smile.  Instead of looking for something bad or what you don't like, find the good and the beauty.  Something that makes you, uniquely you.   Maybe that crooked tooth, the freckle on your nose, your beaming smile.  Even if it feels awkward or difficult at first.  Why do I want you to do this?... because I want you to start seeing your amazing and beautiful self. All of us are perfectly imperfect.  Plus, it just feels so much better to think good thoughts about ourselves.  Mel Robbins even gives herself a high five in the mirror each morning.  Starting the day off in a positive way can have a big influence on us throughout the rest of our day.

We all have times when we partake in negative self-thoughts.  When I notice myself falling into it, I sometimes take Iyanla Vanzant's advice and just say the words,
 'cancel, cancel’ out loud.  Let your good words be louder than any negative ones that may be floating around in your head.  Thinking good thoughts emits rainbows out into the world and this world certainly needs more rainbows right now.

 

5 tips to catch yourself from going down the negative thought path:

1.    Smile a really big smile!!  It just feels good.

2.   If a bad, fearful, or negative thought pops up, say; CANCEL CANCEL  (you switch channels instantly) A simple reminder that you are no longer doing that!

 3.   Take a walk and say a mantra with each cadence of your steps in sync with each syllable of the short mantra you choose.  Choose one that is the opposite of how you may be feeling and just keep repeating it with every step.

Some examples: I love life…I am hap-py…I am health-y…I am strong…

I am con-fid-ent…I am pow-er-ful…Etc. (you get the idea).  I love doing this!

 4.   Remember that feeling good is the priority…so ask yourself, ‘Does this thought make me feel good?’ This is being the observer at work and puts you in the drivers seat.

 5.    Sometimes you may need to have a good talking to with yourself! May have to even get a little firm, bossy, or even loud…like you are taking back control.  Because remember, you are the boss and CEO of all your own thoughts!  Nobody is thinking your thoughts for you. Even if it was something you picked up from someone else when you were a child… you are an adult now and can take back your own power and truth. 

I once heard a story about Buddha.  He was in the village and a man started berating and insulting him and Buddha stayed unaffected by this man’s thoughts of him.  One of Buddha’s disciples couldn’t understand how he could stay so calm and unbothered.  To which Buddha replied, ’If someone offers you a gift and you decline to accept it to whom does the gift belong?’  His disciple answered, ‘It belongs to the person who offered it.’  Buddha replied, ‘That is correct.’ 

 So, if someone hands you an insult or one of their thoughts or beliefs and you don’t accept it as yours then it stays with the giver.  You then stand in your own personal truth and don’t allow someone else’s viewpoint to destroy how you feel about yourself.  It is more about them and what is inside of them than it is about you anyway.

 By going on a healthy thought diet and giving up some outmoded and unfriendly thoughts you have accumulated, you will shine more brightly in your world. You will experience life with a new attitude, practice more self-care and love, and well, you will just be happier.  Here’s to losing those unwanted thoughts and being your own boss!

 

What are some negative thought patterns you find yourself thinking?

What are the opposite thoughts you can shift them into?

Are these really your thoughts or someone else’s baggage they perhaps handed you at some point?

What new, empowering thoughts can you start each day with?

  

 
 

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Karen Benedetto2 Comments