Things You Should Know Thursday

While most people acknowledge and accept the role negative thinking plays when it comes to the decisions they make and the stories they tell themselves, most people discount the very real effect negative thinking has on their bodies. They believe negative thinking is purely a mental issue when in fact negative thoughts will damage their health just as quickly and thoroughly. Here's a few ways negative thinking impacts your health:

• If you think negatively about your body then you’re much more likely to abuse it with unhealthy foods, excess alcohol, drugs, and other toxins which will cause both short and long term health problems
• Negative thinking will keep you from exercising and being active, which are necessary components of physical health which thrive on an optimistic and positive outlook.
• Stress is known as a “silent killer” for a reason. When you’re experiencing a large degree of mental anxiety those toxic thoughts will manifest themselves within your body. Everyone has a few pressure points in their bodies they hold stress in. Some people hunch their shoulders, other people clench their jaws. Some people feel a general full body sense of dis-ease which impairs their ability to walk and move with grace and ease
• Negative thoughts also manifest themselves in conditions such as chronic headaches & migraines, stomach and digestive problems and an inability to sleep.
• Lack of sleep is one of the worst & most common disorders suffered by people with excessive negative thoughts and sleep deprivation creates an unending list of physical issues to deal with.

Exercising can play a big role in eliminating negative thoughts, but Laura Silva from Silva Mind & Body Healing has another suggestion that you can emply TODAY!

First you need to lie down and close your eyes somewhere dark and quiet. Next you want to visualize the positive person you want to be. Visualize yourself making intelligent decisions about your health, visualize a complete version of you who is optimistic and doesn’t entertain negative thoughts. Think about how they’d look, how they’d hold themselves, what they’d be wearing. Visualize them in precise detail standing in front of you, then visualize your present self getting up and walking right into them and becoming that person. Absorb them fully into yourself and take in their positivity, adopt their habits and posture. See yourself moving forward in your future as this person, moving through your life as this positive, confident version of yourself.

Remember that you can never just eliminate negative thinking- you need to replace them with positive thinking and a helpful vision of who you want to be! It's worth the effort for your health to get rid of that "stinkin thinkin"!