When he got back (after a successful trip □), he told me that he would lie in his sleeping bag at night and hold the bar of soap which he would smell. One of the strategies was to take a small bar of lavender soap, as he really liked this smell. We put together a list of ideas he could use to help him manage his anxiety while he was there. I once worked with a boy who had some worries about going away to outdoor school. Also, when we use our sense of smell, it keeps us in the present versus the past or future which is where the negative thoughts tend to go. Because our sense of smell is so strong, it really helps to actually smell a beautiful scent to over-ride our negative thoughts. With this last idea, we can also use a real flower, a lavender spray, a scented candle or infuser to produce a beautiful scent that your child loves. In fact, we often try to keep on smelling the smell of beautiful flowers. They’re just air! We notice them and we waft away the bad smells and we hold onto the good smells. Recently, I’ve come up with the idea of comparing negative thoughts and positive thoughts to bad smells and good smells! Smells come and go. With a younger child, we came up with the idea that the negative thought is like the a handkerchief which a magician takes, places in a top hat and turns it into a bouquet of flowers. Seeing it turn into a flower, gives her a sense that she’s dealt with the negative thought and turned it into a positive.Īnother teen, imagines that he takes his negative thought and then throws it away like a snowball. One teen, imagines that she plucks the negative thought from her brain and then throws it on the ground where she turns it into a flower. With my clients, we discuss this concept a lot, and they often come up with imaginative ways to let go of negative thoughts. Five Ideas for to Let Go of Negative Thoughts He also talks about adding more “flowers” – more positive thoughts by absorbing our positive experiences and really letting them sink in. To let go of negative thoughts is to imagine pulling the weeds out of our garden. The positive thoughts are the flowers and the negative thoughts are the weeds. One of the main images that I liked was the idea that our brain is a garden. Worth the quick watch!Ī while ago I read a wonderful book called Hardwiring for Happiness by Dr. Here’s a one and a half minute video from Andy explaining the noting technique. However, if we can learn to let go of negative thoughts, then this will be really helpful throughout one’s life.Īndy, from the wonderful Headspace App, teaches the technique of “noting” as way to let go of negative thoughts. dandelion children here) we probably get more negative thoughts and more anxiety. If we’re a highly sensitive child or person, an orchid, (see my article on orchid vs. We all get negative thoughts and we all get positive thoughts, but we need to let go of our negative thoughts. I often tell the kids I work with that our thoughts are just air! We do not have to believe all our thoughts. I believe one of the best concepts we can teach our children, is that our thoughts are just thoughts!
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