How to stop overthinking

???Many of you might be going through the problem of overthinking. We live in fast paced world of instant gratification run by dopamine rushed social media. It’s easier to assume that others are living a far better life than you’re just by looking at their social media posts and stories. I’m not here to debate about reel life vs real life, although it’s a good topic to discuss. Let’s keep it aside for a moment.

????Nick Trenton, Author of Stop overthinking, says that one should reduce anxiety in order to stop overthinking. He says human consciousness can’t do more than one thing at a time. You can either think or feel the sensory emotions. He has talked about several methods to reduce anxiety. One of the most effective is 5-4-3-2-1

??In this method, we engage our five senses. 5 stands for looking at five different things in your surroundings. It will engage your eyes. Then you should hear 4 different sounds, thus engaging sense of hearing. 3 stands for touching 3 different things. 2 for detecting two different smells and 1 for identifying one taste. This method is effective because it engages all of your sensory organs one by one, thus forcing you to be in present moment, and not think. Because you can do only one thing; either think or feel the sensory emotions.

?? Another method mentioned in the book was counter belief experiment. The author says, “Behind every overthinking episode, there’s a debilitating belief.” First thing you should do is clarify that belief. It may be about your own self, or about someone or it may be about future that makes you anxious. Just clarify and define what your existing belief is. For example, your existing belief might be, “I’m not good at presentations.” And it makes you anxious every time you think about it. You should counter this belief by saying, “I’m good at giving presentations.” Although it will be almost impossible for you to convince yourself of it, just imagine only for a minute that this counter belief is true. Then look for the pieces of evidence that supports your counter belief. It may be words of appreciation from your teacher or friends. Just try to validate your counter belief with pieces of evidence.

?????Author Nick Trenton also talks about worry postponement. If you’re worried now, set an alarm for worrying. It can be few hours later. Once you set up an alarm for worrying in future, stop thinking about it till the alarm rings. By the time alarm rings you would forget as to why you were worried few hours ago. It can be a great technique to calm your anxious mind.

????Overthinking can be very damaging in the long run. Since childhood you’re told to focus, but no one taught you how to do it. The TEDx talk of Dandapani, a Hindu monk and spiritual Guru, talks about a glowing bowl of awareness that you or anyone else can control. Imagine watching a two-hour long movie, the director has your awareness for the entire time (Considering (s)he directed it well enough). You laugh, cry, feel angry at certain moments in the movie. It’s kind of controlling your awareness. Try to remember the last time you attended a function. It may be a wedding or a birthday party or a housewarming party. Remember the kind of dress you were wearing. What was the color of that dress? What was there to eat? What kind of lighting was there? Who else was there with you? What did you talk about? If you've done it religiously, you might have pictured yourself there. That’s the power of controlling awareness.

????Many of our problems can be solved in simple ways. We just need to be aware of them.