If there’s one thing we can bet on in life it’s that we will all wrestle with negative thoughts at various times.
It could be sadness, anger, fear, disappointment, or a host of other emotions.
We start experiencing negative thoughts and/or emotions in childhood. The reactions we got from our caregivers are likely to have impacted us all the way into adulthood.
How do you feel about life in general?
Do you think you have a predominantly positive or negative attitude?
Do you feel good about your physical appearance and personality?
Many people contend with a lot of negative thoughts, and this consistent negativity can have a huge impact on their lives. They might not be completely miserable, but they may struggle with sadness, anxiety, disgust, and more.
The Effects of Negative Thoughts
For example, someone might tell one lie that triggers another lie and another one until they become quite the liar and have a difficult time owning any truth.
Or perhaps someone has low self-esteem because they believe they are boring. So, they isolate and live a lonely life.
Furthermore, and this one is quite common, someone may believe that they are unworthy, so they keep sabotaging their relationships.
Negative thoughts and emotions certainly exist, but we can definitely modify them. However, in order for change to occur or to let go of those negative emotions, we have to get to the underlying beliefs that lie in our subconscious.
The World of the Subconscious
Your mind is made up of two parts:
- The conscious
- The subconscious
When you go about your day, you might think that your conscious mind is running the show. But actually, it’s your subconscious mind that’s influencing you between 90 to 95% of the time.
What this means is that your past memories, thoughts, and beliefs are influencing what you think, say, and do each day, whether you realize it or not.
Think of your subconscious as a tape that is playing over and over. The information on that tape is mainly from what you’ve heard, experienced, and learned your first six years of life. On top of that, other memories and events since then have contributed to the voice on that tape.
When you are not in conscious thought mode (living mindfully in the present), that old tape is playing and influencing your life. This is why many people continue years and years in negative cycles such as depression, anxiety, bad relationships, hot temper, etc.
It is important to realize this.
If you want to see real and lasting change in your life, you have to understand how to change the tape playing in your subconscious. You must learn how to eject that tape and put a new one in that plays more positive thoughts and beliefs.
Changing negative emotions comes from changing negative beliefs. And this can be done by targeting the subconscious.
Changing Subconscious Beliefs
Now that you understand better the role that the subconscious mind plays in your life, you probably want to know how you can change what’s going on there.
Fortunately, there are plenty of men and women who have come to our rescue and have created transformational methods that aim to modify the brain at the subconscious level. They have tested their methods out, along with many others, and have found some success.
Keep in mind that what works for one might not work for another, as each individual is different.
For example, Cindy might experience super amazing results by using guided meditations, while Joe may have tried them and didn’t feel he experienced any change. However, when he used The Presence Process, he noticed that his thoughts were rapidly changing from negative to positive.
Here is a brief overview of some common methods of subconscious modification that can help you change and/or limit negative thoughts and faulty belief patterns. Note that the methods take somewhat of an understanding of the process, time, and practice.
1. Sedona Method & Release Technique
The Sedona Method emerged in the 1950s when Lester Levenson, after facing a life-threatening health crisis, began experimenting with releasing emotional resistance.
His approach was later refined by Hale Dwoskin (Sedona Method) and Larry Crane (Release Technique).
The core idea is beautifully simple: instead of fighting unwanted emotions, you sit with them, fully feel them, and gently ask yourself if you’re willing to let them go.
This “allow and release” process helps dissolve the emotional charge that fuels negative thoughts.
From a psychological standpoint, the Sedona Method works because it interrupts suppression. When emotions aren’t pushed down, they can move through the nervous system rather than getting stuck. Many people report that releasing reduces rumination, anxiety spikes, and compulsive overthinking. The technique also aligns with newer somatic therapies that emphasize handling emotions through sensation rather than thought.
To explore more, visit the Sedona Method website: https://www.sedona.com/
2. Affirmations (Updated With Modern Neuroscience)
Affirmations have roots in early 20th-century New Thought philosophy, but the technique gained scientific momentum through the development of Self-Affirmation Theory in the 1980s.
Today, research on neuroplasticity shows that repeated, emotionally charged statements can gradually rewire neural circuits associated with self-belief and emotional regulation.
Affirmations work because the brain adapts to repeated input. If someone has spent years telling themselves they’re “not enough,” the mind begins to treat that message as truth.
So, repeating new statements, such as “I am capable,” “I am safe,” or “I deserve good relationships”, creates fresh neural pathways that challenge old subconscious programming. Over time, these pathways strengthen, especially when paired with visualization and emotional engagement.
