Catching Thoughts

Do you ever notice your thoughts?

That may sound like a silly question. Of course, you notice yourself thinking… but how often do you really pay attention to your thoughts? How often are you thinking without thinking?

If you’re like me, probably pretty often. We have a constant stream of thought running through our mind and I’m guessing it’s pretty impossible to be 100% aware of each and every one.

But it is possible to become more mindful and aware of our repetitive, habitual thoughts. This is something I have been working on for a few months now and yesterday I caught a thought I really needed to recognise, for this way of thinking has not been serving me.

Every morning I start my day with gratitude. But before I get a chance to sit down and focus, I get my 2 year old his breakfast and books (he is up with me at 5:30am!) And yesterday while doing these little tasks, I suddenly became aware of what I was thinking… and it wasn’t good.

“You’re lazy,” “You don’t do yoga often enough,” “you’re not good enough,” “you’re not working hard enough,” “You shouldn’t have eaten those chips,” and on and on it went in a loop.

This was a huge eye opener. I didn’t realise I was being such a bully to myself!

 I’m so grateful that I caught this, because now that I am aware that I’ve been thinking this way, I can change it. I can reject those thoughts, because you know what? They’re all lies – yes, even the one about the chips 😉 .

This morning when the barrage of negative thoughts attempted to charge into my mind, I blocked them off with positive affirmations – on repeat.

It takes patience and conscious effort replacing thoughts that have been such a constant dominating force. And it’s worth it. After 7 months of thinking in this way, I am noticing some massive changes within myself. And I am a lot happier.

I encourage you to tune into the thoughts you have about yourself. Try to ‘catch’ any sneaky negative ones that stream into your consciousness and start to replace them with the polar opposite.

If thinking positively about yourself is new to you, just aim for 5mins and build on it from there. Even put the timer on your phone and be your own cheerleader for that 5mins. Build yourself up the way you would your best friend when they’re feeling low.

Let your thoughts be full of kindness and love… you’ll be happier for it.

Much love and gratitude,

Lauren xxx