Meditation to Reduce Overthinking
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment" - Buddha
I am sure you will love this short meditation that helps to reduce overthinking. Overthinking or worrying is something that all of us do, and sometimes we deserve to give our minds a rest and feel grounded by taking time to do a short meditation.
This meditation practice helps you to realise that when we still our minds, thoughts will often pop up regularly. This is normal and happens to all of us. If you can try to do this meditation often, you should find that you have longer periods of your mind being still without those thoughts popping up. You can do this meditation for a few minutes to begin and increase the length of time as you wish.
Find a comfortable spot and sit upright if you can with your back straight. You can close your eyes or gaze softly at a fixed point in the room. Start to focus on your breathing. Focus on your inhalations and your exhalations, focus on where you feel your breath the most, is it your belly, your chest, or your nostrils? As you focus on your breath, you will notice that thoughts will start popping up in your mind. This may be a memory, a plan, a to do list, or you may hear a noise outside or within the room that distracts your focus. This is natural, expected and ok. When this occurs, in your mind say the word ‘thought’ to yourself and return your focus back to your breathing. Keep doing this any time a thought comes up and always return your focus back to your breath. Your breath is your constant anchor that will ground you in this present moment.
Imagine your thoughts are like bubbles, acknowledge the thought, then pop the bubble as it arises. When you return your attention back to your breath, you are removing any attention or energy to your thoughts by not focusing on them. When your mind starts to elaborate on a thought, you give that thought energy. Too much thinking burns a lot of energy and can make you tired, this is when you can start to lose focus of the present moment.
Living in the present moment is a peaceful place to be, where we are not reminiscing about our past or projecting into our future. This meditation helps you to stay aware of the present and helps train your brain to keep a busy mind calm. Enjoy ♡