Today we'll talk about how to get rid of intrusive thoughts- the advice of psychologists given in the article will surely help solve this problem and free your mind. Unfortunately, our life has both white and black stripes, and there is no escape from sad events, and it is against their background that negative thoughts are formed, which is quite natural for the human psyche.
However, gradually they recede into the background, and life events fill the thoughts of a person, and if there is no natural replacement, and bad thoughts are constantly pursued, then this is a cause for alarm. It is the constant presence of negative thoughts that causes a depressive state and.
Where do negative thoughts come from?
Before as get rid of bad thoughts, it is necessary to understand the very root cause of their appearance, because sometimes the negative is formed even with a very good course of life. It would seem that everything is fine in the family, at work too, children are happy, and health is excellent, but for no reason negative thoughts begin to attack. Gradually, they return more and more often, and very soon the individual simply does not know how to distract himself from obsessive thoughts that completely occupy consciousness. Why is this happening, and what is the cause of these thoughts?
- The reason for the appearance of negative thoughts can be the presence of contradictions with oneself. Every day, each of us makes many decisions, and they can be both insignificant and quite responsible. When choosing which transport to use, what to have a snack for breakfast or what coffee to order in a restaurant, we practically do not think, focusing on minute wishes. But when making responsible decisions, for example, regarding a change of residence, the birth of a child, a change in profession, and so on, contradictions often arise, and negative thoughts begin to form here. A person analyzes, weighs all the pros and cons, doubts, fears to make a mistake, and all this completely occupies the consciousness, which causes bad thoughts, insomnia, fatigue, and psychological stress.
- Guilt for the wrong decision. No wonder they say who does not make mistakes, he does nothing. Each person made mistakes in life, and not just once, but individuals react to their mistakes in different ways. For some, they become a storehouse of experience, lessons that people learn and continue to act differently, but for others, after the wrong step, obsessive thoughts begin to haunt. A person can think all day long about what would have been different if he had chosen a different path to resolve the issue, and gradually it becomes more and more difficult to distract from obsessive thoughts. Such people often fall under the influence of a manipulator, which leads to an even worse situation.
- A hopeless situation. Unfortunately, we are all within certain limits, and some of them are easier to get used to than to fight. There are situations when circumstances develop in such a way that it is impossible to influence them in any way. A person begins to have negative thoughts that actually suffocate him. A problem that has no solution oppresses even the strongest personalities, planting in the minds of constant fears, fears, uncertainty about the future.
What bad thoughts lead to
In our country, people are not accustomed to turning to specialists with such problems as negative thoughts, apathy, dissatisfaction with life, believing that these manifestations, in principle, do not deserve attention if they do not affect their usual life. Although the advice of psychologists can help at the very initial stage of the development of an apathetic and depressive state, and avoid subsequent neuroses. In fact, neglected psychological stress, which is caused by bad thoughts that haunt a person, can lead to a psychiatric hospital, so leaving the problem without attention is really dangerous. Bad thoughts lead to a number of other problems, for example:
- Difficulties with the performance of their duties and tasks. Evil thoughts so densely occupy the consciousness of the individual that other events, circumstances, practically crowd out. This leads to the fact that even the work that previously seemed elementary becomes overwhelming work, a person gets confused, forgets important points, it is difficult for him to understand the essence of the task. Naturally, this state of affairs becomes an additional stimulus for the development of a depressive state.
- The development of diseases. As already mentioned, obsessive thoughts destroy the psychological state of the individual, which becomes the reason for the deterioration of well-being, the occurrence of mental syndromes, and, as a result, getting into specialized medical institutions. And all because the person could not distract himself from obsessive thoughts, wound himself up, did not want to change something at the level of his subconscious.
- Wrong settings. No wonder they say that any thoughts are material, and if an individual really strongly desires something, then sooner or later he will receive it. But not only good plans and dreams are distinguished by materiality, but also negative thoughts, so constant thinking about failures, illnesses, problems leads to the fact that they only become more in life, and the existing ones only get worse.
