Stress breed stress and calm breeds calm but if we are not consciously aware of what we are saying to our-self inside our head then once stress or anxiety is triggered fearful or negative thoughts can quickly become dominant.

If you are feeling anxious or nervous your mind will tend to shift focus to what might go wrong or it might remind you of times in the past when things did go wrong. For example, if you are feeling anxious or nervous, your mind will tend to shift focus to what might go wrong or it might remind you of times in the past when things did go wrong.

The reality is that if our mind chatter is left untamed it really can lead us into all sorts of negative and fearful thoughts that can easily start spiralling down and making us more stressed and anxious in a self-perpetuating cycle. Taking control of stress involves taking control of the mind and a great way to do this when it comes to mind chatter is to have powerful positive affirmations at hand to redirect your thoughts once you become aware that your thoughts have slipped into fear and negativity. By constantly repeating these positive statements to yourself you can quickly drown out the more negative chatter and instead of breeding more stress your redirected thoughts can instead have you focus on becoming calm or more confident or even courageous.

What you need to do is to have a short list of positive affirmations that really resonate with you memorised and ready to use.

Here are some examples of powerful positive affirmations you can say to yourself instead of the negative self talk:

1) As I slow my breathing and relax my body, the stress flows out of my mind

2) This and all things shall pass

3) I am calm, cool and collected

4) I have all the resources within me now to deal with this and anything else

5) Everyday in every way I am feeling better and better

6) When this is all over I will be so proud of myself

7) I breathe out tension and stress…. and breathe in calmness

When you become stressed or anxious, listen to your self-talk. If it is leading you down that negative spiral simple replace it with your favourite empowering affirmations and repeat them over and over until you are calm and composed again.