Health / Wellness

The Science Behind Extracting Yourself From The Cycle Of Destructive Thought Patterns

It's possible to train your mind so that you have more autonomy and freedom, but it takes practice.

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depressed sad lawyerEver find yourself obsessively re-thinking the same thoughts over and over again? Perhaps you’ve submitted a motion and rather than resigning the faith to the decision maker, you’re incessantly thinking about what you wrote, or forgot to include.

Similarly, you may relive a conversation you’ve had with an opposing counsel, never mind the fact that the conversation took place months or even years ago. You experience all the emotions, outrage, frustration, anger, and the deep desire to strangle this person. Yet, you’re having dinner with your family and the event has long passed.

If you too get caught-up in this nasty thought cycle and you’re desperately wishing for a reprieve from your own brain, take heart.

Recent research is finding that you can train your brain to break the habitual thought patterns and create a calmer mind.

Dr. John Paul Minda is a professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, who studies cognition and thinking as well as mindfulness. Minda pointed to some recent research by Lindsay and Cresswell on mindfulness and attention monitoring. “One possibility is that mindfulness meditation can help people to be more attentive to their own emotions,” he said. “By being aware of negative feelings as soon as they arise, people can engage in positive remediation rather than dwelling on the negative cognition,” suggests Minda.

“Lindsay and Cresswell argue that the attentional monitoring aspect of mindfulness can allow for people to be more readily aware of their thoughts and emotions, which can allow them greater flexibility in cognitive reappraisal,” Minda explained. “So mindfulness does not necessarily reduce negative thinking or negative emotions, but, rather, the attentional control that is developed through meditation practice helps people deal with the negative thoughts more quickly.”

Minda says that the “practice of meditation seems to help people be aware of negative thoughts, to acknowledge them, and to then move on.”

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As a practical matter, knowing that mindfulness and meditation can help you get through negative emotions and thoughts faster isn’t terribly helpful. It’s akin to knowing that exercise is good for your body.

Both mindfulness and exercise require consistent and persistent practice.

Mindfulness Practices to Let Go of Destructive Thought Patterns

1. Meditate every day (or as close to every day as possible).

Studies suggests you don’t need to devote a lot of time each day. Start with two minutes to exercise your mind. This is akin to maintaining a healthy body. You can access recorded meditation sessions or join me for 30 days of “live,” guided meditation sessions.

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2. Practice STOP.

When you catch yourself in negative or destructive thought patterns, remember:

  • Stop
  • Take a breath
  • Observe
  • Proceed mindfully

Remind yourself gently to stop the thoughts, then bring your attention to the breath, and take some deep diaphragmatic breaths. Allow the breath to move all the way down, expanding the diaphragm, allowing the belly to expand.

Observe your thoughts, your emotions, and how your body feels. Don’t try to analyze your thoughts or emotions. Don’t engage your thoughts by trying to argue your way out of it. Simply observe the content of your thoughts, for example, “I am remembering that hearing from last year. I shouldn’t have said that dumb thing. I am noticing tightening in my stomach and heat rising to my face.”

Finally, proceed. Repeat as necessary.

3. Practice mental noting.

Noting or labeling is a technique used to identify your thoughts, thereby taking away the emotional charge which often accompanies the thoughts.

In my example above, you would simply note by observing, “thinking,” or “embarrassment.” Other common noting labels include: “happiness,” “sadness,” “excitement,” “fear,” “anger,” “wanting,” “planning,” or “worrying.”

Remember, it’s possible to train your mind so that you have more autonomy and freedom, but it takes practice. Like the practice of law, this isn’t something you’ll ever completely master or get “perfect” at. Fortunately for you, lawyers are excellent at practicing.

Jeena Cho HeadshotJeena Cho is the author of The Anxious Lawyer: An 8-Week Guide to a Joyful and Satisfying Law Practice Through Mindfulness and Meditation (affiliate link). She regularly speaks and offers training on mindfulness and meditation. You can reach her at hello@jeenacho.com or @jeena_cho on Twitter.

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