4 Thought Exercises to Try to Improve Mental Health

"What are thought exercises?

Thought exercises help you disentangle yourself from your thoughts, so they no longer hold such power over you.

What are the benefits of thought exercises?

Thought exercises help us see our thoughts more clearly and objectively.

4 thought exercises to try

1. Cognitive defusion exercise

Most of the time, we live in a state of cognitive fusion — fully believing our thoughts without giving them a second thought. Cognitive defusion is a technique used in ACT that can help you detangle and distance yourself from negative thoughts and feelings.

When a certain negative thought is overwhelming you, try the following exercise:

1. Think of a negative thought you often have that causes painful emotions. (Eg. “I am unlovable.”)

2. Say the thought out loud several times.

3. To defuse this thought, start this phrase with “I’m having the thought…” (Eg. “I’m having the thought that I am unlovable.”

4. To defuse it even more, start the phrase with “I notice I’m having the thought that…” (Eg. “I notice I’m having the thought that I am unlovable.”

5. Now take a moment to consider how different it felt to say these phrases. When you notice yourself thinking negative thoughts, take a moment to defuse them so you can get some distance from them.

2. Thank your mind for the story

Our minds love to tell us the same negative stories over and over. Your mind might say to you: “You’re a total failure” or “No matter how hard you try, you can never succeed.” In the “thank your mind for the story” technique, you will give the familiar story a name, thank your mind for telling it, and then focus on the task at hand while it plays itself out in the background. This technique allows you to acknowledge the story from a distance without giving it any power over you.

3. Put your flaws into context: a self-compassion exercise

We tend to beat ourselves up over the parts of ourselves that we don’t particularly like. In these moments, all we see is the flaw, and we forget about the parts of ourselves that we like.

To counter the tendency to berate yourself when things aren’t going well, ask yourself the following questions:

• Does this failure or mistake take away from my good qualities?

• Does it make sense to determine that I’m a total failure because of this situation?

• Change the narrative: “I’m messy when I get overwhelmed. But I can start to work on this today.”

4. Sing it

This exercise brings your subliminal thoughts into the light so you can see them more clearly — and work with them. Let’s say you notice that you’re feeling somewhat uptight today. Think deeply about what’s bothering you. Make a song out of it. While this doesn’t make the issue go away, it does bring your worry into the light for clarity. It allows you to see it as just another thought and helps lighten the heavy effect it’s been having on you."

Read the complete article available at Psych Central!

Reflection:

What do you think about these exercises? Would you try them?

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