Getting your get back 

Photo: Getty Images We’ve been on this positive journey together for the last few months.    You’ve learned (or relearned) to let bad habits and mindsets go, increase your vision and self-worth, remove mental roadblocks and be more in the present.    Once you got it back — your mentality, your health, your motivations — where do … Continued The post Getting your get back  appeared first on New Pittsburgh Courier.

Getting your get back 

Photo: Getty Images

We’ve been on this positive journey together for the last few months.   

You’ve learned (or relearned) to let bad habits and mindsets go, increase your vision and self-worth, remove mental roadblocks and be more in the present.   

Once you got it back — your mentality, your health, your motivations — where do we go next? According to experts, even more mindful tip pathways are available and can show you how to continue on that path of recovery and find your “want to” amidst it all.  

According to https://www.psychologytoday.com/, a few easy steps to getting your thoughts even more under control are possible in 7 Ways to Get Your Mind Back.  

“A mind on overdrive cannot only mess with our ability to focus or be productive. It can also be distressing,” Psychology Today noted. “Maybe we feel keyed up or agitated and end up snapping at people that don’t really deserve it. Or maybe we feel so tense that we’ve literally got a pain in the neck. Or maybe the ongoing stress of a full mind is hurting our sleep. Really, we just want to get our mind back, but how do we do it?”  

According to the article, there are seven science-based strategies people can start using today including:  

  1. Stopping Intrusive Mental Patterns 

You typically know the signs. An overwhelming task, challenge or unpleasant thought comes across your mind. You handle it as best you can, but it keeps nagging and gnawing at you. According to the article, that is “rumination,” when you’re unable to focus on anything else other than that thought that is “stuck in your head” causing you to feel stuck.  

Stopping rumination requires actively shifting your mind. Easier said than done though, am I right? Usually, the most effective way to shift your mind is to focus on something else entirely,” per the article.   

To nip the problem in the bud, think of another object in the room and list the details you see.  

“What else do you see when you look at it a bit longer? By focusing your attention on something else, even for a short period, you short-circuit those negative thought and emotion cycles,” according to the article.  

  1. Reposition Yourself 

Getting your mind back together involves several things like not being “hyper-focused” on only the wrong things.   

“Usually, we get stuck thinking about the negative part of whatever the thing is. If we reframe the situation, this time paying attention to the good things, we can shift gears and begin to settle our frantic minds,” according to the article.   

“One way to reframe a situation is to use cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal is simply the act of shifting our thoughts to shift our emotions. We can do this in two ways. The first way is to think about how the situation could be worse — at least we’re not starving and homeless. The second way is to think about what’s actually good about our situation — hey, maybe this is an opportunity to learn and grow. By reframing the situation, we get to choose what we focus on, and we start to get our mind back.”  

  1. Be More Mindful (and Present) 

A busy mind is typically worried about the past, fretting about the future — and distracted by the present, according to the article.  

“We may be upset about something from the past or we may worry about what will happen in the future. Either way, we are not here in the present moment. By using mindfulness, we can bring ourselves back into our bodies and finally get out of our heads,” according to the article.  

  To be more mindful, it’s time to practice more “awareness and acceptance.”   

“To be more aware, we need to start training our attention to notice the little stuff: How does it feel to breathe in and out? What sensations do we feel in our body? What are we thinking about and why?” according to the article. “By training our minds to notice thoughts and then let go, we free our minds from the constant chatter.”  

Author Tony Gaskins has a tip for those looking to go forth and forward on their mental health journey: “Don’t lose yourself trying to be everything to everyone.”  

The post Getting your get back  appeared first on New Pittsburgh Courier.