Overthinking

I think that overthinking is a major problem in our lives 😉 It really affects how we function in the world. It can stop us from doing things that are beneficial to us, when we believe we cannot do those for one reason or the other. It can lead us to do things that are detrimental, when we believe we are always correct, and when we fully trust that our beliefs are “the right ones”. Yet, most of us do not even notice when we are overthinking.

Those who try meditation quickly notice this phenomenon though. It is really a cliché, but every meditation teacher will talk on and on about our busy monkey minds. In meditation, we all encounter the onslaught of thoughts, both pleasant and unpleasant, and must deal with them all if we are to experience something besides this virtual world in our heads. Our encounter with this seemingly unstoppable thought process happening all the time often stops us from meditation or other mindfulness practice. It is just simply not pleasant at all to be constantly distracted or even disturbed by the content of our thoughts!

Still, having thoughts is not a problem, but their potential negative influence on our lives is. We can use various tools and methods to work with some of these negative beliefs and unpleasant thoughts that might lead us to unwise actions. I have previously written about some of them; for example, The WORK and the RAIN meditation are both excellent in addressing our painful thoughts and emotions. I found these tools to be especially valuable when working with my own thoughts about societal expectations, internalized diet culture norms, and body image – but they can be applied to question a wide range of beliefs that perhaps no longer serve us.

The most important step of this process is noticing that thinking is happening. This is not so easy to do when we are busy running from one task to another. However, if we take a short pause, sit, or lie down to relax the body, and then open ourselves to receive any sensation that happens, we will very quickly discover that the mind produces thoughts just like the heart pumps the blood. It really is an ongoing process – and it is a crucial one for our survival of course! We need our brains to analyse, plan, worry, remember, and create.

There is no better way to take that pause and become aware of thinking than in meditation. It’s a simple practice, that as mentioned earlier can be a bit difficult at first. The key is to start slowly with lots of kindness and compassion for our difficulties. We first become fully present by paying attention to the sensations in the body, the breath, or the sounds (our chosen anchor). Then, when we get distracted by a thought, we gently notice it and return to our anchor. If we notice any repeated thoughts or patterns, we make a note of it without analysing or trying to resolve anything. You can try this out by following the instruction in the video below.

Once we are a bit more familiar on how to notice thinking and return to the present through body sensations, we may be ready to progress towards working with specific beliefs or thoughts with other tools such as the WORK and RAIN. These links will take you to the recordings of these methods on my YouTube channel, and I hope you will find these helpful.

If you wish to get a bit more one-on-on support on your mindfulness or intuitive living journey, my calendar is open for appointments again and you can schedule your free 30-min discovery call right here.