The negative thoughts that run through your head don’t really matter, do they?
Actually, they do.
Running those thoughts over and over can actually stress you out, deplete you, and hurt your relationships and your health!
It’s easy for people to feel like they’re the victim of their thoughts… Those negative loops, the replaying of what might happen so you’re prepared for all possible scenarios… They actually take a toll on you.
I’ll give some examples to help you tune in, but first I wanted to invite you to a call Rick and I are doing on Saturday where we’ll dig deeper into this and help you end Mental Muggings, and reclaim your mind, your energy, and your well-being!
End Mental Muggings Mini-Intensive (with recording and transcript)
http://www.thrivingnow.com/endmentalmuggings/
Back to some examples…
Relationships:
Those negative, repetitive thoughts can damage your relationships. I know after I have one of those “thought storms” about how my friend might let me down, I feel tired and worn out. I want my friend to reassure me that he’ll still show up. Even though he didn’t DO anything to let me down. I just imagined it vividly.
Once in awhile, that isn’t a problem. Day after day… It gets frustrating and wearing for both people. It doesn’t feel good to have to put energy into something when you didn’t mess it up.
And it damages the love between you. When the survival brain feels threatened constantly, it can make you want to cling or pull back, rather than being present and open with the person you love.
After a mental mugging… insecurities are higher, stress is higher, and the body is actually responding as if some of those thoughts were true.
Can you think of a time when you’ve done this around a relationship? How did you feel? How did the other person respond?
Health:
When you have a mental mugging, your body releases adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress chemicals to help you physically deal with the “threat.”
Except nothing physical happened. There was nowhere to actually RUN… you were lost in your own mind. There was nothing to physically FIGHT… All the threats were ideas that punching would do nothing to change.
The only thing left is to FREEZE.
So when we follow old patterns and habits and allow the mugging to occur full steam, we put ourselves in a freeze pattern and drench our body in chemicals that would be super helpful in fighting off a bear, but those chemicals deeply hurt us when we’re bathed in them all the time.
Studies indicate that high levels of stress can cause high blood pressure, heart problems, arthritis, and other illness that are much better to avoid.
Changing how you interact with those thoughts is critical to love and life. It can add zest to your day when you’re not pulling yourself down so hard all the time. It can open up connections when you’re not telling your brain that people will do bad things all the time. And it can help your body feel better because you’re actually giving it a break from the incessant flood of stress chemical.
Give your head and your heart a break, and gently shift those thoughts so you can have a happier and more connected life.
We’d love to have you join us on Saturday for the End Mental Muggings Mini-Intensive:
http://www.thrivingnow.com/endmentalmuggings/
And I’ll send some tapping to help you shift your mental states tomorrow!
Warm (and happy!) wishes,
Cathy
The post Mental Muggings Don’t Hurt Love and Health… Do They? appeared first on Thriving Now.