Have you ever told yourself a convoluted story that was so intricately woven with thoughts only to find out none of it was true? It’s easy to do when our brains have an average of 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. This can create havoc in our minds, and we end up manifesting our destiny without knowing the implications. So what is the secret on how to stop your mind from racing?
This is important as we question the drink, or question any self-sabotaging behaviors or have feelings of stress come over us. The smallest trigger or misinformation and we start to spin out of control with thoughts. We tell ourselves what we want to hear, just as long as we are right. Our brain doesn’t want to be incorrect, so if you’re looking for answers or evidence that your story is true, you will find them to validate that thinking.
But, is this positively serving you?
How can we stop our minds from racing?
What if you could use this same type of thinking, but turned it around? What if you were able to catch yourself before you ended up too far into your story? How could this benefit you?
Let me give you an example to demonstrate.
It’s a warm spring day, and you’re planning on having dinner on the patio. You decide on a delicious fish dinner with your next-door neighbors. You start to prepare the meal, and then it hits you. You get triggered by the thought of having a glass of Chardonnay. You’ve been questioning your relationship with alcohol lately, and you’re aware that you’ve been overdoing it. You’re committing to take a break from drinking, but the mere thought of having a few glasses is tempting you. After all, this is what you did. You had dinner on your patio with white wine. Your mind starts to race. You want it, but you know you shouldn’t.
Are you justifying your thoughts?
The weave of thoughts swirls in your mind as they start to take on some order. You build a story around why this is okay, to avoid telling your neighbors that you’ve been questioning the drink. “Yes, yes, this is fine. It’s only this one time.” If you don’t give in, you will feel left out or uncomfortable, and you can’t do it, not tonight. You continue to orchestrate the story that you’re going to tell them, visualize the evening, and plan your excuse to your spouse on why it’s okay.
It’s so nice outside, and your neighbors are a handful. You “need” to have a few. It will be fine.
Did you see what just happened in the example? You made up a story to justify your thinking. You created a narrative that you can play out, whether or not it’s the right thing to do. It’s hard to be “wrong” or feel bad about your thoughts, so to avoid not feeing bad, you move from your thoughts and feelings into action.
What if you were able to stop that thinking at the point of the initial trigger? What if you could see that thinking as untrue? What if you could move that feeling of “not good” to a feeling of peace, with no racing thoughts in your mind? How could that change your life?
That’s the beauty of the SABER Method. It’s a five-step process to move your negative thoughts, triggers, and the crazy outlandish stories that we create in our minds, to a powerful state of mind with peace and joy.
The Solution: The SABER Method
It starts with saying the word STOP out loud the moment you start to spin the web of thoughts. As soon as you say the word stop, you will be able to see the thinking for what it is; untrue. This is where you ACKNOWLEDGE your thought as a negative. By doing this, you give it no power, and it no longer can control your mind. By seeing it for what it is, untrue, you now cannot “unsee” it.
By the time you complete the first two steps, you will naturally take a deep breath. It’s essential to calm your central nervous system down and move into a parasympathetic state, one of rest. This may take several focused deep breaths. Stay in this place until you feel a sense of calm.
Next is to EMBRACE the moment of doing mind work. You are neurosculpting your brain by forcing new thought patterns, therefore creating new neuropathways. Give yourself grace. This is important work.
Redirect Your Thoughts
Lastly, you will want to REDIRECT your thoughts to serve you better. Finding a grounding thought of gratitude is the first step of redirecting. Think of something you are internally grateful for in your life. Most often, this will be of your best experience you’ve had, perhaps a child, a spouse, or something you own. Whatever it is, it’s the type of gratitude you feel in your body when you think of it. Place your left hand over your heart and really feel the deep appreciation for your grounding thought of gratitude.
The second step of redirecting your thoughts is to make a new empowering decision. Whatever your initial negative thought was, turn it around to the opposite, OR, you can simply decide on something completely different that will positively serve you. Once you make the new decision, you should feel powerful, grateful, and in control. This completes the SABER Method.
How to know your triggers
In the example above, knowing the trigger you had was just a trigger. We cannot stop a trigger from occurring, but we can choose to work through it and respond in a way that suits us positively. Seeing it for what it is; a former go-to pattern of behaviors and thoughts embedded in your brain. So the moment you SEE the thought, say STOP out loud and start the SABER Method process.
The SABER Method will take less than 60 seconds with practice. I urge you to use the method daily.
It really works.
