Find it hard to crush those negative feelings that keep on creeping up on you? Luckily for you, we’ve got all the clever ways to turn around those thoughts into positives.

An ‘anchor’ is a term used in Neuro-Linguistic Programming to define an internal response to an external stimulus. These could be a touch, a sound, sight, taste, or smell, or even a particular tone of voice used to call your name. And they very powerful, sometimes bringing back all the associated emotions relating to some of the hardest – or the best – times in your life.

Here are five handy strategies you can use to begin to crush any negative anchor feelings that you are carrying, and move forward with more positive anchors.

1. Write down the past negative response

Grab a pen and paper and recall the emotions you feel in relation to the stimulus; the detail and any sounds, tastes and smells. Breathe in to a count of 2, breathe out to a count of 4. This will stimulate your vagus nerve and slow your heart pace down if it is raised from even thinking about the anchor. Then take the paper somewhere safe to burn to begin to get rid of these negative feelings. 

2. Replace this with a positive experience 

Put your feet on the floor and take a deep breath in. Hold it, before breathing out, slowly. Think of the most positive experience you have had in your life and picture it as a big cinema experience with the best surround sound and wraparound, 360-degree vision ever. Feel deeply how good it felt as you recall it now. You can then ‘anchor’ it by pressing your right forefinger and thumb together. You will be able to access this feeling when you press your right thumb and forefinger together. Repeat it often to harness its power in uncertainty. 

3. Stand Up

Stand tall by imagining there is a string at the top of your head that pulls you up straight; it has power to make you feel more confident. Put your shoulders back, relax them a little, and look either straight ahead or up. Push your hips forward slightly (what Pilates might call ‘zip up’). Now add a smile, from your toes up. Wiggle the toes. Stay like this for at least a minute and see how your mood changes. This not only works with being stood up, you can try it when sitting too. Simply changing your physical position has the power to change your mood in 2020.

4. Just Look Up

One of the simplest ways to flood your body with good feelings is to release a chemical known as serotonin. This practice is a good way to start the day and continue doing it throughout in times of uncertainty or in the presence of a negative anchor. Simply look up to the ceiling if you’re indoors, or to the sky if you’re outdoors as this will stimulate the pineal gland and activate the release of serotonin in your gut. Say inside your head ‘things are looking up’ and think good thoughts to harness the power of positive association and affirmations. It will be easier with the aid of serotonin naturally produced in your body.

5. Smile

Try it now, smile! A smile is a direct feedback that you are relaxed, but a tensed smile is a grimace. Smile while doing an activity – it is simple and effective because you have no need to be happy to smile, but can reap the benefits. The worst that can happen is you feel better for smiling!

Garry Jones is the author of A Life Without Fear and is a transformational coach, martial arts master and international speaker. Through his unique experiences in the worlds of corporate and small business, martial arts, physical health, mental health, and spiritual development he creates alchemical change in his clients.