The power of positive thinking for stress relief

Think positively, and everything will be okay, right? Maybe so, and maybe not. A positive thinker stepping off a cliff will have a bad day. This isn't some miracle device for creating a perfect life experience. While that's true, it is incredibly powerful if you want to experience less stress and more positive emotions.

Positive Thinking Makes You Less Critical

When you criticise others, you needlessly promote stress and anxiety. Being optimistic tells you that if something unfortunate happens, you'll be okay. You can handle it. Don't stress out over the possibility that you won't get through the situation.

Positive people avoid criticism. They choose to see the upside of the people, places, and things they experience.

Your Self-Talk Creates Your Reality

That inner dialogue that never seems to stop is a powerful manifestation device. It leads to your beliefs, which lead to your actions, and the things you do create your reality. Everything that has been created since the beginning of time was once nothing more than a thought.

Positive self-talk can help reduce stress by promoting feelings of confidence, competence, and resilience. You tell yourself there is a better reality you will choose. You focus on the positive, which leads to believing that good things can always happen.

What happens next?

Your actions produce positive results because repetitive positive thinking moves that belief to your subconscious. The subconscious drives your behaviours, reflecting whether you are thinking positively or negatively most of the time.

Negative Thinking Tells Your Brain Danger Is Nearby

Stress is nothing more than a healthy response. It happens when your brain, nervous system, and senses tell you there is a threat in your environment. This may or may not be the case. It happens when a danger is perceived but not actual and when the threat is real.

Negative thoughts are tied to this survival mechanism, just like positive thoughts are. Positive thinking tells your survival response that everything's okay. You don't stress out and get anxious. Negative thoughts do just the opposite. They start the production of chemicals that promote mental and emotional stress and anxiety.

This aspect of how your thoughts dictate your stress levels is important because you can choose your thoughts. When they are negative, reframe them. Think something positive instead. You have a choice in how you respond to life. Choose positive thinking over negative thoughts, and you can get the upper hand on stress.