Have you ever felt like you were “too in your head?” You over-worry, overthink, create extra – perhaps unnecessary – problems and issues for yourself, all because you were trapped by your thoughts and couldn’t get out of your head? This is very common for those of us with anxiety, which affects many of us with addictions, depression and other mental and emotional health challenges.
Our thinking minds tend to be overactive. They also have a tendency to focus on things we might wish they wouldn’t, such as our worries, fears, and other negative-feeling thoughts. One solution is to take our focus away from the busyness and tumultuousness of our minds and redirect it to our bodies. Yoga, breathing exercises, walking meditation and any form of physical exercise are all helpful with this. Our goal is not necessarily to remove thoughts or to stop them altogether, but to slow them down and find stillness within ourselves. When we let ourselves dwell on the frantic thoughts in our mind, we compound their intensity and cause ourselves more anxiety and emotional distress. The more we can direct our focus to our physical bodies, our movement and our breathing, the more our minds can find calmness.
Here is a suggestion for a writing exercise you can try to empty your mind of its noise and clutter. Take a piece of paper, a notebook or journal, your phone or computer and give yourself a set amount of time (however much time you want) – you can also set an alarm if you’d like – and then write down everything that’s on your mind until you feel like you’ve gotten it all out. This isn’t necessarily about solving our problems, although solutions might come to you as you write. It’s more about releasing all of the pent-up energy we’ve been storing in our minds, much of which is often negative. It’s about giving yourself the time and space to just let it out. Whether or not you journal regularly, writing can be very comforting and can feel therapeutic. You might notice a huge decrease in the amount of tension, frustration, nervousness and restlessness you feel. Chances are you’ll feel much less anxious, and it can be comforting to remind yourself whenever recurring thoughts pop up, that you’ve already written them down, you can let them go for now.
Follow your intuition for other things you can try to help yourself still your mind, calm your anxiety and feel more at peace.
We include holistic healing in our treatment programs at Vista Taos. We can help you find the healing tools that work for you. Call (575) 586-5078
