Radio Headspace｜How to Stop Negative Thoughts Taking Over

Hello dear friends, welcome to Radio Headspace and to Thursday. It's Eve here.

I was listening to the news the other day and one of the breaking stories was of a potential asteroid that could hit the Earth in 2032. I was like, okay, time to take a break from the news. I will add that the likelihood of this happening is very, very low. 

But the headlines made it sound like we needed to send Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck up to the asteroid to blow it out of the sky, Armageddon style. Also, 2032, can we just stay in 2025, please? I really did not need to hear that, and it certainly was not helping my anxious little mind. 

All of this week, we've been exploring different ways to calm an anxious mind. And let's be honest, there is a lot going on in the world right now that is causing a ton of uncertainty, and in a lot of cases, driving a lot of fear. So if you're feeling it all, I promise you I'm right there with you. It's a lot. So I'm trying to be mindful of how much news I consume at the moment. 

It's really important we stay informed, but taking in too much can also increase our anxiety levels. And I touched on this in yesterday's episode, but our thoughts can be very seductive, and they can completely hijack the mind, making us believe that what we think is true. I'll give you some examples, and I'm sure you have lots as well. 

Perhaps you get a vague email from your boss saying, can we chat later? And suddenly, your brain spirals into, why? Why do they want to speak to me? What does it mean? Am I in trouble? I must have done something wrong. 

Or maybe you're waiting for a text back from a friend, and after a while, your mind jumps to, they must be mad at me. Why have they not responded? Did I say something wrong? 

So the other day, I had texted a friend, and she didn't respond for hours. I was feeling like I'd let her down a bit because I wasn't able to go to her birthday party. And my mind immediately jumped to, OK, she is mad with me. She probably doesn't value our friendship anymore. And she's really annoyed with me. She's one of my closest friends.

But in life, we can't always do everything, which meant I just wasn't able to be there. I went from waiting for a text to my mind exploding into a spiral of anxious thoughts. My thoughts had completely hijacked my mind. And I was starting to believe that they were true. 

However, later that day, she texted me back, totally normal, saying she'd been swamped with(忙于) work and when could we meet up because she missed me. No drama, no hidden meaning, she just had a busy day. And it was such a good reminder that not every thought is a fact. 

I've shared this technique before, many times in fact, but it's really, really powerful at helping to create some space between ourselves and our thoughts. And it's the noting technique. So say you notice that an anxious thought is popping up in the mind. Instead of getting lost in it, see if you can note it and let it go. It sounds really simple, but it does take a bit of practice. So I'll go over some examples now. 

So say your mind is going into what ifs. Note it as worrying. You can even say, this is worry, and then gently let it go and come back to what you were doing. If you find that your say, replaying something embarrassing from the past. See if you can note it as remembering. You could even say, this is just a memory. Or if you're planning out every possible way a conversation could go, you can note it as planning. 

I remember when I first tried this technique, it did feel a little strange at first, almost a bit awkward. But the more I stuck with it, the more I was able to create enough space to see them clearly for what they are. Thoughts, not facts. Although, yes, I still need reminding of this. 

So let's briefly try this together now. Take a slow breath in. And then gently exhale. Notice what's on your mind right now. Is there a particular thought that's been looping for you today? If so, gently note it. Maybe it's worrying or planning. Whatever it is, see if you can note it. And it doesn't just have to be an anxious thought. 

Now see if you can gently let that thought go. Imagine it floating away like a cloud floats across the sky. When we do this, we're intentionally creating some space in the mind, and then our thoughts lose some of their power. 

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