The 3 Ways Negative Thoughts Can Manifest in Your Body
Do you take time to reflect on your thoughts and feelings?
It is easy to get lost in the busyness of our daily lives. Our to-do lists are ever-growing, and often we live on autopilot. Finding time for ourselves seems impossible to do. This leaves us feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
Additionally, we are living under the constant stress of pandemic, lockdowns, and economic uncertainties. We continuously worry about our future and health. It is easy to fall into negative thought patterns and feelings about our lives.
When you perceive your life situation as highly stressful or threatening in any way, you are more likely to engage in more pessimistic thinking or anticipate more negative outcomes for yourself. (1)
What's more, when you stay in this state of negative thinking patterns for an extended period, those thoughts eventually become your habits. Over time, those habits can manifest in your physical body as chronic health symptoms because negative thoughts create stress on the body.
Your body doesn't differentiate between imagine stress when you worry about the potential future and actual stress based on your current situation. The effect on the body is the same.
How can this manifest in your body?
Here are the three ways your negative thoughts can affect your physical health:
Physical Pain in The Body
It is normal to experience some negative thoughts when facing hardship or when going through some challenging times. This is part of our body's survival mechanism.
However, when you get absorbed by your negative self-talk for an extended time, you create a cycle of stress in your body that affects how your body functions.
Suppose you are frequently angry because you feel overworked, underappreciated, or worry about your financial future without seeing a way out from that situation. In that case, your body reacts to these thoughts as if you are in danger. Your muscles tense, heart rate and blood pressure increase. You start to breathe faster but shallow. This is the way your body prepares you to possibly run from danger or fight a predator.
The cycle of constant stress may eventually lead to aches and pains in the body.
If you experience chronic pain, try to incorporate relaxation techniques in your day. This may include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or relaxation visualization.
Deep breathing
Sit in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes and put your hands on your abdomen.
Take a deep breath through your nose.
Slowly breathe out through your nose.
Focus on your breath throughout this exercise, and feel your hands rise and fall on your abdomen.
Relax your stomach muscles.
Every time you breathe out, imagine your body relaxes. Every time you breathe in, imagine breathing peace into your body.
Repeat this breath cycle a few times.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation includes tensing and relaxing each part of your body. You start in a comfortable position breathing easily and naturally. Close your eyes and slowly tense each muscle in your body. You can start with your right hand by squeezing it into a tight fist. Hold this position for a few seconds and then relax. Follow these patterns for each muscle in your body.
Relaxation visualization
Sit or lay down in a comfortable position.
Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Take deep and slow breaths.
Think about your special place where you feel relaxed and at peace.
Imagine being there. Use all your senses during this process. See what's around you. What do you feel? What do you smell? What sensations are you experiencing? What do you hear? Feel the ground and temperature. Feel the sun or breeze on your skin.
Take as much time as you need to think about your special place.
When you are ready, return your attention back to the room and your breathing.
2. Slower Digestion and Gut Dysbiosis
You may wonder what your thoughts have to do with your digestion. When you are stressed, and your body triggers the fight-or-flight response, any organs or functions in your body that are not essential for survival slow down or get shut down. Your digestive system is one of them. You don't need to digest your food when you are trying to run away from danger. Your body prefers to use that energy to fuel organs required for you to run or fight.
What does that mean for you?
When your digestion slows down, you may feel bloated or constipated. But the opposite can be true. You may experience diarrhea as your colon contracts too fast.
Also, stress can affect the intestinal barrier. The intestines have a tight barrier to protect the body from bacterias. Stress makes that barrier weaker and allows gut bacteria and undigested food to enter the body. Most of these bacteria are taken care of by the immune system and do not make us sick. However, the immune system's constant activation leads to low-grade inflammation in the body and, eventually, chronic health symptoms.
Stress can also alter the composition of your gut microbiome. Our body is host to trillions of microorganisms known as the human microbiota. These organisms play crucial roles in our health, from keeping our immune system strong, influencing our mental well-being, and regulating our weight and hormones. Unfortunately, stress can affect the community structure and activity of these organisms in our gut. This may lead to chronic diseases like autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, obesity, to name a few. (2)
Making healthy food choices is crucial for the digestive system and the balance of our gut microbiome. Excess sugar leads to weight gain and sugar cravings and feeds harmful bacteria, leading to gut imbalances. Focusing on whole foods will nourish your body and feed those microorganisms that are essential for your overall health.
3. Disturbed Sleep and Insomnia
Do you find that you can't shut off your mind at night?
You keep going over and over your worries and frustrations analyzing them from various angles. By doing that, you maintain your stress levels high, preventing you from falling asleep. If you don't sleep well, you feel tired the next morning. As a result, your brain is not functioning the same, causing a lack of focus and anxiety.
If you stay in the constant cycle of negative thoughts, you may end up with insomnia in the long run. As the cortisol levels remain elevated, your body cannot produce melatonin, the sleep hormone, needed for good night rest.
Additionally, if you experience body aches or heart palpitations due to stress, that again will affect your sleep. Even if you try to get the recommended seven to eight hours of rest, your sleep quality may be affected. This will further disturb the natural patterns of cortisol in your body.
An evening routine that helps you relax and di-stress will allow you to fall asleep faster and deeper. If you experience a racing mind at night, deep breathing techniques or journaling may help you stop the cycle of your thoughts.
How to overcome negative thoughts
Recognize that there is both good and bad in the world. Try to focus more on positive things in your life. Practicing gratitude versus concentrating on what you don't have can help your emotional state.
Live in the moment. Don't focus too much on the future that you cannot control or overthink past mistakes.
Surround yourself with positive people that will always support you and be there for you. Avoid people that drain your energy.
Use mood journaling to record your emotional reactions or experience for specific situations. This may help you recognize patterns and triggers for negative feelings and thoughts.
Conclusion
It is crucial to pause regularly to reflect on what's going on inside of us. It is normal to feel worried, frustrated, or angry. However, staying in the cycle of these negative feelings or thoughts can be detrimental to our health. Taking steps to ensure that we balance these feelings with positive thinking and attitude will help us avoid the negative effects of pessimistic thoughts on our physical body.
References:
Lee J., Kim E. Y., Wachholtz A. The effect of perceived stress on life satisfaction : The mediating effect of self-efficacy. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5154683/
Karl J. P., Hatch A. M., Arcidiacono S. M., Pearce S. C., Pantoja-Feliciano I.J., Doherty L.A., Soares J. W. Effects of Psychological, Environmental and Physical Stressors on the Gut Microbiota. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6143810/
Hi! I'm Kinga Zerhouni.
I am a functional health coach. I work with stressed-out and tired working moms who feel like they are drowning in the thousand things they have to do between work and home.
I help them learn how to nourish and listen to their bodies to figure out which lifestyle changes are right for them, so they can regain their energy and feel calm again.