Broken records + Stress

This morning a mistake I made years ago came to mind...a few years ago thinking about this situation would have sent me into a spiral...a dark warren of regret and helplessness.

But I pressed STOP on that thought and quickly made up my mind to change my mind.

Ruminating or thinking about a negative experience over and over again tends to intensify the emotional and psychological distress caused by that moment or action.

Rumination is linked to depression, hypertension, anxiety, self sabotage and post traumatic stress.

Here's my top 3 tips on how to stop those negative cycles.

1. You're in charge of your thoughts. You can press stop on that annoying record and decide to change your mind. Use your favourite Fleurette pulse point as a positive mental trigger to think about something that makes you happy.

2. Recognize what rumination is doing to your body. By replaying a negative experience over and over, you are introducing stress hormones cortisal and adrenaline into your system. Continuous exposure to stress is not good for you.....be kind to your body. Relaxing is more than fluff. Its a form of self preservation so soak in a bath or enjoy a massage once in a while.

3. Dont let pride get in the way of talking your situation over with a friend or mental health professional. Sometimes just being heard and having someone else acknowledge how you feel is healing in itself.

Here is a fantastic TedX video by Guy Winch Ph.D on emotional first aid.

https://www.ted.com/talks/guy_winch_the_case_for_e...

Take care of yourself and your loved ones.