Our thoughts create our reality. Low vibrational thinking and toxic thoughts can attract more negative energy to our lives. Are toxic thoughts standing in the way of your personal growth? In this article, I share tips on how to get rid of toxic thoughts and reach your full potential. The universe aligns with your thoughts and beliefs. By habitually having toxic thoughts, you welcome more negativity into your life. In order to change your life, you must first change the way that you think.
“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”
—Willie Nelson
Everything in the universe vibrates with energy, including your thoughts. Energy can be measured in terms of positive (high-vibe) and negative (low-vibe). Thinking positive thoughts raises your vibration and negative thinking lowers your vibration. Raising your vibration attracts more positive experiences into your life.
Getting rid of toxic thoughts can be easier said than done for some people. It requires practicing intentional mindfulness to learn how to stop toxic thoughts in their tracks. Shifting to a more positive mindset may not happen overnight, but you can always get started today with these tips for how to get rid of toxic thoughts.
How to Recognize Toxic Thoughts
The first step to how to get rid of toxic thoughts is to recognize when you are having toxic thoughts. Examples of toxic thoughts include negative self-talk, expecting the worst out of others, and various other thought distortions.
“Believing in negative thoughts is the single greatest obstruction to success.”
― Charles F. Glassman
Thought distortions, also called cognitive distortions, are when someone forms a habit of thinking in a biased, negative way. Cognitive distortions usually develop after years of negative thinking and may stem from traumas.
Here are a few examples of cognitive distortions that lead to toxic thoughts:
- Having a “black and white” / ”all or nothing” mindset
- Making broad generalizations
- Catastrophizing negative events
- Taking everything personally
- Making unfair assumptions about people and situations
- Thinking in terms of “should” and “ought to”
- Believing that emotions are facts
- Negatively labeling people
Toxic thoughts can be emotionally painful and hard to control. Some negative thoughts are so intrusive that we have little control over them. An intrusive thought is an unwanted thought, often of a disturbing nature, that pops up randomly.
3 Tips for How to Get Rid of Negative Thoughts
Once you recognize a thought as toxic or negative, you can begin the work of reshaping it in a more positive way. Here is a list of tips for how to get rid of toxic thoughts that can provide relief from habitual negative thought patterns.
1. Journal About Your Thoughts
The more you try to hold in or suppress negative thoughts, the more you may begin to internalize those thoughts. Feelings of frustration may arise as it seems nearly impossible to make the negative thoughts go away. Let go of negative thinking by writing it all out on paper.
Once you have written down how you feel, read what you wrote and think about how you can reshape the experience in a more positive light. This practice can help to put the thought into perspective. Acknowledging negative thoughts by writing them down can take away the power that they hold.
Here are some journaling prompts to help you re-frame toxic thoughts:
- Is there another explanation that you have not considered yet?
- What positive lesson can you take away from this negative experience?
- Is there someone else’s point of view that you have not taken into consideration?
- What is something that you did right in the situation?
“Life is about perspective and how you look at something… ultimately, you have to zoom out.”
-Whitney Wolfe Herd.
2. Ground Yourself In the Present Moment
One of the best tips for how to get rid of toxic thoughts is to practice grounding yourself in the present moment. Mindfulness practices can help to stop toxic thoughts in their tracks.
Here are a few different ways that you can practice grounding yourself in the present moment:
- Count 5 things you can see, feel, and touch to reconnect with your senses
- Go for a walk in nature
- Practice deep breathing exercises
- Listen to a guided meditation for mindfulness
- Count something around you
- Drink cold water or eat tasty food
- Remind yourself of the positive qualities that you have now at this present moment
Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.
— Ekhart Tolle
3. How to Get Rid of Toxic Thoughts With Gratitude
Practicing gratitude is a powerful way to boost your vibration and shift your thoughts to a more positive mindset. When caught up in negative thinking patterns, it can be easy to forget about the abundance in our lives. Instead of ruminating on all of the things that you lack, focus on what you do have.
The energetic vibration of gratitude is 540 Hz, the same as the vibration of love.
Are you still struggling to think of anything to be grateful for? Try practicing the Law of Attraction by imagining that you already have what you desire and meditating on that feeling of gratitude.
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Listen to 540 Hz meditation music
- Try to focus on the positive in every situation
- Express gratitude to the people in your life
- Make a list of everything that you are grateful for
- Look for the lessons to be learned in negative situations
- Think about how you would feel if you already had everything you desire
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
– G.K. Chesterton
Getting Help to Get Rid of Toxic Thoughts
We hope that this list of tips for how to get rid of toxic thoughts in order to raise your vibration is useful to you in your spiritual journey towards self-transformation.
Some toxic thoughts, such as thoughts about hurting yourself or others, should not be ignored. We urge you to reach out to a loved one or mental healthcare professional for help if your negative thoughts are causing you extreme distress. You do not have to struggle with toxic thoughts alone.
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