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How to Stop Overthinking

According to Eckhart Tolle, the biggest Addiction is not smoking or consumption of alcohol but it's OVERTHINKING. Yes when our mind is out of control & doesn't take the necessary instructions, the most valuable faculty of our body acts haphazardly leading to great discomfort.

When we don't live at the present or lose our conscious to some random thought which at first give the presence of glitz & glamour only to deceive our eyes to believe in it without examining the reality, we or just say our mind start building a basic thought that leads to the next thought & then to another one, simply like this it creates a chain of thoughts & mind play this game really well when its desperate to attract attention, it takes the help of bodily realisation, for example, an acute pain in the stomach or hand just to make ourselves realise that something is not right which makes us anxious. 

Thoughts are like magnet & out of control mind is the one that triggers all those thoughts which result in Overanalysis & calls for desperate measures to deal with such situations. 

When we start thinking negatively  & over time make it a habit of always putting the bad in front of us given something is approaching then we develop this tendency to overthink with limited the information which forces us to believe in things which don't exist but we over-process the little information & give it a different shape that doesn't resonate with reality.

The first thing to get rid of such a habit is un identifying ourselves from the past thoughts that we used to think & stop consuming information which triggers negativity in our mind. That is the first & MOST IMPORTANT Step to beat Overthinking.

For example, imagine your hands or legs just like our mind they are an integral part of our body.  We don't need to tie our hands or legs as we have trained them to remain under control, they take action when some instruction is received to perform a task, similarly, Control over our mind is something we needin order to prevent the explosion of thousands of thoughts that drive us to take irrelevant actions. 

If we start understanding ourselves with something that is not a part of who we are as a person, it could be another thought or object that generates the imaginary presence of being ideal but in the actual world, it is only there to deceive others. Such happenings when takes place we are bound to go downhill & create more miserable conditions to ourselves to face.

  Feeding our mind with images & visuals that leads to the generation of multiple thoughts & confusing ourselves to whether our beliefs are worthy or not is the primary reason when over-thinking kicks in so always careful what you feed your mind.

When you live in an isolated space where there is little talk you have & spend most of the time practising exercise to strengthen your focus, especially when you encounter such changes drastically like you spent most of your time in cities living an urban lifestyle but suddenly find yourself in a village or forested area, there it is certain that you will be having some breakthrough moments where you discover your true identity.  We will discuss this further in Self Understanding topic.


Now, remember one of the basic problems we face to live in the present is having our body at one place & mind somewhere else, if you are a student then you might have heard this question many times from teacher "Where is your mind" or "Where's your focus".

It's not a secret but still, we underestimate the impact of this habit, when we let such a thing happen to us there we lose the option for living with consciousness, our subconscious state allows many thoughts to come inside which then causes anxiety. Ask this to yourself Why to face such anxiety when we can avoid by living in our conscious state.

Let's show this by an example, You are in the classroom & the teacher is teaching you. He is speaking & you listening to everything he says, in this situation, your mind is filled with those words your teacher is saying without too many thougths generation that prevents you from paying attention & so you draw a picture in your mind with help of those sentences or words you hear - this is called living in the present or being conscious but if  the class is going for an hour & you are still trying your best to listen then you could start having the thoughts of how long it will take to get things over - here your mind starts wondering around & potentially this is the scenario where you will be having a series of thoughts all targeted to stop concentrating in the present.

Practising MINDFULNESS is a great way to achieve such levels of concentration where you gain control over your thoughts & can decide what to keep & what to let go to maintain calmness within you.

The distance between your body & mind is enough to generate the possibility of a number of over analysing cases which also includes panic & anger situations due to a misunderstanding which is again one of the outcomes of thinking too much.

Now let us discuss
some ways through you can overcome all the overthinking:


1. Enhance Self Understanding 


If we could move to the initial part of this article when there is mention of observing a breakthrough moment. This is a part of discovering your values which defines you as a human being, the things which make you unique & removes the influence of the artificial or materialistic world.

A Reliable way to understand yourself better is through SWOT technique for growth & meditation for personal development which is discussed below.


2. Use meditation

Meditation helps in Strengthening your mind which enables you to control your thoughts. It's not just because meditation is highly regarded as best for health but more so because it lets your mind remain within your reach. You can relate it to practising Mindfulness which is synonymous to Meditation.


3. Forcing your mind to engage


Your mind will remain stagnant until it faces a challenge where the activities demand attention. This happens when you learn something new, the unknown scenario makes up mind wake up & engage so that it can keep you safe. When you realise that the overthinking is really troubling then it is recommended that you learn something new or simply travel to a new place.


4. Separate yourself from the thoughts


Your thoughts must not make the person you are instead let yourself decide what you want to think hence the instructions you provide, the mind must be able to follow it. Be aware that mind should tell the story that you want it to tell instead telling its own stories, once you achieve it there will be a drastic reduction of any mental anxiety which leads other disorders.

5. Be Conscious 


With more engagement (pt. 2 & 3) the mind will work in the present which is the state of consciousness. Being present mentally opens up many opportunities for growth & mental satisfaction. Making decisions, handling responsibilities, taking right actions - all demand consciousness.


6. Redirecting your thoughts


When you have this habit of negative thinking,  it is difficult to stop them from arising but one thing you can do is divert them by thinking how can you change it,  over time when you keep practising the redirecting strategy then after a while you will find it easy to think positively & prevent unwanted chattering of mind.

The requirement for this is your inner willingness to achieve a healthy state of mind. A stronger mental state will not only help you remain calm but also brings confidence & enhance self-motivation.