Positive thinking & the nervous system.
Reframing Thoughts: How Understanding Your Nervous System Can Bring Calm and Clarity.
Author: Vanessa Hamilton
We’ve all been there—our thoughts spiral into stress or anxiety, and suddenly everything feels overwhelming. But what if I told you that a lot of this comes down to your nervous system? By understanding how it works and learning to reframe your thoughts, you can regain a sense of balance and calm, even when the car breaks down, even when you drop the eggs!
The Nervous System in Action
Your nervous system is like your body’s control center. It manages everything from how you react to stress to how you experience joy. It’s made up of two main parts: the sympathetic nervous system (your "fight or flight" mode) and the parasympathetic nervous system (your "rest and digest" mode). When you're feeling stressed, your sympathetic nervous system kicks in, and you may experience physical signs like a racing heart, tense muscles, or shallow breathing.
While this is a natural response designed to protect us in dangerous situations, modern-day stressors like work deadlines, financial pressures, or relationship worries can trigger the same reaction. Over time, this constant state of "fight or flight" can wear us down.
Reframing Thoughts: Changing the Way You React
The good news? You don’t have to live in a constant state of stress, and firstly, high five for reading this and preparing to make a change, prioritising your wellbeing is is huge. Anyhoo, one powerful tool that can help you manage your nervous system is reframing your thoughts.
Reframing involves taking a stressful or negative thought and looking at it from a different, more balanced perspective. When you’re caught up in a spiral of negative thinking, it can feel like the situation is out of your control. But by reframing, you take back control over how you react.
Let’s say, for example, you’re feeling anxious about a project at work. Instead of thinking, “I’m never going to get this done,” try reframing it to, “I’ve completed tough projects before, and I can handle this one too.” This shift in perspective can calm your nervous system, bringing you from "fight or flight" mode back into "rest and digest."
Why Does Reframing Work?
Reframing works because it taps into the brain’s ability to change how we interpret situations. Our thoughts have a direct impact on our emotions and, in turn, our nervous system. When we consciously shift a negative thought to a more positive or realistic one, we can literally calm our body’s stress response.
Over time, with practice, reframing can help you create a more peaceful, balanced inner dialogue. You’ll notice that stressful situations don’t feel quite as overwhelming, and you’ll feel more equipped to handle challenges.
Tips for Reframing Your Thoughts
Pause and Breathe: When stress strikes, take a few deep breaths. This signals your parasympathetic nervous system to activate, helping you relax. It also brings your awareness to what’s going on and that you are taking control.
Identify the Negative Thought: Notice the exact thought that’s causing you stress. Awareness is the first step in reframing.
Challenge the Thought: Ask yourself, "Is this thought 100% true?" Most of the time, our stress comes from exaggerating the problem. You can also ask yourself, “how does this serve me to think about it like this?”.
Find a Balanced Alternative: Replace the negative thought with something more positive or realistic. For example, instead of “I’ll never get this right,” try “It might take time, but I’ll get there.”
Embrace Calm and Balance
Understanding your nervous system and using tools like reframing can help you stay grounded and calm, even in stressful situations. Life will always have its challenges, but with practice, you can shift how you respond and find peace amidst the chaos.
If you're looking for support, True Balance Counselling is here to help. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed or simply want to explore new ways to manage stress, together we can find the tools that work best for you.
Now, don’t get me wrong—reframing your thoughts doesn’t magically make your problems disappear. Life is still life, and unfortunately, no amount of positive thinking is going to stop your toddler from throwing spaghetti on the ceiling or make your Wi-Fi work faster on a Zoom call! But here’s the thing: while we can’t control everything that happens around us, we can control how we react. Reframing helps you be more resilient, so when life throws you a curveball (or a flying plate of spaghetti), you can take a deep breath, shift your perspective, and handle it with a little more grace—and maybe even a laugh. That’s a lot better than ruminating in bed unable to sleep because your stress levels just won’t come down.
By learning to reframe, you’re not avoiding the tough stuff, you’re just choosing not to let it knock you down as hard. Problems may still pop up, but you’ll find that you bounce back quicker, feeling more grounded and in control.