How to understand that an individual is haunted by negative thoughts
Even in a crowd, a person who is faced with this kind of psychological problem will express himself vividly against the background of the people around him. To identify a person whose mind does not leave bad thoughts, it is necessary to rely on the following facts:
- Negative thoughts cause a panic fear of the occurrence of any disease or infection with diseases. A person begins to constantly clean, wash, almost constantly try to protect himself from the environment, disinfect all things and objects that are around him, and uses the most powerful chemicals for this;
- A person is constantly tense on an emotional level, because he expects attacks and dangers from everywhere. Negative thoughts can make him return home from the other side of the city in order to once again double-check if he forgot to close the door, turn off the appliances or turn off the appliances;
- The desire for the ideal fulfillment of all tasks goes off scale, the individual is afraid to sin somewhere, to do something wrong, to violate cleanliness, order, quality, and so on. At the same time, the smallest disorder will be enough for the development of a depressive state;
- Bad thoughts constantly return the individual to the past, so they try to preserve as much as possible about him everything that is possible, whether it be notes from the institute, drawings from kindergarten, or shoes that have been stored for more than one year. The disappearance of an old thing can become a strong psychological blow for a person;
- Such a person always sees the worst in everything: a relative is late at work or stuck in a traffic jam, and he already draws pictures of a traffic accident in his subconscious, and a banal call from an unfamiliar number causes panic.
How to get rid of intrusive thoughts
To get rid of bad thoughts, it is necessary to identify the cause that became the impetus for the development of the problem. The individual needs to remain alone with himself, in silence, and carefully consider at what point negative thoughts began to attack his consciousness, what exactly happened then. Next, consider some of the advice of psychologists, which are aimed at providing psychological assistance to those who suffer from a negative emotional background:
- Negative emotions must be minimized. Many do not even notice how many negative emotions they experience while watching the news, listening to radio programs, or even during communication and gossip with colleagues at work. Against this background, obsessive thoughts only progress, so you should switch your mind to positive sensations. Instead of watching the news - a walk in the park, instead of the aggressive press - an interesting book, and on a day off you can do what you love, for example, go to the country, go boating, and so on. In addition, you should minimize communication with envious people, gossips, those who like to complain and show aggression - your social circle is cheerful, positive people.
- To distract yourself from obsessive thoughts, try to write down on a piece of paper all the main factors that stimulate their appearance, and try to find positive aspects even in the biggest problem. Fired from work - this means that it's time to conquer new heights, the car broke down - it's time to go in for sports and walk to work on foot, and so on. So you can gradually replace bad thoughts with positive thoughts.
- Some advice from psychologists suggests that in order to get rid of a problem, it is necessary to visualize its destruction. It is necessary to make a list of experiences that stimulate negative thoughts and destroy it, for example, finely tear a sheet with this list, delete the document on the computer forever, burn the sheet. In the process of destroying the list, one should imagine that not only the records themselves disappear, but also the problems that haunt.
- Stimulation of self-confidence. To distract from obsessive thoughts, a person needs to take the reins of his life into his own hands, to realize that it completely depends on how the individual behaves. A small goal, its gradual achievement, and the subsequent encouragement will allow you to drive away bad thoughts and believe in yourself again.
- Imagination work. If obsessive thoughts attack, you can independently, with the help of imagination, force them out of your head, for example, by imagining a house, forest or other landscape, and trying to examine it in detail. There is simply no time or space left for bad thoughts.
- Food. You should not spend money on expensive medications called antidepressants, and of very dubious effectiveness, it is enough to eat right. Eating bananas, raisins, celery, chocolate, and sea fish will help defeat bad thoughts.
Or maybe meditate?
Experts say that obsessive thoughts can be driven away with the help, during which the individual concentrates his attention and goes to the subconscious level. It is in this way that one can chase away negative thoughts, but this is effective only if a person carefully examines the technique itself and the basics of meditation. You should start the procedure in order to set yourself up in a positive way, and it is at a positive moment that you should move on to meditation. Some are sure that this technique does not work at all, but, in fact, it all depends on how correctly a person uses it.
