Who has never been haunted by a negative thought? Whether it is because you have been impacted by some devastating news or have had a traumatic or difficult experience, the fact is that most people have fallen victim to the dark terrain of the mind. But then, how do you quiet the buzz of harmful ideas?

According to the expert in Mindfulness Coaching and pioneer of the technique in Brazil, Rodrigo Siqueira, negative thoughts in general are linked to the inability and lack of training of the person to stay in the present. "Either we are ruminating negative events of the past or anticipating negative events of a non-existent future that, most likely, will never exist. First of all, it isHaving the ability to observe and recognize them as mental events, and not as reality, is fundamental. This simple attitude already begins to free us from the clutches of these less healthy thoughts", guarantees Rodrigo.

Fernando Belatto, a martial arts teacher and creator of the method "The Awakening of the Inner Warrior", is not in favor of trying to stop negative thoughts. According to him, the negative buzzing of the mind will continue to happen, until the person learns to welcome this avalanche of harmful ideas.

Negative thoughts often bring self-knowledge about our beliefs, fears, and inadequacies, so we need to learn to face them.

I believe that if we manage to live these feelings, but without identifying with them, we will stop fearing them and will remove their control over our actions. A good exercise for this is to get in touch with ourselves through short periods of silence", guides Fernando.

In any case, it is important to learn to deal with the mind's harmful patterns. The career counselor, Amanda Figueira, proposes a reflection: "don't we take care of our health, our food, our house, our body, our relationships? So, taking care of our thoughts should also be a permanent exercise. After all, thought is action, and if we think negatively, it is quite possible that we will have as a result, a negative attitude.The good thing about this is that changing fixed ideas only depends on you," he assures.

Check out below tips from various experts to learn how to deal with and stop the negative thoughts that insist on populating your mind.

Question your thoughts

"For the therapist and spiritual educator Ariana Schlösser, the biggest problem for people is to believe everything they think. But, according to her, the secret is to start questioning what the mind offers.

All suffering comes from an unquestioned thought. Those that cause stress cannot be real, because they are not in our nature. In fact, they are a blessing, an alarm - felt by the body - that says: you are believing something that is not true.

Just think that only love is real, so when we are nurturing thoughts of fear, which is the opposite of love, we are actually creating illusions, and it is because we believe in them that we suffer", Ariana explains.

The spiritual educator teaches that first you need to identify what thought is behind your negative emotion. Then, to unblock the harmful ideas you have located within yourself, Ariana guides you to ask 4 simple questions, but they must be answered through Meditation. "This means that when you ask yourself a question, you should be silent and let the answer come. The goal isrealize how we believe too much in what we think, without ever questioning ourselves, without realizing that it's just a thought," he advises.

Below, Ariana Schlösser teaches the step by step process to start questioning your thoughts, based on the work "The Work" by Byron Katie.

Step 1 - Locate your beliefs. Example: "This shouldn't be happening," "All men cheat," "I won't be able to pay my bills," or "I will never be loved.

And now answer:

1. Is this true? (There is no right answer, let your mind consider the question and answer with "yes" or "no" only)
2. Can you be absolutely sure that this is true? (again, answer "yes" or "no". If your mind starts to question a lot, it is a sign that you have left the investigation, that is not the goal of this work. Consider: can you be 100% sure? Yes or no? Hard to state anything with absolute certainty, isn't it?)
3. How do you react when you believe this thought? What happens when you believe it? (Notice what happens with your body, when you are in your daily life, when you interact with others, how you treat people? How do you treat yourself? What do you allow yourself? Notice: have you had peace in believing this thought?)
4. Who would you be without this thought? (In the same situations you visualized in the previous question, what would you do or say differently without this thought? How does your body behave?)
5. Invert it! This is the fun part. Every thought is true if we want to believe it. It is our choice. So now invert your belief and give three reasons why the inversion is as or more true than the negative thought itself! Let your answers come, give yourself this gift!

Example:

"All men cheat">> "All men do not cheat"

List three reasons why this is as true or more true, such as:

1. All men don't cheat because I don't know all men to claim this.
2. All men don't cheat because I can think of these and these examples.
3. All men don't cheat, because even if that were true I have no way of knowing if that is what they will do in the future. No one has the power to predict that.

