Mindfulness and Negative Self-Talk: What Are We Thinking?

by Judith Dreyer, MS, BSN

Several studies use a mindful self-care and resiliency (MSCR) program to evaluate mindful practices' effectiveness and look at negative self-talk among health care professionals. Burnout and compassion fatigue are real issues in our medical professions, especially during this pandemic time. At an acute care hospital in Australia, researchers reported, "… participants gained more awareness of their thought patterns in stressful situations, thus providing them with the ability to circumvent rising negative self-talk and consciously adopt a more positive perspective on the situation."

Alison Ledgerwood, a social psychologist and TED talk speaker conducted a study at the University of California to evaluate which thoughts are stronger: positive or negative ones. She used the concept of half-empty or half-full in her experiment. She discovered that it's harder to shift from bad to good with our thoughts. Doing so requires disciplined effort due to what is known as our negativity bias.

How many thoughts do we experience per day? Dr. Poppenk, Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at Queen's University, and his team of researchers discovered a brain-based marker for new thoughts. They estimate that the "average person has about 6,200 thoughts per day".  

Self-talk is something we are aware of in our everyday life. Thoughts can be positive or negative, and some days I know I wish mine would just be quiet. Six thousand two hundred thoughts seem incomprehensible.

"Negative self-talk is any inner dialogue you have with yourself that may be limiting your ability to believe in yourself and your abilities and to reach your potential. It is any thought that diminishes your ability to make positive changes in your life or your confidence in yourself to do so. Negative self-talk can not only be stressful, but it can stunt your success." Most of the time, the inner critic's voice is not an accurate marker of your successes, your intelligence, or character.

However, we have thoughts that are here to protect us. For example: don't jump off that bridge. Then there's emotional self-talk that usually has no basis in fact. Once we understand that both will always be there, then we can learn to manage the negative and reframe the ideas into more positive ones. Does it happen overnight? Mindfulness techniques, when applied consistently, do make a difference. 

What can we do to manage these negative thoughts?

1. Pay attention to your thoughts in the present moment. Simply pause.  

2. Meditation practices help you listen a little more deeply. Negative self-talk can be a blanket covering up deeper hurts, negative patterns. It can also be a distraction from what you are feeling. Negative thoughts can be a treasure in that these types of thoughts can highlight an issue, a problem. 

3. Be kind to yourself. Within our 6,200 thoughts, some are negative. Kindness and gentle awareness, compassion for self open the door to acknowledging them and softening them.

4. Change negativity to neutrality:  For example, "I hate" becomes "I find this challenging."  

There are many mindfulness techniques to use.

            Pause and focus on your breath. 

            When a thought arises, acknowledge it and refocus on your breathing.

            Then resume your day.

"Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life."

— Thich Nhat Hanh