That only stimulates bad thoughts
If an individual has begun to engage in independent ridding himself of the problems of negative thinking, he should study the list of those factors that will become the worst enemies in this struggle. These include:- The manifestation of pity and severity towards one's own personality. An individual, faced with problems, troubles and failures, often begins to treat himself with pity for himself, gradually cultivating it, justifying himself, setting a bad attitude. For example, having lost a job, a person faces problems: lack of money, lack of stability, the need to find an alternative job, and so on. But, if you look at the situation differently, then such a situation makes friends and relatives reassure, support, and help. And on a subconscious level, a person understands that he can wait with the search for a new job, because his parents will feed him with pleasure, and his friends will pay for going to the movies to the unemployed, and so on. But at the same time, a person is internally nervously tense, because this will not help to solve the problem in the root, and on a subconscious level this is regularly felt.
- Fear of bad consequences. Obsessive thoughts about what bad results this or that business can end in, or what consequences the actions of the individual have already had, completely stop him. On a subconscious level, a person gives himself negative attitudes, for example, speaking at a conference, he is sure in advance of a bad report, difficulties, problems with technology, although the material is perfectly prepared, and the equipment is the best. This results in stuttering, confused speech, trembling in the voice. It is necessary to give yourself the installation that you are in comfortable conditions, everything is working perfectly, and the prepared report is superior to all previously presented works.
If certain thoughts or memories make you feel sad or anxious, you are probably looking for a way to distract yourself from them. If you find something that distracts you, it will help you shift your attention away from your anxious or negative thoughts. Everyone has something that upsets him, and what he does not want to think about. However, sometimes these thoughts can indicate a serious condition, such as anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress. Keep in mind that often the only way to truly forget sad thoughts or events (violence, accident, mental illness, etc.) is to talk to a mental health professional. The first step in dealing with the cause of your focus on negative, harmful thoughts is to try to understand the nature of these thoughts.
Steps
Settle your mind
- When you wake up in the morning, take a deep, calming breath. Do some light stretching and think about how each exercise feels in your muscles and joints. Drink a glass of water and notice the temperature, the consistency, and how you feel as the liquid runs down your throat. Don't do anything automatically, focus on every action you take throughout the day: when you shower, brush your teeth, eat, drive, work, and so on.
- Throughout each activity, refrain from judging what you are doing and do not let your thoughts wander. When you notice that you are distracted, return your attention to the activity you are doing and think about how it affects each of your senses.
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Get ready. If you enjoy cooking or baking, these activities can be a great way to take your mind off your bad thoughts. Cooking dinner, for example, can make you feel like you've done something useful and boost your self-confidence. Moreover, you will pass on your positive feelings to others - those with whom you share a meal.
Solve puzzles. They are often used in educational therapy because they require focus, patience, and creativity. Puzzles can be very helpful for distraction, disorganized thinking, and motivation problems. They often help to distract from other thoughts for a while, as they require concentration.
- Find puzzles that you enjoy and don't get bored of. Crosswords and Sudoku are fairly common puzzles that can be easily found almost anywhere.
- You can also try to put together a puzzle if you like to put pieces together. In addition, when you see disparate details coming together in front of your eyes, it gives a pleasant feeling that you are up to the task.
- There are many mobile applications and websites with various puzzles, so you can solve them anywhere.
Keep a diary. One of the reasons why it is so difficult for a person to stop thinking about something is that he makes a special effort not to think about it. Unfortunately, in most cases, this only makes you focus even more on these thoughts and causes unconstructive feelings, such as guilt or shame (“Why can't I stop thinking about this?”). Keep a mental health diary to give yourself the opportunity to explore your feelings and thoughts, even those that make you feel sad or anxious.
Break the cycle of repetitive thinking. The cycle of repetitive thinking is the process of thinking about a particular issue over and over again. As a rule, thoughts in this case are negative or restless. If you feel the need to take your mind off your thoughts, you may have entered a cycle of repetitive thinking. This habit must be overcome because repetitive rumination is strongly associated with major depression. Here are some techniques to help you break the cycle of repetitive thinking:
Continue practicing mindfulness in all your actions. A great way to focus on the present moment and not get lost in negative thoughts is to practice mindfulness every day. This technique can be extremely effective in reducing repetitive thinking and ridding the mind of unpleasant worries and worries.
