The mind sure can play tricks.

Sometimes that clever mind of yours concocts an elaborate story with alarmingly descriptive details. It is so vivid that you couldn’t imagine it any other way. To disagree with yourself would be ludicrous.

For a long time, I thought the brain didn’t know the difference between what is imagined and what is real. But then last week I discovered this claim is bullshit. How exactly then does the brain tell the difference between what is true and what is pure fantasy?

The brain processes information differently when we use our senses rather than when we generate stuff in our heads. For example, sharks cancel their self-generated electrical signals so they can detect the electrical field around them. You cancel self-generated noise too — it’s why you can’t tickle yourself!

I’ve tried loads of things to help cancel this self-generated noise. Hands down the most effective method for me is surfing. Like the waves in a set, your thoughts come in a similar way. You can let one pass. You can hop on one and quickly jump off. You can ride another all the way to shore. Whichever way, there’s always another wave.

Since I can’t be paddling in the sea all the time (or can I?), I’ve come up with these to help me when I’m caught in a vicious mental loop. I hope they might help you too:

Analyze

We sometimes forget that we are not our thoughts. You can disagree, ignore, accept, twist, exaggerate, massage, and a myriad of more things to your thoughts

Writing is my way of getting clear on what I think. Sometimes, it feels like I’m a C.I.A interrogator torturing my thought in order to reveal the truth. It’s this thinking about thinking (or meta-cognition) that can help you reframe things. (I was going to call this one ‘Reframe’ but I needed an A to make up the three A’s.)

Cognitive reframing can be practiced on your own, with a therapist, or a coach. Just think of it like changing the filter on your camera to see things a bit differently. Byron Katie’s judge your neighbor worksheet is one great way to do this.

Avoid

This one is a tad untraditional. As someone who has a bend towards an avoidant attachment style, I realize I’m drinking my own Kool-Aid.

That said, I still think there is a benefit of parking the ‘thought’ and returning to it later. So it’s temporarily avoiding it until you can come back to it in a better state of mind, with more compassion for yourself, and oodles of healthy self-talk.

Just watch your mood change by pressing pause on that thought and returning to it when your heart brain and gut-brain are in a different place.

Act

It’s often, “Easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting.”

Wake up and slip on those running shoes. With the wintry breeze slapping your face you might remark to yourself, ‘Why on earth did I think this was a good idea?” By then it will be too late and you’ll be thanking your past self for thinking of your current one.

Whether a running ritual or another practice you may have, simply notice how old thoughts dissipate while new ones emerge.

Our frame of mind deeply affects our emotions, choices, and behavior. By analyzing, avoiding, and acting (all in good measure) — we can be flexible in our thinking. And when we tactfully navigate waves of thought — a foul mood might cease and a chirpy one last.

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