By Mary Gibson, LPC
Have you ever found yourself constantly thinking about a stressful event after it has happened? Do you find yourself thinking about a problem repeatedly until it exhausts you? You are likely dealing with rumination of thoughts.
Rumination occurs when you have intrusive and constant thoughts in your head about a stressful event or a problem you are facing. You may find yourself occupied with the “what ifs” about the situation and feel like you may be “going crazy” or “out of control”. Often, thought rumination can be described as racing thoughts, overthinking, and not be able to “shut off” your mind. It can be exhausting constantly having too much to worry about and it can start to interfere with daily functioning. This is usually when generalized anxiety comes into play, causing trouble with concentration, sleep disturbances, and feeling restless due to rumination of thoughts.
We tend to ruminate on thoughts automatically when we are “lost in thought, daydreaming, or reminiscing and are on autopilot instead of actively paying attention to what we are doing” (Rodriguez, 2021). Some types of rumination can be temporary, such as feeling worried about an upcoming project or reflecting on an important event from the past. These types of rumination do not last long and generally can be resolved without much cognitive challenging. Often, we find ourselves ruminating on thoughts that are unsolvable rather than ones we can control.
How do we ease rumination of thoughts? When we are ruminating on something, we are often on autopilot and are not aware that we are worried or obsessing about something. Mindfulness practices is a good way to focus yourself on the present moment to bring yourself out of your rumination and back to reality. “Mindfulness practice cultivates awareness of cognitive, emotional, and physical processes and enables people to experience these processes with a nonreactive attitude to help increase cognitive flexibility” (Querstret, Morison, et al. 2020). When we are practicing mindfulness, we are practicing being in the present moment and out of our heads that may be overrun with anxious thoughts.
Here are 4 mindfulness exercises to try.
1. Go for a walk. Listen and identify the sounds around you. Notice the warm sun on your skin or the way the breeze feels on you. Feel your feet touch the ground with every step and the way your arm swing back and forth. Notice yourself breathing in the fresh air. Keying into your five senses can help focus your attention on what is around you.
2. Listen to a podcast or music while doing mundane tasks. If you’re cleaning up after a meal, put on podcast or music to focus your attention to while doing so.
3. Pick a color and identify 5 things in the room with that color. This allows your brain to only focus on the task of identifying objects with that color rather than ruminating on thoughts.
4. Deep breathing. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Breathe in from your nose for 3 seconds, hold for 3 seconds, and slowly let out through your mouth for 5 seconds.
Ruminating on specific thoughts happens to everybody and often we do not notice it until it starts to really bother us. Ruminating about a specific thing does not mean something is wrong with you, it just means that it is worth trying to process your feelings on why you are ruminating on a thought and what steps you can take to ease your mind. Utilizing mindfulness can help you back to the present and put your mind at ease if you have actively tried to work through your thoughts but it is still bothersome. It is also a great way to unwind for the day and relax as you head off into the evening!
References
Rodríguez, G. S. (2021, May 19). Rumination: When your thoughts don't have an off button. The Psychology Group Fort Lauderdale. https://thepsychologygroup.com/ruminating- thoughts-and-anxiety/.
Querstret, D., Morison, L., Dickinson, S., Cropley, M., & John, M. (2020). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for psychological health and well-being in nonclinical samples: A systematic review and meta-analysis. InternationalJournal of Stress Management, 27(4), 394–411.