Use entertainment to distract yourself
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Watch TV shows, movies or funny videos online. Humor is a great way to distract yourself from negative thoughts or memories.
Listen to music. Ever since people learned how to compose music, they have been using it to express their feelings. Studies have also shown that it helps reduce stress levels and promotes relaxation.
Go online. Moderate use of the computer will help to have fun and relax. On the Internet, you can play games, look at clothes and accessories in online stores, chat with old friends on social networks, read interesting articles on your favorite topics, or write an article for wikiHow. However, be aware of how much time you spend on your computer.
Take a warm shower or bath. Research shows that just taking a hot shower can reduce your anxiety levels. Feeling physical warmth helps you relax and even become more social. Focus on the sensations you experience in the shower or bath: the water on your skin, the warmth that surrounds you. Take deep breaths. Let this be another mindfulness exercise: focus on the pleasant sensations and enjoy them.
Spend time with others
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Call friends or relatives or visit them. It doesn't matter if your family members or friends are far or near, when you need to distract yourself from negative thoughts, you can call them. You can even tell a friend/relative that you are calling to take your mind off a particular topic so they don't bring it up inadvertently.
- If your friends, parents, brothers, sisters or other close people live nearby, choose a day and arrange a meeting. Go for a walk or a picnic together. Watch a movie, go bowling, go swimming, or take up a shared hobby.
- Spending time with other people not only makes you happy, but also prolongs your life. Now scientists equate loneliness with tobacco use – it can be harmful to both mental and physical health.
Psychologists advise many ways on how to do this and at the same time learn to control your mind and emotions.
So, the advice of a psychologist: how to distract from bad thoughts? In order to distract from bad thoughts, psychologists advise to understand their essence. After all, bad thoughts are those unresolved problems, those things that have remained unexplained for us, as well as problems that may have already gone into the subconscious. From this it follows that in order to stop the flow of bad thoughts, you need to understand their essence, find out where they come from and at the base of what problem they grow. Analyze the flow of this information well: what do your thoughts have in common, what topics do they have, try to guess what subconscious problem they may carry. Having found it, try to solve it, first remembering why it arose, what was the reason for this. By finding a solution to the problem, you will get rid of the constant bad thoughts that it inspired you.
Sometimes it also happens that the negative becomes something ordinary for you, and the consciousness is more and more often filled with bad thoughts of various subjects. They will become commonplace for you, and dealing with them becomes an almost impossible task. Philosophers have said that nothing travels as fast as thought, and nothing is so hard to stop.
For example, imagine in detail the sea, forest or other beautiful nature, besides, feel it, get involved in it with your consciousness, expose yourself to this idea. Now imagine a large pendulum against this background, draw every detail of it, imagine well what it looks like. Now run it and imagine each of its oscillations. You can change the tempo from faster to slower and vice versa.
Imagine sound and ticking, create the whole picture. After some time try to stop the pendulum and you will see that it is very difficult, almost impossible. The pendulum, drawn by our imagination, ceases to obey it, and it is sometimes very difficult to imagine how it begins to stop. This is an example of how hard it is to eradicate a thought or idea. But still, we can learn it.
If you notice that you have become sad and you are overcome by bad thoughts, you become more anxious, remember what brings you the greatest joy or pleasure. This is a very good and effective technique that helps to regularly cope with negativity. For example, you really like one humorist, or you have a favorite childhood book that you re-read with pleasure, and this gives you a smile, a good mood.
Another good way to fight like this is to do something that requires special attention and concentration. When you are happy to get involved in an interesting or stressful business, you are very good at distracting yourself from the back thoughts, filling your head with those necessary ones that go to the solution of the work being done.
Psychologists also recommend the visualization method. Bad thoughts arise from obsessive fear, and fear arises from feelings of self-doubt. Repeat to yourself often about your importance, about your virtues, become more convinced of your virtues.