For best results, affirmations should be specific, believable, and tied to values rather than perfection. Short daily practice (even two minutes) is surprisingly effective.
3. Guided Meditations
Guided meditations originally grew from practices used in Buddhist, Hindu, and yogic traditions, but the modern version, where a narrator walks you through imagery or inner exploration, is widely used in therapy, trauma work, and stress reduction.
In guided meditation, you follow a structured mental journey, often involving visualization, breath awareness, or symbolic imagery.
These meditations work because they help shift the brain into slower Alpha and Theta states. In these states, the subconscious becomes more accessible, making it easier to reshape old beliefs and soothe emotional reactivity.
Guided imagery has also been shown to reduce activity in the amygdala, the brain’s threat detector, which explains why people often feel calmer after just one session.
You can use guided meditations for inner-child healing, emotional release, confidence building, or simply grounding your nervous system. They’re especially helpful for beginners who struggle with quiet meditation because you’re never left alone with racing thoughts.
Try one of our most popular Guided Meditations!
4. Regular Meditation & Mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness are related but not identical.
Meditation typically involves sitting quietly and focusing on a single anchor, often the breath. Mindfulness is the skill of staying aware of the present moment as you move through daily life. Both approaches have roots in ancient contemplative traditions but were popularized in the West through Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program.
These practices work because they reduce activity in the Default Mode Network (DMN), the part of the brain responsible for rumination and self-critical thinking.
Over time, meditation increases emotional regulation, reduces reactivity, and enhances clarity.
When negative thoughts arise, mindfulness teaches you to observe them instead of automatically believing them.
This gentle separation between “you” and “your thoughts” is what helps many people break long-held mental patterns. Even 10 minutes a day can make a measurable difference.
5. The Work (Byron Katie)
The Work was created by Byron Katie in the 1980s after she experienced a profound personal shift following years of depression and self-loathing. Her method centers on four deceptively simple questions that challenge stressful thoughts:
- Is it true?
- Can you absolutely know it’s true?
- How do you react when you believe that thought?
- Who would you be without that thought?
These questions are followed by “turnarounds,” which help you consider alternative perspectives. The Work is effective because it exposes cognitive distortions, like catastrophizing or mind-reading, and helps you detach from the mental stories that keep negativity alive. It’s a form of cognitive inquiry, similar to CBT but more intuitive and reflective.
People often experience emotional relief, softened self-judgment, and more clarity after working through a stressful belief. The method requires honesty and patience, but it can be deeply transformative.
More info: https://thework.com/
6. Silva Method
Created by José Silva in the 1960s, the Silva Method began as a tool to help his children improve their learning abilities.
Over decades, it evolved into a full self-development system that uses relaxation, visualization, positive imagery, and intentional mental training. Practitioners are guided into relaxed Alpha and Theta states, similar to what’s found in hypnosis, which allows the mind to accept new beliefs more easily.
The Silva Method helps reduce negative thoughts by strengthening mental focus and breaking habitual worry patterns.
When the mind enters a calmer brainwave state, visualization becomes more vivid and impactful. This makes it easier to imagine positive outcomes, rehearse new self-concepts, and interrupt subconscious patterns formed earlier in life.
Many people say the Silva Method feels like a mix of meditation, affirmations, and mental rehearsal. It’s especially helpful for people who need structure and step-by-step guidance.
Learn more here: https://www.silvamethod.com/
7. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT / Tapping)
EFT, commonly called “tapping,” was developed in the 1990s by Gary Craig after he studied Thought Field Therapy (TFT), an earlier system created by psychologist Roger Callahan.
Rather than using TFT’s complex tapping algorithms, Craig simplified the method into a single sequence of tapping on acupressure points while tuning in to an emotional issue.
EFT works by blending cognitive reframing with somatic stimulation.
When you tap on meridian points, like the eyebrow, side of the eye, or collarbone, you send calming signals to the body’s stress response system. This reduces amygdala activation and helps break the link between a negative thought and the physical tension that keeps it alive. Dozens of clinical studies now show EFT can significantly reduce anxiety, PTSD symptoms, phobias, and stress.
Many people find tapping helpful because it gives them something physical to do with emotional discomfort, which can feel more accessible than purely mental techniques.
More information: https://eftinternational.org/
8. The Presence Process
Created by Michael Brown, The Presence Process is a 10-week structured journey designed to help people release unresolved childhood emotional imprints. Brown’s own healing journey inspired the method, which blends conscious breathing, emotional awareness, and daily presence practices.
