by Christine Hunt
Other blogs in my Detox series that you may be interested in reading are:
Toxic thoughts. They are usually directed at ourselves and cause long term damage to our health, our relationships and even our financial well being, and this is why.
Seventy five to ninety five percent of chronic illness is a direct result of how we think. The average person has over 30,000 thoughts per day. Eighty-two to ninety percent of these thoughts are negative and repeat day after day. Thoughts affect our mood and generate emotions. Negative emotions usually create internal stress. Stress is just another word for fear and triggers more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses in the body and activates more than 30 different hormones. The chemical responses increase the body’s acidity which results in inflammation. Inflammation is a factor in almost every chronic illness including cancer, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune diseases. Depression is linked to chronic negative thoughts and chemical imbalances.
Not only that, but toxic thoughts affect relationships. If your spouse or significant other talks to someone you feel is a threat to your relationship, personal insecurities may surface and you may feel jealousy or fear. You may even take this out on your loved one in the form of anger. Your child may not be achieving the grades or the athletic prowess you expect of them so you criticize or shame them to get them to do better. Or you may want to have companionship in your life but the thought of the time you would have to devote to the relationship and the lifestyle adjustments you may need to make keeps you isolated and stuck in your own comfort zone.
And then there is money. “Money is the root of all evil.” “The bigger they are the harder they fall.” The harder I work, the more I will earn.” How many of these sayings have you heard over the years? How true are they for you? Toxic thoughts about money can paralyze our earning capabilities or cause us to lose money when we acquire a certain level. This can be from a bad investment, job loss, a major home repair or medical expense.
If thoughts can make us sick and sabotage relationship and financial well being, then they can also make us healthy, wealthy and happy.
Toxic thoughts include:
- Should have, could have would have.
- If only …
- Making comments like “I’m so stupid”, “nothing ever goes right for me” or “everything I touch fails”?
- Replaying a conversation or situation in your mind that caused you pain or worrying over something that hasn’t even happened yet.
- Forming a personal identity around a disease and talking about it like “my arthritis” or “my hip pain”.
- Thinking negative thoughts about yourself like “I’m too fat be in a relationship.” “I’m not smart enough to get the promotion I want.” “I hate my hair/nose/butt/ freckles/_______.”
These toxic thoughts actually stem from beliefs about ourselves and life in general that were created at an early age. “I’m not good enough.” “I am unlovable.” “What’s wrong with me.” We carry all of this emotional baggage around with us every day of our lives and they affect the 30,000 thoughts and decisions we make daily.
When we think a thought a neural connection is made in the brain. The more we think that thought, it becomes a belief which is repeated over and over again resulting in more and more neural connections that eventually create a neural bundle. But when we change our thoughts and shift our beliefs these neural connections begin to disconnect and new connections are formed that correspond to the new thoughts.
So how do you take control of your thoughts?
You have the power to choose which thoughts will stay with you and which will not. If you choose to accept it, it will stay in your mind and get stronger. If you choose to reject it, the thought leaves and does not create that neural connection. You can reject unhealthy thoughts simply by verbalizing “I won’t think about this anymore.” There. You’ve changed your mind and can decide to direct your energy to something more positive.
But first you have to be aware of your thoughts and that will take some effort considering that there are 30,000 of them a day that you need to monitor. But, it isn’t as hard as you might think because now that you know what you need to be paying attention to, you will be more aware of them when they pop up. It does take practice because you need to form the new habit of making a conscious effort to identify them and throw them out before they literally become lodged into your brain.
Some ways to become aware of your thoughts are:
- Mindfulness – Focusing your thoughts on the present moment and redirecting your mind back to positive thoughts if it begins to wander.
- Journaling – When you identify a toxic thought, jot it down in a journal or use a list app on your phone. Make notes as to how often you find yourself thinking that way.
Once you have gotten into the habit of recognizing toxic thoughts then you can take action to change this destructive habit.
Look over the list, figure out where they may have come from and write that down too. Did someone say it to you when you were a child? Did you have a teacher, coach or family member plant a toxic seed?
What emotions are tied to the thoughts? Do you feel unworthy, guilty, angry, helpless, sad, shame, betrayed or unlovable? Identify when was an earlier time that you felt that way and go back as far into your youth as you can remember. Write all of this down. This is the road map to why you think and act and react the way you do to the things others say and do.
You may be asking “Now what?” What do I do with this information?
Well, psychotherapy has been the traditional way to address depression and to provide a dumping ground for all of the bad things that happen to us in life. But, it can take years of sessions and talking about the same things over and over again for some to discover that true relief is elusive. There is a better way and it is literally at your fingertips.
The marriage of traditional psychotherapy and holistic energy therapies created EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) or Tapping as it is sometimes known. It does exactly what it says: It frees you from emotions that keep you stuck in unhealthy life patterns.
EFT is a combination of talking about a life experience and the associated emotions while using your fingertips to gently tap on a series of acupuncture points on the face, hands and torso. This combination does two things:
- The tapping releases the energy blockages that were created in the body during the life experience.
- The intensity of the negative emotions associated with the event are neutralized and the way you think of the event shifts from a negative perception of it being a threat or trauma to a different, positive perspective. Fear can be replaced with calm and peace. Feeling like you are a bad person shifts to feeling like you are a good person. Remember the neural connections that are created when we have a thought or belief? During this shift, the existing neural connections disconnect and new ones are formed as a result of the new thought patterns.
EFT is used by celebrities such as Jack Canfield, a world renowned success coach and author of many books including the bestseller, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Author of bestselling books, Dr. Christiane Northrup also uses EFT personally and advocates it for her patients and followers. And Kris Carr, cancer survivor and bestselling author of Crazy Sexy Kitchen, Crazy Sexy Diet and other books, also recommends and uses EFT.
Recognizing and getting control of your toxic, negative thoughts then releasing and shifting them with EFT can help get you out of life’s ruts. As a Certified EFT Coach, I can help you out of those ruts and put you on the highway to vibrant health, fulfilling relationships and the financial security of your dreams.
Source: Dr. Leaf, Gary Keesee, Platinum Energy Systems, She is More, Habits to Healthy
To your health!
What types of health, relationship or financial problems are you experiencing?
Did it ever occur to you that they could be caused by your thoughts and beliefs?
Contact me if you are interested in finding out more about EFT.
Please share your questions and comments below.
Christine Hunt is a Wellness Coach and Certified EFT Practitioner and has found that working with the whole person by combining mind/body work, dietary adjustments and movement provides her clients with the tools they need to lose weight (and keep it off), get relief from chronic illness and positively transform their lives.
Contact her for a free, 15 minute consultation to learn why what she does works when other methods have failed.
Christine works with her clients in person, by Skype or phone. So, if you live away from the Annapolis, Maryland area, she can still work with you.
