Ruminating thoughts: how to stop that mental loop of suffering?

As much as you want to stop them and distract yourself with something else, they are there. Your mind chews on the same worries over and over again, like chewing gum stretched out. and it goes back into the mouth without knowing very well why. Ruminating on thoughts is almost the same, ideas that come and go, that increase anxiety, that insist on us with their negativity.

Why do we do it? Why do we feed this loop of excessive rumination? There are experts who point out that it is a compulsive thought that the mind cannot stop. It is something addictive for the brain, which, when we do not obtain a resolution to our problems, returns to asking ourselves the same concerns and the same fears in an endless cycle.

On the other hand, there is a problem that we must consider about these situations. People who fall into states of constant rumination show a very high rate of depression symptoms (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2000). Likewise, this same author explains to us, in her already famous book Women who think too much, It is important to distinguish worry from rumination.

While the former focuses more on the future, ruminative thinking feeds on the past. It is turning over what has already been done, what has already been said, the mistake made, what has been lost and left behind… Rumination feeds on the past and regurgitates it over and over again to chew it again..

Ruminating thoughts: how can we stop it?

It doesn’t matter that the day went well. All you have to do is stop for a moment and your mind will begin to ruminate once again. As always, like every morning from the moment you get up until you go to bed. Rumination is a form of perseverative cognition that focuses on everything negative that has happened to us or that we think will happen.

As we have pointed out, it focuses above all on the past, but it is also common that, at times, we tend to anticipate terrifying scenarios, to fear that what happened yesterday will happen again tomorrow. If we review the existing literature regarding the research carried out on this topicwe found an evident relationship with mood disorders (depression, anxiety).

Now, there is an interesting fact that was revealed to us by research conducted at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Ruminating thoughts is related to somatic symptoms, that is, we can experience headaches, muscle pain, exhaustion… In other words, thinking excessively and negatively generates physical pain. It is undoubtedly a striking fact that is worth keeping in mind.

What can we do in these cases? Is there any way to stop this unstoppable flow of persistent thought? Let’s look at some techniques.

Give presence to the enemy and let him enter to know him

There are many techniques to stop ruminating thoughts. However, many of them start from the idea of ​​”divert your attention, do other things, meditate, exercise.” This form of involuntary and repetitive cognition does not evaporate just like that.. Making efforts to stop thinking about her is useless. It’s like holding a helium balloon in your hands; As soon as we are careless, she will gain height again.

The key is not to avoid these thoughts, it is to give them presence to know what they want, understand them and deactivate them. To do this, it is appropriate to reflect on the following:

Don’t avoid the ideas that come to your mind, catch them, hunt them down and put them on paper to write them down.Analyze them and you will discover something: they are just thoughts, mental energy. They’re not going to hurt you. What’s more, many of them are completely irrational, meaningless fatalistic ideas.Ask yourself if those thoughts are useful to you. Is it worth giving them value? Does it help you to continue reinforcing those thoughts? If those ideas were to come true, what could you do? If you fear something, prepare for that “something” and you will feel calmer and safer.

To stop ruminating thoughts, heal your past and feel valuable in the current present.

It is very common to ruminate on thoughts that are linked to our recent or distant past. Mistakes made, opportunities missed, things we could have done differently… All of this is fuel for rumination. In order to put out that fire in our mind, we must take these aspects into account:

Your self-esteem and the vision you have of yourself cannot depend on what happened to you yesterday or the mistakes made. You are your present, you are the here and now and your potential is waiting for you to transform your reality at this very moment.Be nice to yourself. Forgive yourself, accept yourself unconditionally. You need yourself, so stop criticizing yourself and acting like your worst enemy. It is time to stop looking in the rearview mirror of the past and feeling anguish about a future that has not yet happened.

Rest your body and visualize your mind as if it were a river

We know that mind and body have a close relationship. So, Another strategy, added to the previous ones, also involves addressing the health and well-being factor..

As the study from Wright State University in Dayton indicated, ruminating on thoughts increases the feeling of exhaustion and physical pain. It is important then not to neglect the body and take care of that link with the mind. In this case, it is recommended that we establish adequate rest times in which we limit ourselves to just being and being.

When we find ourselves immersed in that restorative physical rest, it is very likely that intrusive thoughts will continue to assail us. If this happens, let’s visualize our mind as if it were a river, flowing water that comes and goes, a torrent that refreshes but where nothing is permanent.

Our thoughts are part of that environment: ideas as they come disappear; It is the natural movement of the mind. We, meanwhile, remain calm, in balance.

Let’s try to work on these points and make the mind our best and most powerful ally.

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