Evening Positive Meditation – Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket

As humans we have a natural tendency to focus upon the negative and the things that are more difficult and challenging right now in our lives. Sometimes the good stuff in your life can be swamped and cast aside by these automatic negative habitual thinking patterns.

Of course, this made good sense in evolutionary terms. At one time it was a good idea to be alert for threats that could harm or kill you. Those threats used to be things external to us, whereas these days a lot of the negative stuff in our heads comes from perceived threats and from our imagination running wild with potential catastrophes and worst case scenarios.

There will always be good things going on in your life at some level each day and you can have numerous moments of positivity and happiness, or of feeling uplifted in some way. Yet whilst these are good as they happen, they don’t require any fixing, action or solving. And so these moments pass by and your natural negative tendency puts these good things mentally to one side and then brings back all the things that aren’t quite how you want them to be or that are challenges for you. Your mind whirrs away with the negative thoughts, feelings and emotions that come with the real or perceived problems and challenges occurring in your life.

And so if you want to boost your levels of positivity, well-being, gratitude and happiness in your life then you need to not only be aware of this inbuilt negative bias, you need to take action to deliberately counter it and to nurture more encouraging, supporting, balanced and uplifting thoughts and feelings.

 

Increasing Your Happiness and Well-Being

To help counter this negative bias, one task I often ask my clients to carry out is to deliberately, every morning, think of three things they are looking forward to that day. This means you start the day on a positive footing and expecting that there will be good moments, no matter what other challenges the day throws your way. Then, at the end of every day, they think back on three positive or good things from the day to purposefully reflect on the, sometimes ordinary yet still positive, things that happen daily. Doing this can help balance out any tendency to automatically think of the worst case and to ruminate upon it at the start of the day and to also dwell upon negative aspects of the day at night.

Deliberately paying attention to the positive things that happen each day, however big or small these things may be, can help you to notice more positive things more readily and capably. This can then support your sense of happiness, well-being and satisfaction in your daily life. You develop a habit of expecting positive things and reflecting on the good aspects of your day. That doesn’t mean you ignore problems and challenges because you can also deal with these too another time. Yet we notice these negative things much too readily and can let them dominate our thinking. Noticing the good things is all about countering your in built negative bias with an appreciation of the positive things in your everyday life. And, of course, feeling more positive makes everything in life, even the challenges and obstacles, that much easier to tackle when required.

If you are seeking to boost your positive mood and mindset, and to feel happier in your life then these hypnosis downloads may be of value to you: Positive Mindset Hypnosis and  Three Good Things Hypnosis Download

In addition to this daily habit, you can also expand your focus on the more positive aspects of your everyday life using the GLAD technique that we’ll take a look at now.

 

The GLAD Technique

The GLAD technique (developed by Donald Altman) is an additional strategy for countering negative thinking, ruminating and dwelling by drawing upon four aspects of your day to help you support your happiness, well-being and positive mindset. These four elements are: Gratitude, Learning, Accomplishment and Delight (GLAD). By purposefully reflecting upon and contemplating these things you can move your thinking from the negative to the more positive moments and experiences that you have each day..

Gratitude involves thinking of something that you were grateful in your day. This can be absolutely anything from your day that you grateful for and appreciative about. It could be something in nature, the feel of the sun on your face, having food and a roof over your head or some act of kindness that you were the recipient of. You can also be grateful for the people in your life, certain possessions you cherish or even the fact that you can take action, think move, see and hear.

You can then think about the things you learnt today. This can be anything from a new skill or new way of doing something, to a life hack that someone told you or a new fact or item of knowledge. We are all learning machines and we are constantly noticing, picking up, adapting and absorbing new bits of information and knowledge about ourselves, others and the world. You may have had the chance to apply something you’ve learnt, to pick up something else positive and useful or you may have changed your mind and perspective about something today in a constructive manner.

The A in the acronym GLAD stands for accomplishment. Here, you think about something you accomplished today, however big or small. This can be any moment where you felt accomplished. It could be a task that you completed, a goal you achieved or a small step towards a goal that you successfully made happen. It can even be something that you set out to do and then did such as eating healthily, getting your steps in, going to bed earlier or spending less time on screens.  If you got something off your to do list or you made progress on something then take some time to feel good about what you accomplished during your day.

Perhaps my favourite part of the technique comes right at the end because D is for delight. This element involves thinking back on your day and recalling and revisiting the moments that brought you joy and that lifted your mood. This covers anything today that made you laugh or smile, that brought you a good feeling in some way when you saw it, heard it or experienced it and just about anything else that lifted you in your day. You can draw upon any joyous moments or upon moments where you felt proud, received a compliment or that you consider was a good moment for you today.

By spending a few moments each day, as an evening positive meditation, and by paying attention to each of these elements you can strengthen your positive thinking patterns and capability. As you repeat this practice you will counter any negativity bias and find yourself becoming happier and more positive in yourself and in your life, no matter what else comes your way.

 

Evening Positive Meditation

I really like the GLAD process as a way of countering negativity and rumination and instead cultivating a positive mindset and enhanced levels of happiness and well-being. Ideally you would take a few minutes each evening, as an evening positive meditation, to run through the process and contemplate each of the elements in turn. Alternatively you could make it a weekly practice and use the three good things process I covered above throughout the rest of the week. Either way, it’s a very positive investment of a few minutes and a little focus to start habitually noticing the good stuff that makes you feel better in your everyday life.