You can eradicate obsessions like this: imagine yourself as a large and bright solar ball that is filled with positive energy, brings goodness and joy, radiates a lot of light and warmth. Now imagine your bad thoughts as little bugs swarming around you. The more satirically you imagine it, the funnier these midges will be - the better. You will soon notice how stupid your bad thoughts look, how much they interfere with you, and also learn to laugh about it. A very good way to deal with fear is laughter. Imagine your fear with something small and funny, dress it up in a wonderful outfit or simulate a funny situation - it will already appear before you in a different light. Laughing at your fear, you overcome it and eradicate it. Satire is a good tool for dealing with such problems.
Also, a good weapon to fight bad thoughts is… good thoughts. Ask them a counterattack and put a good thought on all the bad things that arise in your head. Learn to see the other side of the coin, namely, its better side. Be more optimistic and you will see that in all those bad thoughts and thoughts that you fight, there are good points and aspects, and that there are even more of them than you imagine.
For example, you constantly think about your shortcomings, do not love your personality and body, sometimes it even seems to you that you are the weakest person you know, you are tormented by the fact that you are worse than others. You constantly criticize yourself, look for your mistakes, which then spin in your head and haunt you. What to do in this case? Look for your good qualities, consider yourself from the other side. If you cannot find enough positive qualities in yourself, or if you are unsure of yourself, ask your friends to express their opinion about you and support you in this. They will point out to you what they value you for, why you are an individual and a person, what you should be respected for. See that negative thoughts will disappear very soon.
How to get away from problems? Often, when we are at home, with family, or trying to fall asleep, a bunch of thoughts keep spinning in our head: “Do this, then that…”, “Call tomorrow…”, “What should I do?” etc. Quite often, this prevents us from living a full life, communicating with loved ones, and finally deprives us of sleep. Today I will talk about how to get all this husk out of your head.
It's pretty easy to get other people's problems out of your head, for example, if they are related to work. Left work and forgot until the next day. However, what if the problems are ours? If they concern our business? If they concern our property? If they concern our personal life? It is not so easy to get distracted here, although we are aware of such a need.
Methods of distraction from problems
Write down the problem
It may seem strange, but often problems are spinning in our heads just because we are afraid to forget them. To remove this fear, we need to fix the task on paper or in some other way.
The method works best if we mark next to the recorded problem what we will do when the time comes to solve this problem. The action plan is very reassuring.
Why does it help? The fact is that our minds can only fit so many tasks at the same time. Psychologists even calculated how many (7 ± 2). This means that in case the problem contains more components, it is very difficult for us to “settle” it in our head. We begin to consider one part of it, then another, forgetting the previous conclusions. Thus, we get into a "cycle", our thought goes in cycles, and we make useless mental efforts.
On paper, everything is clear, you can fit as many elements as you like, and most importantly, paper does not forget.
Get out of context
This method helps a lot if bad thoughts do not allow you to fall asleep. It requires imagination.
The fact is that all our problems and experiences are clearly tied in time. A person lies and thinks - “Here I am, now such and such a number, and now I have problems “A”, “B”, etc.” But, fortunately, our mind can easily be transported in time to a place where there were no problems. It is important not to abuse this method and use it only to fall asleep.
To do this, you need to remember when you were good. When you fell asleep in the same way, but thought, “Actually, everything is fine with me.” But at the same time, it should be a situation sometime in the past when you really wanted to sleep.
You can also change your perception of yourself. For example, you can imagine that you are an eagle, flying above the ground and looking down.
The most important thing in this method is to plunge into the sensations. Feelings should be monotonous. For example, if you imagine that you are an eagle, imagine air pressure on your wings. Or, if you are remembering the past, try to imagine bodily sensations then, in the past.
The "Catch the Thought" method.
It also helps with falling asleep. Imagine that in your mind there is an analogue of “wipers”, like a car on a windshield. Try to imagine that they can sweep away thoughts and images, sounds.
Now you can play. When you catch yourself on any thought, imagine that it flies away somewhere to the side.
It is quite difficult and requires practice.