Holistic therapist Regina Restelli reinforces the suggestions and states that the first thing to do to stop negative thoughts is to activate the perception that they exist. "Noticing when thoughts are in action is the only way to really combat them. Then, as perception increases, the realization of being in a negative intentionality gives you the opportunity to be ableIn this way, we exercise the choice of what we want to live in our lives, under the Law of Cause and Effect. And, finally, choose the positive, love, kindness, silence, compassion... The possibilities are infinite when we surrender to the joy of the certainty that everything is always right," reflects Regina.

Breathe and meditate to change thought patterns

Have you ever noticed that one of the first things you do when you realize you feel something "negative" is to try to mask it or resist it? Spiritual therapist and educator Ariana Schlösser believes that this is precisely why painful emotions stay within people and influence their lives.

"All the pain wants is to be heard. Think: if it is here present it is because it is ready to go! Any emotion is a great opportunity for healing," says Ariana.

The therapist suggests that to start dissolving negative thoughts, you should use breathing to your advantage. According to Ariana, since emotions stay in the body, an optimal way to dissolve them is to breathe through them.

"First locate the emotion you want to dissolve. Then sit down and get in touch with it, without repressing it, just feel it and breathe deeply. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Feel the emotion coming up and let it come, whatever it is: tears, all the weight of the past... Let them go. The tendency, while doing this exercise, is to want to contract the body, got it? If we allow ourselves to breathe for 60seconds (at least) we will be allowing our energy circuit to redo itself and, thus, allowing this emotion to dissolve within us. This will cause our vibration to change. Dedicate yourself to this practice daily, until you feel at peace with this emotion", Ariana teaches.

The Mindfulness Coaching expert, Rodrigo Siqueira, believes that the Full Attention Meditation is of great help in interrupting negative thoughts. Below, he teaches how to put it into practice:

1. Recognize that your thoughts are not reality. They come and go. Let them come and go.
2. Try to observe them with detachment, like someone observing clouds passing in the sky. Don't identify with them.
3. Calmly focus your attention on your breathing, on all the sensations of the inlet and outlet of air.
4. When you notice that the mind is calmer, end the Meditation.
5. Always be aware of your thoughts and their subjective and impermanent nature: they are not reality and will certainly pass away.

Use tricks to interrupt thoughts

According to psychotherapist Celia Lima, there are some easy tricks for getting out of hypnosis, which have an almost immediate effect:

1. Get out of the place If you are in the living room, go to the kitchen and pay attention to the path you are taking. Look at objects with interest, take a drink of water and try to occupy yourself with something. Getting out of the place you are in forces us to bring our attention to where we are going. Naturally, that unwanted thought goes up in smoke in our mind.
2. Thermal Shock Washing your face with cold water, letting your wrists receive cold water from the tap not only gets you out of your seat, but your body will react to the cold and you'll be able to stop focusing on unwanted thoughts.
3. Clap your hands You will have the sound of your hands and the circulation activated in that region, eliminating the bad feeling, as if you were chasing away the bad thoughts. You can also speak while clapping your hands, you can curse your thoughts and your sensations: "Shoo, you annoying thing!", "You'll get in the way of someone else!" or, more delicately, send a message to those thoughts: "I am love, I am life, I amIt doesn't matter what you say, as long as the intention is to get rid of this feeling or the chatter of the mind.

"If these tips don't work right away, repeat the operation, and repeat it again until you start to find your attitudes funny and lose yourself in a loud laugh! Laughter always denotizes," assures Celia Lima.

Recreate new models for your mind

The career counselor, Amanda Figueira, believes that negative thoughts are the result of a mental model addicted to a sick pattern. And for you to be able to recreate a new mental model and get rid of this type of thinking, the expert suggests some tips below:

1. Let go of everything that brings you down, stay away from "toxic" (bad for you) situations, things, places, or people. Invest in what brings you well-being.
2. Evaluate your social networks and the sites you access and clean out everything that doesn't bring you well-being. This applies to movies and TV shows. Watch only what is good and uplifting.
3. Exercise regularly: Besides improving your mood, exercise also raises your self-esteem, because you will feel more beautiful.
4. Discover an activity or a hobby and be happier doing something you enjoy.
5. If it is difficult to change on your own, seek professional help, don't hesitate and don't feel ashamed to do so.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, "Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words, your words become your attitudes, your attitudes become your habits, your habits become your values, and your values become your destiny.