Me personally? I tackle this stuff with thought defusion, but not all the time.
Our brain likes to be busy, and negative thoughts become habitual, so if the brain isn't occupied? Negative thoughts start playing on repeat. Distracting your mind with neutral things or engaging things is actually a pretty healthy way of managing it.
The problem is that if distraction is the only technique in the toolbox, it can become unhealthy in itself, it just plain old avoidance. It is reasonable to set aside some time to confront the negative thoughts head on. Where are they coming from? What triggers them (usually emotions, including boredom)? Are there more functional alternatives? That's stuff I work on mainly in therapy.
So when I get home? Absolutely I turn to distracting activities. Healthy management and coping strategy that one, so don't toss it out completely.
But thought defusion is a technique that I've added to my toolbox as a sometime alternative to distraction, for times like when you're doing your yoga and the negative thoughts interfere.
It's a mindfulness technique (which takes practice), where you recognise "I'm having the thought that...". Instead of "I'm worthless", you tell yourself "Okay, I'm now having the thought that I'm worthless". Recognising it that way takes a lot of the emotional power out of the thought. It's no longer an absolute truth that I'm bashing myself with, I'm recognising it as nothing more than just a habitual thought that I'm having, yet again. And I gently tell my brain, "Thanks for working overtime Brain, but actually I don't need to play that thought on repeat". Then you refocus to, say, the yoga you were trying to do.
The brain will persist. It likes to be busy. But with practice, it does start to ease up, and allow you to stay more focused on the here and now without the constant interruption.
If that strategy doesn't work for you, another way some people approach thought defusion is to start singing the thoughts in their head. So the constant thought of "I'm worthless", you might sing it to the tune of, say, the Happy Birthday song in your head. It's achieving the same outcome - instead of being an emotionally charged absolute "I am worthless", your head is singing happily to you "I am worthless, lah di dah, here's the worthless thoughts, lah lah lah..."
Different techniques. Thought defusion - helped me immensely. But don't abandon the distraction activities either. Knowing what will distract your head (easy kids games apps for me!) can be a lifesaver when the old brain just won't shut up!
