Have you ever noticed how, when you start edging toward negative thoughts, those thoughts seem to build on themselves? It can cause a negative pattern of thoughts to emerge and seem to continue in a downward spiral.

Let’s say, for example, that you’ve had a difficult day with some of the usual culprits-the car doesn’t start, thus making you late for work, the toast burns, your kid is crying because they don’t want to wear a coat……Most of us have been there in similar ways. By the end of the day you’re exhausted. You flop into bed and that's when your brain gets busy. Your head fills with all the things left undone at work and at home, and -voila-you’re filled with too many thoughts going into a downward spiral. Your mind is racing. What to do?

On the flip side, there are positive emotional spirals. You know the feeling-when you experience a surge of positivity and those emotions keep going-good vibes!

My suggestion to combat negative spirals is to take a deep, cleansing breath. Try to breathe out the negativity. Focus on one positive thought and in your mind, build on that. Once your thought patterns start to change, you’ve broken the negative spiral. It may take some practice to get there, but it is definitely possible to break thought patterns for your own peace of mind.