Are you someone who overthinks, constantly worries or feels like their brain doesn’t shut off?
Do you want to know how to stop worrying? If the answer is yes! I want to share a simple trick that may help you but first I need to explain what is happening when you’re in that state.
When you’re thinking the same thoughts repeatedly your brain is stuck in what we call a thought loop. It’s like playing a record and the needle gets stuck, you keep hearing the same thing over and over again on a loop (since records have made a comeback I don’t feel so old using that analogy now).
Unfortunately, we can’t stop that record just by thinking and hoping that it will stop. We must physically walk over and take the needle off the record to stop the loop. It’s the same thing when we’re stuck in a thought loop, we can’t think our way out of it, or hope it will stop soon, we have to take action.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could just stop worrying instantly?
We think that we should just be able to think our way out of everything but that’s not true because if it was, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with. We could simply say “Okay, I’m going to stop overthinking and worrying now” and the thoughts would stop just like that and we’d carry on our day as if everything was fabulous.
That sounds amazing but that’s not how our brains work. The truth is the more you think, the stronger those thoughts get until you feel yourself spinning out of control. You can try and push those thoughts aside but the more you resist them the stronger they get. Remember that record on a loop? We need to physically do something to stop it and the same goes for your brain.
Here’s what you need to do!
As soon as you recognize that you are in a thought loop, take out some paper and a pen and start writing. Write down everything that you’re thinking, when you think it, write it. Let the thought flow from your brain straight to your pen. The thoughts may be completely irrational, or totally illogical, but it doesn’t matter just write it down. Write, write and keep on writing until there’s nothing left, until your thoughts lose all their momentum.
In that moment, you will realize that you have stopped the loop. You have taken the needle off the record. You can breathe.
If you look at what you’ve written you will probably see the ego mind at work. Your notes will be peppered with “I”, “ME” or “MY” words which show you that you’ve just battled the ego mind and won.
The ego mind is self-destructive and dangerous, it’s what leads us down the rabbit-hole of self doubt, fear and anxiety, and we’ve never been taught that we can separate ourselves from it when we need too. The thing about the ego mind is that it likes to stay in the dark, it likes to be the voice in your head and when its in a negative state it gets loud and it gets nasty. It tends to win every fight.
When you battle with it inside your head you will rarely win!
Shine a light on it and it’s a different story. Writing it down puts you on an even field, because the ego loses steam quite quickly in the light, and the more you practice the easier it gets.
Eventually, you’ll be able to recognize when you’re in a thought loop quite quickly and can separate from the ego mind without having to write it down every time. Everything takes practice so keep writing everything down and don’t give up or allow you’re ego mind to talk you about of it. It can be clever like that!
You can watch the video here 🙂