Humble yourself
This method is also for falling asleep. When nothing helps and problems still creep into your head, you can try to say to yourself the following: “well, okay, let everything fly to hell, but I’ll sleep now.” The problem may be inevitable, but you have 8 hours (or how much sleep is left) of peace.Right now everything is good.Enjoy it.
Sheep Counting Method
I think that many have tried this method and found that it does not work. In fact, this method is extraordinarily effective, but we are simply using it incorrectly.
The point is this. And how many had to count sheep in the modern world? Many people have seen sheep only in cartoons.
Try counting something more everyday, like change or cars.
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Staying calm and focused is not easy. Crowds of people, cars, noisy streets, crowded shops, loud conversations, obsessive thoughts, problems, anxieties... This not only interferes with maintaining mental and mental balance, but also causes negative emotions. What to do in order not to let negative experiences into our minds and keep our concentration on what is important to us? The best way would be to abstract from everything that interferes with our peace and annoys.
But what does it mean to abstract? How to abstract? What benefit can this bring? What could be wrong with not being able to do this? We will try to answer these questions in the article.
Abstraction: what is it and why is it needed?
The term "abstraction" comes from the Latin word "abstractio" and means "distraction". distraction is most often understood not as a change in activity, as one might think, but a change in thinking. The bottom line is that, by abstracting, a person begins to look at things from a new perspective.
The human brain is used to perceiving everything (phenomena, events, people, situations, etc.), generalizing its ideas about what it perceives, without dividing them into separate elements. And if we answer the question "What does it mean to abstract?" in a psychological context, this means mentally moving away from what is happening in order to allow your nervous system to rest and recover, to get rid of the negative influence of irritating factors, analyze the situation and look at it impartially.
You can abstract from sounds (from noise), from negative experiences, from emotions, and even from the outside world. And this can be learned, and for this you do not need to make any titanic efforts.
The ability to abstract helps in many life situations, in particular when it is necessary to get certain thoughts out of your head, move away from surging emotions, discard the unnecessary, understand the essence of a problem or situation. We can be stressed by the behavior of another person or - a classic of the genre - the noise of a neighbor's drill on a sweet Saturday morning; we may resent events at work or somewhere on the street. Giving in to our feelings, we easily forget about the main thing, lose sight of something important, lose motivation. And the ability to mentally discard all the husks helps us to remain in ourselves and ourselves.
With the help of the skill of abstraction, everyone can better define their desires and goals and find ways to achieve them, understand what they need at the current moment in time and in life in general, effectively get rid of distractions and negativity, improve intellectual activity and even speed it up.
We think that it would not be superfluous to say about what the inability to abstract can lead to. First of all, it is depression associated with a constant feeling of anxiety and fear caused by problems and stress. It is also stress itself. It tends to accumulate, and if a person does not know how to give his psyche a rest, the load on it seriously increases. This depletes energy reserves on both the physical and mental levels.
As you yourself have already perfectly understood, the ability to abstract is a powerful defense mechanism. But, of course, it is also an effective tool in the fight against distraction, procrastination, lack of time, low life and professional results. And here's another little explanation of what abstraction is, from Khan Academy.
Now let's move on to practice. And we will start with how to abstract from the manifestations of the surrounding reality in general.
How to abstract from the outside world
Anyone can learn to abstract. You yourself have already done this more than once, albeit unconsciously. Recall if there were similar situations in your life:
- Your friend tells you something, and in the meantime you think about the girl you met in the morning on the bus
- An important meeting at work, and you are in the clouds, anticipating the upcoming vacation trip
- At home, someone expresses dissatisfaction with you, and you, without paying any attention to it, read an interesting book or watch an exciting movie
You must have experienced something like this. And just this suggests that you already know how to abstract. But if earlier you did it automatically, now you can start to be distracted from the outside world on purpose, and at the moment when you need it.
The first thing you have to master in order to learn how to abstract from the negative manifestations of the outside world will be controlling your thoughts. There is a simple algorithm for this:
- Exhale
- Start slowly counting to ten
- For each count, take one slow breath in and a slow breath out.
