Rumination – culmination of negativity
It has been recently proved by a team of researchers working at Stanford University that people walking in a natural environment tend to engage in less rumination. In tests they found rumination remained level for the urban walkers, but fell for the nature walkers.
Rumination is a disorder wherein an individual compulsively focuses on his/her distress and its causes and consequences, rather than on the solution. It is quite similar to worry and anxiety, except the attention is more on the past events and experiences as opposed to worry/anxiety, which is future centric. Both involve negative thinking.
On an average a human mind is consumed by about 50,000 thoughts a day. A mix of good and bad, positive and negative. A healthy mind would outweigh the negative thoughts with positive ones. But what about a mind which is controlled by negative thoughts?
Simple as it may sound, it is all about habit. Our thinking – negative and positive becomes so habitual, that it gets conditioned to think in only one particular direction. It is hence controlled accordingly. Any habit is not formed overnight. It is similar to water seeping into something and doing the damage. Negative thinking works on similar analogy. Constant dwelling on something unpleasant becomes a compulsion resulting in obsession at times.
It’s been proved that if one consciously removes a negative thought from one’s mind in less than nine seconds, it will automatically be expelled from our system. This exercise is basically to restrain oneself from comprehending or registering an unwanted thought.
Negative thoughts lead to depression, anxiety and many other forms of neuroses. Various psychosomatic disorders are manifested as a result of it. Acute negative thinking can be altered through therapy. Ruminating or brooding on something undesirable can take a toll on one’s mental and physical health. Meditation, exercise and any form of relaxation can help undo this pattern of negative thinking. Please don’t let negativity erode your system. Wake up and smell the coffee. It’s never too late because here two negatives will never make a positive…Unless you’re a pregnancy test, take your negativity elsewhere!