What to do with a racing mind
I was having one of those weeks… Spending so much time in my head. Thinking about what happened yesterday and planning ahead what I was going to do tomorrow. It reminded me of the beginning of my career. My mind was always racing, I was always thinking about what happened at the office that day, or planning ahead for the next. And the worst thing, I thought I was the only one who did that! It made me feel exhausted and alone.
Sounds familiar?
Now I know that this is in fact a natural tendency of the brain. Our brain is always evaluating what happened or planning what is next. And on top of that, our brain has a built-in “negativity bias” that makes us suffer in various ways. It creates a general unpleasant background of anxiety, which can be quite intense for some people. The negativity bias also intensifies unpleasant emotions, like anger, sorrow, depression, and shame. The mind keeps rendering unfair judgments about our character and conduct. The weight of these judgments can be quite exhausting.
What can you do to get a handle on this?
Some initial steps to increase awareness include:
Slow down and pause. If you realize that your mind is racing, practice taking a pause and take a few deep breaths.
Ask yourself: “Is it useful what my brain is telling me right now?”
Try to be gentle with yourself. Rather than trying to push away the thoughts with force or being annoyed with yourself, try to simply acknowledge the thoughts and then let them go.
Show compassion to yourself. Be gentle, talk to yourself just as you would to a friend
Other methods to notice and create space within your thoughts:
Write them down. Writing down your negative thoughts helps to get them out of your head and create distance.
Reframe negative thoughts. Develop a mantra to call up when a negative thinking loop is running in your head.
Distract yourself. Look out of the window, take a walk, make a cup of tea. Sometimes the best thing to do to get out of your head is to do something else to distract yourself.
Do the 3 good things exercise. Write down 3 good things that happened that day. A good time to do this is just before you go to bed, so you have a positive focus when falling asleep.
Start a mindfulness practice. Try to start meditating on a regular basis, even for 5-10 minutes a day. It will help to train your brain to stay in the present moment, and to notice what you are experiencing without attaching labels to it.
When you start building your awareness, try to be patient with yourself. Every change in behavior is a process. You may compare it to taking up running for the first time. You wouldn’t be able to immediately run a 5K. You would use a training schedule to support yourself to get to the 5K. It is the same thing with training the mind.
Make a plan to set yourself up for success. Have a mantra ready. Make sure to have a journal next to your bed for the 3 good things exercise. If one of the above suggestions doesn’t work, try another and be gentle with yourself. Try writing in your journal about your experience.
What works for you? Reach out and let me know!
