🌿 Welcome Back to The Reset Room

Last week, many of you took on the one-week No Negativity Challenge — noticing thoughts you’d normally miss and realizing just how quickly your mind fills in the blanks.

This week, we’re building on that awareness.

Because here’s the truth:
​Thoughts don’t just pass through us.
They repeat.
And repetition quietly becomes pattern.

🧠 A Story From the Therapy Room

I once worked with a client who kept saying,

As we slowed things down, we noticed something interesting.

Before a conversation even started, her brain was already predicting:
• They’re going to misunderstand me​
• I’ll probably say the wrong thing​
• This won’t end well anyway

Nothing had happened yet — but her body was already tense, guarded, and defensive with these scripts running in the background.

And then… the interaction played out exactly as expected.

Not because the outcome was inevitable —
but because the brain loves efficiency.

🔁 How the Brain Turns Thoughts Into Patterns (Plain Language)

Your brain’s job is to protect you and save energy.

When a thought repeats often enough, your brain:
✔ Builds a shortcut
✔ Treats it like a “rule”
✔ Stops questioning it
✔ Runs it automatically

This is why thoughts like:

• “People always let me down”
• “I’m too much”
• “This will turn into conflict”

start to feel like facts, not thoughts.

They become patterns that shape:
• How you interpret tone
• How quickly you react
• What you say — or don’t say
• How safe or unsafe relationships feel

🌱 This Week’s RESET: Interrupt the Pattern Early

You don’t need to eliminate thoughts.
You need to notice them before they take over.

That’s where mindfulness comes in — not as meditation perfection, but as pattern interruption.

🧘‍♀️ A Simple Mindfulness Script (Save This)

Try this once a day or before a difficult interaction:

That pause — even 10 seconds — creates space for a different outcome.

📓 The Power of a Thought Journal (Keep It Simple)

You don’t need pages and pages.
You just need patterns on paper.

Try this 3-line daily format:

1️⃣ What happened?
2️⃣ What thought showed up automatically?
3️⃣ What might also be true?

Over time, you’ll start seeing the same thoughts appear — and that awareness is where change begins.

📱 Helpful Tools You Can Try

If pen and paper isn’t your thing, here are a few gentle, user-friendly options:

Apps:

• MindShift CBT – great for catching anxious thought loops
• CBT-i Coach – helpful for thought tracking and reframing
• Day One – simple journaling with reminders
• Insight Timer – short mindfulness practices (no pressure)

Journal Prompts You Can Reuse:

• What thought did I default to today?
• Where have I seen this thought before?
• Did this thought help or protect me — or just repeat itself?
• What would I say to someone else having this thought?

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Coparenting RESET: Old Scripts Create New Conflict

In coparenting, repeated thoughts often sound like:

• “Here we go again.”
• “They’re doing this on purpose.”
• “This always turns into an argument.”

When those thoughts go unchallenged, they become the script — and the script drives the interaction.

This week’s reset:

Even neutral communication feels different when you’re not reacting from an old pattern.

🌉 A Bridge Forward…

Next week, we’re talking about why your nervous system gets involved before your logic does — and how to calm it so you don’t keep repeating cycles you’re trying to outgrow.

If this week helped you notice patterns…
next week helps you regulate them.

🫵🏼Challenge: Pick one of the tools above whether it be regular pen and paper or one of the apps suggested and begin paying attention to those sneaky negative thought patterns you tell yourself.

💛
Reset gently.
Interrupt early.
And remember — awareness is not failure. It’s progress.

✅Hit Reply and tell me which method you will use to track your thought patterns.