Thought substitution is a simple technique to understand but might be difficult to master. I first learned them from reading a Brian Tracy’s book, who is a known motivational speaker and writer. It is based on the fact that a human mind can only hold one thought at a time. Thus, if you have negative thoughts in your mind that continuously stress you, it is possible through conscious effort substitute it with another thought, i.e. think of something else instead.
As you do not think of the problem, you reduce your level of stress. Of course, pervasive negative thoughts will try to return to your mind. You should take notice of them and immediately return to your substitute thought.
Examples of this technique can be seen in Relaxation Technique #1 – Breathing to relax and calm down – where the concentration on the air flow through the nostrils should substitute the previous thought you’ve had. Of course, you can just substitute your negative thought by thinking about your loved ones or reliving joyful memories from your past.
So, the next time you have troubling thoughts, take notice of them. Recall the fact that you can substitute your thoughts with better ones and start thinking positive ones.
“So, the next time you have troubling thoughts, take notice of them. Recall the fact that you can substitute your thoughts with better ones and start thinking positive ones.”
Some people object to this method bacause they think it is wrong to suppress or repress emotions. This is not exactly right.
This method works for the exact same reason people say that keeping busy is the best way to deal with grief or loss.
As all people mature from infancy we learn to control our emotions. If we didn’t we would not be able to function in society.
Suppressing emotions is not good, however, if you spend too much time focusing on your emotions and doing self-analysis you can train yourself to have negative emotions every time you are in a situaiton where you might expect to have problems.
So each person has to find their own balance between letting out and letting go. To much or too little of each can cause problems.
Control means learning to start and stop something at will. It can be helpful to notice the thought and the emotion it causes, then think of something else for a short time and notice how you feel. Then go back to noticing the thought and the emotion it causes, alternating in this way between letting out and letting go. Notice the transition and contrast. When you learn from your own direct experience the truth that the thoughts you think affect how you feel emotionally, you have a big advantage when it comes to applying this method.
You will not become emotionless but you should be able to be able to act more according to your values rather than always reacting to your emotions.