I’m planning to head to the recording studio soon to produce a hypnosis download to support you getting the most from this process. And if you want to start benefiting until then you can follow these steps to boost your positive mindset using this evening positive meditation::

1. Ensuring you are sitting somewhere quiet, take a deep breath and close your eyes. If you know self-hypnosis techniques you could incorporate these here. Start to extend your out breath and say the word ‘relax’ to yourself on every breath out. You could tense and relax each part of your body or tell yourself that each part of your body is relaxing. You could imagine a calm colour or sensation spreading through you or fill your mind with a relaxing sound. You could engage your imagination and imagine being in a remembered or created place of calmness, seeing the sights and hearing the sounds. Or you can draw upon and utilise any other ways that allow you to feel comfortable, calm and relaxed. Your aim here is just to feel as safe, calm and comfortable as you can right now.

2. Start to become aware of your entire body as one, from the top of your head down through your body and into the tips of your toes. Just aim to be aware of your entire body as one right now. You don’t need to try to change anything and you don’t need to try and stop anything from changing. Just notice what you notice, feel what you feel in your body and be aware of your entire body as one, with a sense of contentment.

3. Now, move your awareness to your breathing. Notice the sensations of your breathing. The rise and fall of every breath that happens so automatically. The feeling of your chest expanding, and then relaxing. Notice the sensations anywhere and everywhere caused by your breathing. Just tune in and watch your body breathing. If your mind wanders at any point you can gently bring your awareness back to your breathing.

Tune in and notice the sensations of your breathing as you let your body do the breathing, almost as if you were watching someone else breathing, or a little bird in a tree breathing or like you are watching a perfectly working machine. Imagine that you are breathing in calmness and becoming more calm, balanced and at ease as you breathe out.

4. Now, start to become more comfortably absorbed in the sensations of your body. Become aware aware of the sensations in your arms, in your chest, in your stomach and legs and then into each and every part of your body. You can notice whether each part of your body feels warm or cold or somewhere in between, whether you feel lightness or heaviness or something in between and just be content to notice what you notice as you let your awareness go deeper into your body. And throughout you can bring your awareness back to your breathing, the rise and fall of every breath that happens so automatically.

5. Then begin to gently turn your attention deeper, into your mind and towards your thinking and start to calmly reflect upon the day that has just passed for you. You can start to think back over the day that has just passed. You can think back on the kind of people, places, situations and events of your day, remembering where you went, the people you encountered, the actions you took and the things you did today.  You can reflect upon the thoughts you were thinking through your day, the emotions and feelings you experienced and anything else that was going on inside of you even if others wouldn’t have been aware of those things.

6. And then, as you contemplate your day, go ahead and think of something that you were grateful for today. This can be anything from today that you appreciate and value and that you are pleased to have as part of your life. It could be something very basic such as the food you ate, the fresh water you drank or something from nature. It could be something in your environment, a person who is important to you and who you are grateful to have as  part if your life, something that you would miss if it wasn’t present, or anything that you value and that is meaningful to you. Think about the things you are grateful for today.

7. And then move on to think about something that you learnt today. This can be anything that you didn’t know yesterday and that you now know. It may be a skill you learnt, a bit of useful information that you can use in your life or a fact that you encountered for the first time or that you had forgotten. You may have learnt something positive about yourself from the events and experiences today or it could be a quality you already knew about yourself and that you were reminded about. You may have learnt something about a situation or another person or anything that you learnt and absorbed today about yourself, others or the world around you. Think about what you learnt today.

8. After thinking back on the things you learnt today, think back on at least one small accomplishment you achieved today. This could be something you got done and cleared off your pending list. It could be a goal you made progress towards, a positive step you took or anything else you are pleased you did or progressed. It may be something to do with a big and important task or it could equally be something small that adds to your life. Think about at least one thing that you accomplished today.

9. You then move on to think of something that brought you delight today. Take a moment to think back upon and recall the moments that brought you joy and that lifted your mood in some way today. This could be any moment where you laughed or smiled, something that lifted your spirits or anything else that was a good moment for you today. It doesn’t matter how long the moment lasted, just enjoy reminding yourself of these lovely, joyful moments from today. Really have a think about what delighted you today.

10. Then having run through each of these and spending as much time as you wish thinking back on the positives from today, just take a few moments to pause, breathe and relax. Let positive thoughts, words and images, moments of gratitude, learning, accomplishment and delight from today, drift through your mind for a while. Then, when you are ready to bring this process to an end, count yourself up in your mind from one to three and on three, open your eyes and re-orientate yourself back into the present.

This evening positive meditation is a lovely process. As you repeat this process you will be learning to notice the positive and good things that happen in your everyday life. Rather than succumbing to the human negativity bias, you will be proactively setting your focus on those moments, events and things that support your happiness, contentment and well-being. Do make a few minutes each day for this process and enjoy the results of feeling and being more positive in your thoughts and feelings.

To your health, happiness and evening calmness, 

Dan Regan

Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

 

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