Techniques for Cancelling the Negative from Your Day

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tired mom
Being a mom, on top of everything else, can be exhausting. Giving yourself some mental love can completely change your mindset

It’s 6 a.m., and putting one foot in front of the other feels like walking through a snowdrift. Though your son is now on the mend, you were up and down through the night as you comforted him while he coughed. Your daughter has no interest this morning in getting ready for school, and your lifeline is coffee. Only this morning of all mornings the coffee pot decided it lived a good life and is no longer with us. It’s going to be one of those days.

We’ve all experienced what it feels like to be ready for the day to finish before it begins, and the thoughts running through our mind like the news scrolling at the bottom of the TV may look something like this: “This is going to be such a long day. I’m so exhausted. Why aren’t there any clean socks?! All I want to do is sit down, but I can’t. My back hurts. My head hurts. I’m so frustrated!!”

Giving ourselves some much needed mental love is easier than you may think, doesn’t take time away from your busy schedule, and can completely change your day. Well, it can’t bring the coffee pot back, but it can make a big difference in how you feel and how your body responds to being Supermom.

Understanding How the Mind Works

It begins with understanding how the brain is beautifully organized to function at lightening speed. Remember what it felt like when you first brought your beautiful baby home? You reasoned out every large and small decision, took every new task one step at a time while learning, and used your judgment and analysis to decide what was right and wrong for your baby. It’s also now the voice in your head saying, “You know you shouldn’t finish your daughter’s fries … right?” This part of our brain is called the conscious mind.

Once you learned exactly what your baby needed and could swaddle and change diapers hanging upside down in the dark with your hands tied together, you no longer had to analyze and judge. They became permanent skills you mastered and stored permanently. This part of the brain is called the subconscious mind, and it’s also where all of our feelings, creativity, habits, imagination, and humor are. It’s the part of the brain saying, “Oooohhh! Fries!!”

brain
Understanding how your brain processes thoughts and feelings and then implements them in the body gives you the opportunity manifest wellness.

These areas work together when our thought department hands a memo to our feeling department, which engages imagination and memory. Then the body perks up to read the instructions for the day. The subconscious mind does not judge, and our body takes orders directly from our feelings and imagination. If you like ice cream, and you think about ice cream, then you may instantly imagine the sweet taste, smell of the freshly baked waffle cones, vibrant colors, and soft, creamy texture. Before you know it, you can almost taste it, and your mouth begins to water.

The same response happens when we think of something that makes cringe. Spiders? Snakes? Anything crawly? We immediately shudder and rub our arms. Just in case, because you never know.

Techniques You Can Use to Cancel the Negative From Your Day

Go back to the day that should already be finished and those thoughts scrolling across our mind screen. Take a moment now to close your eyes and repeat to yourself several times, “I’m so exhausted. I’m so frustrated.” Notice how it engages your feelings and imagination right away.

Where do you feel it in your body? A powerful method for preventing negativity from manifesting in the body is called the Cancel Technique. Developed by Hypnotherapist Lynsi Eastburn, this can be done in a matter of seconds, without missing a step or a wipe, and no one knows you’re doing it.

First, imagine a large, red X blinking and beeping over the thought. Or maybe a delete button on your computer, or a shredder. Perhaps a bulldozer burying it. Be creative with how you get rid of it! Next, hear in your mind, or say out loud if it suits, “Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!” Lastly, immediately replace it with a thought that works better for you and allow your new thought to create feelings. Close your eyes again now and repeat to yourself several times, “It’s going to feel incredible when I get to sit down! It’s going to feel so good when I get to rest!” How did that engage your feelings and imagination this time? Maybe sitting on the sofa at the end of the day with a fuzzy throw and your arms spread wide? Ah, that’s feels better. It’s possible to validate how you feel and empower yourself at the same time.

eyes closed
There are techniques you can practice to cancel the negative from your day.

Another great part about this technique? If someone makes a comment that takes away from you instead of adding to you, this works perfectly. Plus, the person has no idea you’re pushing their comment through a shredder, replacing it with what you know is really right for you, and then making it real with your imagination. Just nod and smile.

If you have a few minutes, close your eyes and vividly imagine ten stairs. Create them to feel safe and perfect for you. They can be outside or inside. Maybe they are made of wood, perhaps shiny metal, stone, or even glass. Then visualize slowly taking one stair at a time. Pause for a moment, feeling your feet on the surface. Take a slow, deep breath in and another slow, deep breath out while saying a word that resonates with you, such as breathe, relax, release, calm, peace, bliss … or any other that nurtures and replenishes you. By the time you reach the bottom stair, your body will definitely have gotten the memo.

Knowledge is indeed power, and understanding how your brain processes thoughts and feelings and then implements them in the body gives you the opportunity manifest wellness, even in the busiest and most challenging moments. And perhaps that day ends with a smile as you walk in the door and see Superdad has brought home a nice, shiny new coffee pot. This one’s a keeper.

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Elizabeth BloomElizabeth Leaphart is a Palmetto State native and has called both Greenville and Columbia home. She works for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and in her private practice. She is blessed to live her passion for women’s wellness and education every day. You’ll find her enjoying her home in the Northeast and our thriving downtown with her family.

 

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photo credit 1: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/arazphoto/3312178210/”>Araz Photo</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a>
photo credit 2: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/83905817@N08/7676559674/”>RelaxingMusic</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/”>cc</a>
photo credit 3: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkorchia/6926373665/”>mk is Watoo</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/”>cc</a>

our thriving downtown with her family.

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