5 Positive Thinking Exercises That May Get You Through Tough Days

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Developing a positive mindset isn’t easy for everyone. Everything happens so quickly these days and we face a lot of pressure to be productive. This can be very anxiety-inducing. Stress can lead to negative thoughts, but positive thinking exercises can counteract them.

There are many expectations surrounding us, both within ourselves and from outside. We are currently too busy and seem to be involved in a lot of activities. As a result, our minds constantly race and try to meet all these demands. The process of planning, chasing dreams and chasing ambitions leads us to sacrifice our mental health as we go along.

Everything we can possibly accomplish in life begins with the mind. A person’s mind is a powerful tool that shouldn’t be underestimated. We often fail to give our minds enough attention and pay attention to maintaining parts of ourselves others can see instead.

Developing a healthy mindset can be challenging for some people, while it may come more easily for others. Eventually, though, you will be able to control your own  mind rather than being controlled by it.

Here are five positive thinking exercises that can help you cultivate a strong foundation for your daily activities while maintaining a positive attitude.

Positive Thinking Exercises

1. Meditation

My practice of meditation began a year ago and I’m wondering why I didn’t start sooner. I can’t imagine not practicing meditation anymore. I perform this act on a daily basis, whether morning or night. I find it extremely soothing for my mind.

Meditation makes me feel lighter than ever. Seeing this makes me aware of how much mental weight I am carrying around. The amount of information we absorb can’t be controlled, but we can determine how we process it. Meditation can help you achieve that.

A common misconception is that meditation involves clearing the mind of all thoughts. This is simply not possible. Meditating is about gaining an understanding of oneself and gaining a sense of balance within.

As you perform this exercise, you are nurturing your mind by ridding it of negativity and drawing in positive energy through sounds and/or visualization. The practice of meditation can be conducted on your own or with a guided session. Getting started on YouTube is a good place to start. I doubt you’ll want to stop once you start.

2. Affirmations

This is another habit I simply cannot do without. In strengthening my mind against negative thoughts, affirmations made all the difference for me.

Whenever you affirm something to yourself, you are choosing to take it as a fact regardless of what it appears to be. Affirmations help to recondition our minds through positive mantras.

Sometimes, people will think negatively of you to the point that some people actually start to believe what others think of them. A sound self-image comes from speaking, thinking, and believing positive things about yourself.

Affirmations are helpful in this situation. As often as necessary, repeat a few positive affirmations. It is through thoughts that things are created. I have a dedicated post on this topic you can read here.

3. Mindfulness

Another practice that benefits the mind is mindfulness. Simply put, mindfulness is a way to live intentionally.

Living intentionally means paying attention to the present moment with all your senses and focusing on everything that’s going on around you. Constant yoga and meditation can help you achieve this state of mind easily.

For example, I recently took a trip to England, and during my time away, I left all worries and concerns behind the moment I stepped on the plane. My family and friends and I lived every day for the moment, soaking up everything and staying in the present moment with no worries in the world.

I needed to take that trip to get my life in order. I love this article on mindfulness, I’d suggest you read it if this topic interests you.

4. Yoga

I started doing yoga about two weeks ago. I never took yoga seriously because I believed in gym workouts and thought it (yoga) was too easy and all about stretches and swaying movements but I was wrong.

I worked and flexed muscles I never felt in my body before. If you are looking to build lean muscles, this is the way to go.

Anyway, my sister has a great influence on me and she had been practicing yoga for over a year now.

Always invited me to join but I couldn’t see the point. Eventually, I tried it and I fell in love with it.

For me, what I love the most about yoga is that I have a poor balance and with yoga, I can fix that. I also realized how much focus and intent yoga required.

When you are on that mat, there is no room for negative thinking or a hyperactive mind.

It is a time to be calm and connect your soul to your body and the moment you are distracted, you lose balance (note that losing balance is very normal for beginners).

The benefits of yoga are vast. I describe it as a physical and mental workout.

To get started, I’d recommend you get a very good non-slip yoga mat for the best support and practice this 30 min Yin Yoga class by Travis Eliot. It’s amazing, you’ll love it.

5. Reading

I am also in the process of cultivating a good reading habit. I used to read a lot.

A lot of fictional and non- fictional books but not anymore.

I lost interest in such books when I started my soul searching journey and my interest grew for self-help books that focused more on spirituality and self.

I’m always up for anything that can benefit my soul.

Reading helps you take your mind off things that may have a burdening effect on your mind.

It’s a way to escape and exercise your mind as you paint the pictures of the story in your mind.

Reading is also very healthy for our minds and it supposedly strengthens our memories and prevents/delays diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

I am currently reading Living In The Light by Shakti Gawain, this book was lent to me and I can’t believe a book like this existed all this while and I’m just reading it.

This book is so amazing and if you are someone who has ever questioned your existence, wondered what your purpose might be in life or simply just curious about the concepts within spirituality then you must give this book a read.

I’m definitely buying my own copy to grow a collection.