It's A Process To End Continuously Thinking

Do you ever feel yourself analyzing the simplest of situations or continuously thinking about the same thought?

Rethinking situations, interactions or reactions can be normal, however, consistently doing so can also be harmful to your mental health as it can intensify emotions and impair your ability to process them. As we reintegrate ourselves back into social settings, you may find yourself assessing your connections and interactions with others. Are feelings of fear, anxiety, or worry arising when you think about reaching out to your friends to initiate a hang out? You may be overthinking their response or interaction.

Here are three ways it may present for you:

• Stomach discomfort I am feeling so anxious from repetitive thoughts of my inner critique that I am experiencing physical symptoms

• Difficulty sleeping or staying asleep I have trouble sleeping because it feels like my brain won't shut off.

• Negative thoughts of self or others I spend a lot of time thinking about the hidden meaning in things people say or events that happen.

Here are three ways you can combat it:

Deep breathing/mindfulness/meditation

Deep breathing allows you to slow down your heartbeat, stabilize your blood pressure and lower your overall stress. Mindfulness practices can help you to enhance your ability to normalize your emotions and decrease your stress. Both techniques will help you focus your attention on your thoughts from a non judgemental view. The following approach can combat difficulty sleeping as you will clear your mind allowing you to relax and therefore wont be preoccupied causing sleep difficulty.

Exercise/stretching

Exercise and stretching are physical movements that have the ability to reduce anxiety and negative mood and improve your cognitive function. The following approach can combat stomach discomfort cause by anxiety. (Insert tips for self-compassion please)

Reading/writing journalism blog

Reading can be a nice distraction and bring you to a calming place. It can help with keeping your mind active on the story verses your worries and help improve communication. Writing and journaling allows your thoughts to materialize on paper can be helpful for you to prioritize your feelings, emotions and concerns. (Insert journaling link here please)

The process to end continuously thinking about the same thoughts can be a task, try these tips to help with that journey. And remind to be kind to yourself while you do this work.