- Concentrating on your breath, pay attention to thoughts and exhale them as if
To enhance the effect of the reception, you can look at something. For example, you are standing in line at a store, and two other customers are arguing nearby. Do the above steps and look at what is happening outside the window, look at the interior of the store, concentrate on what actions the cashier performs while serving the customer. If you can play your favorite music, do it. This breathing technique can be used in any situation.
Always remember that, abstracting from the outside world, you need to try not to succumb to emerging negative emotions. This means that any circumstances, situations, events and people should be looked at from a different angle. Here are just a few points of view:
- Perhaps you exaggerate and attach too much importance to circumstances.
- Perhaps in the current situation there is some kind of personal benefit specifically for you, and you just need to see it.
- Perhaps if everything went the way you want, you would face more serious problems.
- Perhaps you give in to the habit of reacting negatively when something goes against your expectations.
Looking at what is happening from a similar position, you can easily abstract from the outside world, and focus on positive thoughts and / or solving specific issues. In addition, you will have more energy and strength, and life will seem better and easier.
In addition to the proposed method of abstracting from the outside world, meditation can be used. It improves concentration and perfectly relaxes. It is best to meditate at home when you want to be alone with yourself, forget about everything and everyone, streamline your thoughts. But in general, you can meditate on the street, in public transport, and even at work. We talked about meditation in detail in our article "".
Also, activities such as walking, watching movies, meeting friends, shopping, focusing on specific activities, contemplating works of art, nature, etc. will help to abstract from the outside world. And also, so that no one "gets" you, we recommend turning off all your gadgets from time to time.
But the manifestations of the external world are often expressed specifically in annoying noises and sounds - this is one of the most common phenomena that interfere with concentration and cause negative emotions. Next, we will tell you how to abstract from them.
How to abstract from noise and from sounds
It has been scientifically confirmed that 1 billion impulses enter the human brain every second. The brain, of course, can filter out a lot of unnecessary data, but about a hundred signals will still be recorded by it. And most of the information comes to us in sound form, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that noises and sounds are constantly distracting and make us “twitch”.
The following recommendations will help you learn to abstract from noise and sounds:
And another good way to learn to abstract from sounds is to master the skill of not paying attention to background noises. If you start deliberately getting used to any sounds, over time it will be easy to ignore them. Play a video while working or reading and try to focus on what you are doing. If you're getting ready for a session and your neighbor keeps hammering nails into the wall, don't run away from it—on the contrary, focus on the sound for a while and then continue learning the material.
Note that such a skill is useful to you always and everywhere, because you do not know when and where the noise will overtake you again. In addition, absolute silence can have an overwhelming effect on the psyche. If you don’t hear anything at all, you will become distracted by the absence of sounds.
Now let's move on to the most important issue - negativity, negative emotions and obsessive thoughts. If it is quite easy to abstract from the outside world and noises, then it is much more difficult to distract from what is happening inside.
How to disengage from emotions
The most important thing when distracting from emotions is to learn to abstract from the negative. Given that negative emotions often have greater momentum and power than positive ones, you first need to be able to work with them (by the way, here). There are different ways to do this, but the most effective ones include the following:
- Ignoring bad and negative thoughts
- Ignoring irritation
- Remembrance of good events
- Switching attention
- complacency
- Thoughts on gaining experience useful in the future
- Adequate perception of what is happening
We think that these methods do not need special explanations. Pay more attention to the following tips.
accept life
Try to take everything as it is. People, situations, events - all this can be different. Life cannot be called impeccable and ideal (sometimes fair), but everything that is given to us is for the good. It is impossible to control everything, you need to understand this. The sooner you do this, the calmer and easier you will become. Treat failure and negativity philosophically.
The philosophical perception of life is that, firstly, you accept the fact that white and black stripes will always alternate, and secondly, you analyze everything that happens, draw certain conclusions and just let go of what you don’t Like. This is to abstract from negativity and emotions. Any experience is useful and necessary, and if you consider situations from different angles, breaking them down into components, you can quickly get to the bottom of things and.
Be imperfect
No one is perfect, there is not a single absolutely flawless and ideal person. And this applies not only to others, but also to yourself. If you accept this as a given, life will become much easier, events will be perceived more easily, negative will cease to cause feelings. Adequately evaluate yourself and others, give up anger - there is nothing so important that it would be worth your suffering.
