Can't Stop Over Thinking

[rush]

Hey guys,

Despite meditating using the do nothing technique, my thoughts always seem to spiral and create the worst possible scenarios out of situations. I am aware and conscious of these thoughts but they never seem to go away even when I watch them, they resurface later on in the day. Is there anything else that can be done apart from meditating to help this ?

 

[Prabhaker]

22 minutes ago, rush said:

Despite meditating using the do nothing technique

You can just walk, that is easier. You can just dance, that is even easier. And after you have been doing other things that are easier, then you can sit. Sitting in a buddha posture is the last thing to do really; it should never be done in the beginning. Only after you have begun to feel identified totally with movement can you begin to feel totally identified with nonmovement. 

If you begin with sitting, you will feel much disturbance inside. The more you try to just sit, the more disturbance will be felt; you will become aware only of your insane mind and nothing else. It will create depression, you will feel frustrated.

[Azrael]

10 hours ago, rush said:

Is there anything else that can be done apart from meditating to help this ?

Why do you want your thoughts to go away? What is so bad about having compulsive thoughts, being confused, not being able to think straight and feeling fucked up? I would say that's just fine. I would even suggest that you'll feel that maybe for at least a few years on the journey very consistently when all your shit starts to purge out of you. So you better begin to enjoy it now. Ask yourself: What is wrong with feeling that way? Then go deeper and deeper. And who is feeling bad, here? Find me the one, and I shall give him peace.

[Leo Gura]

@rush You haven't been at it long enough. Be more patient.

Try meditating every day for at least a couple years to start to see some progress on overthinking.

And even then, you're really just scratching the surface of what it takes to tame the monkey mind.

Right now it's like you're trying to stop the Titanic with a BB gun.

[The White Belt]

@Leo Gura Dude, I love your analogies 

[ArabiaNytes]

I, too, have this INCESSANT bother with over-thinking. These past couple of weeks up until tonight has been another long episode of this reoccurring problem. Clearly, I have unresolved issues. Perhaps you do, too? I find that voicing them out to a willing listener helps expell them from within my imprisoned mind, freeing myself from the burden of these heavy thoughts. You can't let go of your thoughts because you are restless. Understanding where these thoughts come from and realizing some resolution, even a temporary one, is a great way to help shut your mind up a little. Somehow, some way, you will need to do something along with continuing your self-work/meditation. You can't wait for years to stop the intense monkey-chatter. Toning it down is necessary asap. 

Best ?

[Callum Milner]

@rush study all videos Leo has on emotional mastery, and read some books on it, you can't control what thoughts appear you can control the emotions that come from thoughts.

[Nature]

 

I reminded of this lovely response given by osho to the question "How to stop thinking?". 

[Kyle007]

Trying to stop thinking to avoid negative thoughts will only cause you to have more negative thoughts. Just let your thoughts be there in your space of awareness, paying attention to your breathing will help you become aware.  Don't judge or be scared of your thoughts because they are not real . What is real however is the space of awareness behind every single thought.

[Loreena]

Try transcendental meditation.

[WaveInTheOcean]

Do 2 different kind of meditations each day.

Do-nothing for purging and letting your mind go wild (= tough but worthwile time spent).

And then some form of focused meditation (TM or focusing on breath or focusing on your body (sleep yoga etc), or even just running... Running is to me equvialant to meditation where you focus on your breath (since you also tend to do that when you run and put pressure on yourself), except running is also healthy for the body too.
 

So in the 1st mentioned meditation you show the mind who's in the driving seat, so to speak;)
In the 2nd mentioned meditation you allow the mind to be stimulated- but here the stimulation is the simplest and purest form of stimulation, cos you're still all alone with yourself.

Edited January 25, 2017 by WaveInTheOcean

[Bob84]

@rush dont try to suppres or ignore them. Just give them less value and meaning. (Suppressing is giving them super importance)

[PureExp]

@rush You asked it 2 months ago, but since it has somehow resurfaced, I will add my 2c too.

Basically I agree with guys above who advise to not to suppress them or use any kind of force or distraction. It backfires and buries the latent programs that are producing those thoughts even deeper in the mind.

Kidneys produce urine, heart pumps blood, stomach digests food and brain produces thoughts. That's all !

Its a part of our own self, a small part, not the whole of it. There must be something that is triggering those thoughts, try to find what is it. Is it some insecurity? Someone insulted you? Someone betrayed? Some relation issues? Some anger or fear? Find the cause and dwell on it for a while. Forgive, let go and decide not to give it too much importance. The thoughts will burn out on their own.

There is no end to it. Your mind will pick up some other matter to fill the silence with compulsive thinking. Rinse and repeat. But the permanent solution is age-old method, time tested and guaranteed one,  which is - Oh I forgot I charge $1000 for it.

Just kidding . The solution is to become aware. Be intensely aware of mental landscape 24x7. Like a scientist intensely and curiously watching data coming out of his experiment with full attention and interest. And trying to analyze it, whats causing it? What does it mean? Just observe, let is all come and go. When its all over, back to washing the bowl.