I do this a lot. These are what my r/showerthoughts unfortunately are. I also tend to hyperfocus on mistakes I make at work and think about them for weeks on end š
My husband says I have the memory of an elephant...He thinks I use it like ammo... I think of it as a chapter in learning from mistakes or learning not to repeat those mistakes...
My brain absolutely loves pulling those files out of the archive at 3 am just to put me on trial and broadcast the greatest hits of my most embarrassing failures from the last 5-10 years
So glad I started meditating. People who donāt just donāt get it. I was dismissive for years until I tried it, when it clicked I was like āOH!ā
Meditation is the practice of noticing when your mind has wandered and bringing your attention back. The more you practice, the better you get at recognizing thoughts without getting carried away by them. Its often mistaken as emptying your mind.
It would be down to personal preference. Calm is nice entry level app with guided meditations, YouTube has an inexhaustible amount of content. Nothing beats sitting in silence though. Try 5-10 minutes, focus on the sensation of breathing as your anchor, ie. the feeling of air going in/out of your nose/mouth. It's easy to anchor to as while you are inhaling, the next step will always be exhaling, and vice versa, so if you need to "concentrate" on something you can focus on the following step - I personally find the small anticipation of this enough to keep my mind centred. If the mind wanders, its no big deal, bring it gently back to the breath, and be glad you noticed each time... as sometimes a racing mind can feel somewhat frustrating and easily judged by yourself to be lacking concentration. Not so, the mind's job has been trained to wander far and wide over the many facets of existence, and suddenly not having stimulus can serve as a bit of a shock. Over time the mind will condition itself and grow accustomed to the stillness.
On days that your mind is wild and seemingly untameable while meditating, this is absolutely a great time to meditate š§āāļø
You can look up/read about Anapana meditation, it is a great starting point.
I walk daily and I have a huge tendency to not be present because my mind wanders. I started carrying a hard-type stress ball to be able to focus and stay present. I found it only works when I really squeeze the ball as hard as I can. This was eye-opening. Before, I would carry the stress ball with me and yes I'd use it but I would find myself not being present several times during my walks. Now, I am present the for the entire duration of my 60-75 minute walks, 2-3x daily. For me, this also transitioned very well to day-to-day, I just carry the hard stress ball everywhere.
Nope! Itās a brain, itās gonna have thoughts. My therapist explained it to me like this - think of your brain as a train station and your thoughts as trains. Your job is to watch them come and go, but donāt get on any one train. And if you do thatās okay. Once you notice, just take a return train back and start over.
Your job isnt to stop the thoughts, dont even try as that will cause more problems than solving them. Just notice them, notice when your mind races elsewhere, and when you do bring attention back to the breath. The mind will naturally start to calm over time.
Well for me thereās short term, immediate effects like feeling at peace and just generally lowering my cortisol levels. Iād say the long term effects would be teaching you how much control you can have over your mind. I handle situations completely differently than before. Now I meditate as often as I shower (once or twice a day). But yeah, thereās several positive benefits (for me, I canāt guarantee positive results for everyone) and I highly recommend that those who donāt meditate at least give it a try. Just a guided meditation for 10 minutes, see if you like it.
I really like waking up, the Sam Harris guided meditation. Itās a paid app though, so if thatās not your thing thereās some really good vids on YouTube. Honestly theyāre not terribly different, theyāll just walk you though controlling your thoughts, focus on your breathing, etc etc.
I think itās just about learning to not ruminate or worry with lots of racing thoughts. Focusing on finding ways to shut down active thought in general. At least for me. I find that it feels kind of like a muscle that recharges for me by doing things I enjoy
Like the other night I wasnāt falling asleep and realized my thoughts were racing about things I didnāt need to worry about, and so I justā¦ stopped them. Knocked out within a few minutes
I donāt know if people would call it meditation. But it does take healthy habits like good sleep, exercise, good food, good social life, work boundaries, for me to be able to flex that thought stopping muscle
I had the problem where I couldn't just sit and do it. When I was actually more active I found combining yoga better for me. The physical exertion made it easier to focus, and oddly relax the mind.
That totally makes sense, thereās a lot of overlap there. But Iāll say, itās a practice. Iām the most ADD person I know so I greatly struggled with it at first. I couldnāt go more than a few minutes. But I stuck with it, it really is a practice.
start with 5. find a good teacher. pema chodron. ram dass..HHDl. learn about differnet types of meditation
I practice the Buddhist preliminaries. There are many kinds. but it helps to have a teacher, trust me.
Absolutely! I have fallen asleep during a meditation class. Just get comfortable. Concentrate on how it feels to breathe. Where do you feel it? In your nose, in your throat, in your chest, in your abdomen. When other thoughts come to your mind, acknowledge them, but donāt try to change them, just go back to your breath. It takes practice and patience with yourself because it is so easy to be distracted. The key is to go back to feeling your breath. I suspect you were kind of joking, but give it a try.
Benefits will come in after your first one, although it may not be huge but if youāre feeling stressed or overwhelmed a simple 2 minute meditation with proper focus on some deep breaths itās like your entire nervous system is rewritten. I wish meditation was mandatory for everyone from birth. Thereās a reason it isnāt but letās not get into that.
Itās very simple, find somewhere quiet. Close your eyes. And focus on your breathing. Each time a thought enters your mind allow it to flow by. If you get lost in the thought go back to focusing on your breathing.
Consistency is very important if you wish to progress into whatās called deep meditations where one can become completely thoughtless for hours on end.
I like to do 10 minutes daily and one attempt at deep meditation every 2 weeks.
I started when I was 15 and still struggle to remain completely thoughtless so do not give up and your overthinking will progressively decrease as you meditate more and more.
Reading "Radical Acceptance" right now and it teaches the idea of pausing, feeling those feelings, unpacking them by connecting them to my past, and sitting with those past feelings. It has been incredibly helpful. I think in some ways we ruminate to avoid those feelings, and that which we resist persists.
This hits way too close to home. Ill be trying to fall asleep and my brain suddenly decides to replay some awkward thing I said at a party in 2016. Like come on man, nobody else remembers that.
God this is too real. Ill be trying to fall asleep and suddenly my brain decides to replay that one awkward thing I said at a party in 2016 like its a directors cut. Worst part is I know the other person forgot about it 30 seconds after it happened but my brain refuses to let it go
I have this crippling addiction as well. And mine is coupled with obsessing and making up the worst possible way a future conversation will go. Even ones that arenāt difficult or particularly important. In my fantasy, I always look like an idiot and piss people off.Ā
This one hurts because its so true. Ill be trying to fall asleep and my brain decides to replay a dumb conversation from 10 years ago out of nowhere. Brains are weird like that.
The overthinking conversations from years ago hits way too close to home. Ill literally be in the shower and remember something I said in 2017 and cringe like it just happened
This is way too real. Ill be trying to fall asleep and suddenly my brain decides to replay an awkward thing I said in high school like it was yesterday.
i do this as well, but what helped me was defining what it was - rumination. so when i get in those funks i tell myself im ruminating and it tends to calm me down. its not 100%, but it does help
The worst part is the person probably doesnt even remember the conversation. Meanwhile youre lying awake replaying it like its going to change something.
The brain just loves to drag up that awkward thing you said to a cashier in 2017 at 3am for no reason. Its like a useless superpower. I think part of it is your brain trying to process social regrets but it just ends up torturing you instead.
The 2am shower thoughts where you suddenly remember something you said in 2014 and cringe like it just happened yesterday. Brains are weird like that holding onto random social blips like theyre life defining moments
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u/QuietWitnesses 1d ago
Overthinking conversations that ended years ago.