Enjoy life
The only way to get rid of the negative is through the positive. Strive to see the positive side in everything, live every moment as if it were your last, perceive every day with joy and a smile. You can get pleasure from any thing. Even sitting at home and doing nothing, thank life for the fact that you can see, hear, breathe, communicate with loved ones. Thank life for the fact that you live at all, and remember that someday you will also be gone. Are your current problems important in the face of death?
Postpone things
If you feel that you are about to break loose, that it is already unbearable to work or do some business, abstract from emotions by simply postponing work. Reschedule things for half an hour, for two hours, for tomorrow. Instead, do what you love, take a walk, sleep. Distraction helps to cool down and refocus on positive thoughts. If something doesn't work out for you, moving away from it, you can find a new way to solve the problem. In addition, more does not always mean better - you can miss the details, make mistakes, overwork, and generally get sick. Distribute the load optimally and there will be more achievements in your life.
Drive away bad thoughts
Even when nothing bad is happening, you can think about bad things. and fears are easily overcome when you begin to rethink them and understand their causes. When you realize that your anxiety has no explainable reason, how to abstract from it will no longer be such a big problem. If there really is a reason, think about how to resolve the situation. Any fears disappear as soon as a person begins to look into their eyes.
Take it easy
Many people complicate things, thereby worsening their mental and emotional state. But everything, absolutely everything can be looked at more simply. Consciousness is simply used to reacting negatively to some things, but if you think about them, they may not be worth a damn. Is the boss screaming? Yes, let him shout to himself - let him try to boil water with his cry. Bad grades in class? Yes, and God bless her - with this mark - tomorrow there will be five. Quarreled with your spouse? And what of it - dear ones scold - they only amuse themselves. Not enough money? When were they enough? Yes, and happiness is not in money, and not even in their quantity. Any situation can be simplified and even translated into a pun. And this is a great way to abstract from the negative.
Become kinder
Have you noticed that good people do well? Let them have troubles, let them have problems, let them have hardships - but they are doing well. Being kind is very helpful, but kindness isn't just for babies or kittens. You need to be kind to events, situations, and other people, including those who “negative” you. Try to perceive everything as if you are truly a holy person. Ask yourself, how would Nicholas the Wonderworker take this? You will see - the brain itself will tell you how to behave, and it will become much easier to abstract. And also, being kinder, you will begin to attract good people, good events, good news into your life.
Learn to concentrate
The ability to abstract from the bad is the skill of concentrating on the good. Everything is extremely simple here: do not pay attention to what hurts your feelings, what makes your blood boil, what pisses you off. Instead, remember the faces of loved ones, switch to funny things that happened during the day, mentally draw pictures from jokes. Do anything that can be associated with joy, hope, good sadness, happiness, love, and other positive emotions. You can read about how to improve the ability to focus in our article "".
Control the positive
It may sound strange, but still you need to be able to abstract from both negative emotions and positive ones. If you hover in the clouds all the time and look at the world through rose-colored glasses, at one fine moment you can hit the ground well. Rejoice, laugh, sing songs, be happy, but understand that these states are destined to end, because you will spend your energy, and they will lose their intensity. As in everything, there must be a measure here too. And the best way to rejoice is to switch attention to business and worries. Such is the human psyche - soaring on the wings of happiness, it is easy to lose vigilance, forget, not have time to do something important. Keep this in mind, and keep balance and harmony within yourself.
And in conclusion, I just want to note that the development of skills and qualities that are useful for life, such as awareness, inner peace, concentration, and gratitude, always helps to abstract from the outside world, noises and sounds, negative emotions and experiences.
Be sure to make plans, motivate yourself, strive for new goals and achievements, read interesting and educational books, meditate and relax, develop. Having filled your life with these things, you can abstract from anything easily and naturally.
And to bring some more positive inside yourself, watch this wonderful video from the famous TV presenter and Comedy Club resident Pavel Volya. We wish you happiness and the ability to always and everywhere be yourself.