The mind hijacks the body to severe detriment

😰 DON’T FIGHT IT, CHANNEL IT: Taking yourself off the path of worry & rumination about every dire possibility & back to calm

The official definition of the term rumination, according to the psychology professor who pioneered the field of study, goes like this.

Compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions.

Let’s examine each component in the theory, as there is much to unpack.

First, compulsively focused attention.

Meaning, we disappear into our own minds and feel unable to shut off thoughts about our condition.

Secondly, symptoms of one’s distress.

And so, not the actual source of our suffering, not the underlying fears and associated traumas attached to them, just the symptoms.

Next, possible causes and consequences.

As if we have a magic eight ball to tell us why things happen in this life, and what the fallout will be.

Fourth and finally, as opposed to solutions.

Meaning, not actually creating momentum and progress and hope for our lives, just stewing in our neurotic juices until our guts tie into knots.

Sound like an awful waste of time and energy, doesn’t it?

And to be fair, most human beings are guilty of falling down the rabbit hole of useless rumination at least some of the time. Cogitation is kind of our thing, species wise.

Thinking about our own experience is one of the tasks that separates us from rest of the animal kingdom. For better or for worse.

To quote another psychologist favorite of mine, our genes carry an evolutionary heritage that leaves us with ruminations and worries about what could have been in the past and about what is yet to come.

But we still have to be careful. Ruminating can carry us to live in the very place that causes us the most suffering. Often times without our conscious attention.

For example, have you ever gone to bed at your normal time, but then sat under the covers for the next hour rethinking things that were over and done with? And without even realizing you were doing it?

That’s how powerful the human mind is. It can hijack our bodies to severe detriment.

Next time that happens to you, try this. Don’t fight it, channel it. Instead of setting yourself on a path of worry and rumination about every dire possibilityho, get out of bed, grab a notebook or start a blank document on your computer, and start writing.

Whatever is keeping you up, simply dump every once of your negative thoughts onto a piece of paper. Do it until you run out of things to say.

Should take about twenty minutes.

After that, your mind will be clear and your body will take it as a signal that it’s time for sleep.

Always works for me.

Remember, anxiety comes not from our actions but from the ruminations we have about them. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you trapped in the purgatory of what no longer is and the dread of what might exist?