At its core, The Presence Process teaches that many of our negative thoughts are driven by unintegrated emotions from early life. Instead of trying to suppress or argue with these feelings, the process encourages you to feel them fully, breathe through them, and allow them to surface without resistance.
Over time, this reduces reactivity and frees you from old emotional patterns.
The method works because breath-based awareness helps regulate the nervous system, making it easier to face emotions that were previously overwhelming. Many people report that the process brings buried grief, anger, or fear into consciousness in a gentle, manageable way, leading to fewer intrusive thoughts and more grounded clarity.
Learn more: https://www.thepresenceprocessportal.com/
9. Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Internal Family Systems (IFS), created by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the 1980s, is now one of the most respected therapeutic approaches for working with internal conflict and negative thinking.
Instead of viewing the mind as one unified voice, IFS recognizes that we all have “parts”, wounded inner children, caretaking parts, protective parts, and reactive parts. Negative thoughts often come from protective parts trying to keep us safe in outdated ways.
IFS works by helping you access the “Self”, a calm, compassionate inner presence, and approach your parts with curiosity rather than judgment. When parts feel heard and understood, they tend to soften, allowing old beliefs to release.
This method is effective because it bypasses willpower and goes straight to internal motivations. Rather than forcing change, it invites cooperation from within. IFS is supported by growing clinical research and widely used in trauma therapy.
More information: https://ifs-institute.com/
Somatic Experiencing (SE), developed by Dr. Peter Levine in the 1970s, is a body-based therapeutic approach originally created to help people heal trauma. But its principles are equally powerful for dissolving stubborn negative thoughts rooted in chronic stress states.
When the body stays in fight, flight, or freeze, the mind produces negative interpretations and repetitive patterns as a survival mechanism.
SE helps by guiding you to track bodily sensations, release stored survival energy, and complete interrupted stress cycles from the past. Once the nervous system rebalances, the mind naturally becomes calmer and less reactive. This is why many people say that after SE sessions, their negative thoughts lose intensity or disappear altogether.
It works because it treats negative thinking at its physiological root, not just its cognitive expression. When the body feels safe, the mind can finally rest.
Learn more: https://traumahealing.org/
11. Energetic Well Being Process (EWBP)
The Energetic Well Being Process (EWBP) is an integrative method that blends energy psychology, emotional inquiry, and intention-based clearing. It operates on the idea that unresolved emotional patterns create “energetic blocks” in the body-mind system, which can show up as recurring negative thoughts, self-sabotaging behaviors, or persistent stress.
During an EWBP session, practitioners guide clients through identifying the emotional root of an issue, exploring where it “sits” in the body, and removing the block using focused intention and energetic testing.
The process often reveals hidden beliefs formed in childhood or in moments of vulnerability – beliefs that quietly shape one’s self-perception.
The reason EWBP helps people shift negative thoughts is because it addresses emotion, physiology, and subconscious belief at once. When energy flow improves, people often report feeling lighter, clearer, and less mentally “stuck.”
More information: https://www.energypsych.org/
Shadow Work originates from Carl Jung’s concept of the “shadow,” the unconscious part of ourselves that holds traits, memories, and emotions we repress. These can include anger, fear, shame, envy, or even positive qualities we didn’t feel safe expressing.
Because the shadow operates subconsciously, it often fuels negative thoughts without us realizing it, such as “I’m not good enough,” or “No one will ever accept me.”
Shadow Work involves consciously exploring these hidden parts so they can be integrated rather than avoided. This can be done through journaling, guided prompts, therapy, parts work, or somatic practices that help access deeper layers of emotion.
The reason Shadow Work is so effective is because it transforms the internal conflicts that generate negativity. When hidden parts feel acknowledged, they stop sabotaging from the background. People commonly describe feeling more whole, grounded, and emotionally resilient as they integrate their shadow material.
Great starting resource: https://jungplatform.com/
You Don’t Have to Hold on to Negative Thoughts
As you can see, many people are dedicated to helping humanity discover and heal limited, negative thoughts and/or emotions. This is wonderful!
These methods can be used on their own, but also be combined in different ways for a greater impact. Some of the methods complement each other quite naturally.
For example, you can use meditation as a means to discover deep, buried emotions and then use the Release Technique to process and let the emotions go.
There is hope for everyone who struggles with negative emotions.
It does take some knowledge and effort, but the effort is well worth it. We were not meant to be a slave to negative thoughts and emotions, so begin to delve into these methods and give them a try.
Updated from Apr 30, 2023
