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If you want to stop overthinking everything then, you need to stop 'thinking' about your thinking! Sounds strange, I know! But, if you haven’t noticed already, the more we try to stop our overthinking, the worse it gets! So, what’s the solution? How can you put a stop to all of this overthinking so you can finally calm your mind and experience authentic inner calmness and tranquility? Well, be sure to stay tuned to this episode of Overcome Depression + Thrive, because I’m going to be revealing 3 proven steps you can use right away, to stop overthinking! Press play now to listen to the Podcast Episode or watch the video below. Podcast: Play in new window | Download https://youtu.be/aIrDI2kV38k The 3 Proven Steps To Stop Overthinking, That Actually Work! (QUICK LIST)STEP 1: Stop Thinking About Your Thinking!STEP 2: Separate Thoughts From Thinking!STEP 3: Calm Your Breathing To Instantly Calm Your Mind! READ TRANSCRIPT BELOW: Hi, and welcome back! As always it’s great to have you here. I’m your host Marie O’Neil, Author of How To Create A Depression-Free Life and the creator of OvercomeDepressionAndThrive.com: Your passport to a depression-free future! Now, just ask yourself... What’s the first thing you normally do when you want to stop overthinking? Have you ever noticed? Well, if you’re like the vast majority of us, you try to take control of the thoughts or clamp down on your mind, in an attempt to overpower the constant thoughts and force them to stop. But, have you ever just stopped and asked yourself how you’re attempting to stop all those annoying thoughts? It’s with more thoughts, right? So, we already have a chaotic mind going on and then, we start thinking: “I must stop my mind from overthinking” - “I must stop my mind from chattering” - “I shouldn’t be thinking like this!” - “I should be thinking like hat instead!” - “Arrrghh these thoughts are soooo negative, I must stop thinking this way!” “If only, I could just STOP all this worrying, then I wouldn’t have to worry so much!” It’s crazy, right?! It’s really easy to see how we can find ourselves in such a bind or in complete mental anguish or suffering in the likes of, depression or anxiety when we try to stop our overthinking by using this typical method of generating more thoughts, to overpower other thoughts. So, what’s the solution? How can we stop all this overthinking? How can we "switch off" all those incessant thoughts within the mind and just simply relax? How can we free ourselves from all this mental anguish and chaos that occurs when we start overthinking... and then, overthinking about our overthinking… Well, the answer lies in discovering the 3 proven steps to stop overthinking, which I’m going to be revealing to you today. These steps allow you to easily and very quickly calm your mind and experience authentic inner calmness and tranquility even if, you don’t think its possible for you! Sound good? Well, let’s get started! So, if you haven’t already guessed... STEP 1: Stop Thinking About Your Thinking! Stop adding more thoughts into the mix. Seriously, creating more thoughts will NEVER stop overthinking, it’ll only worsen it! So, the very first step is to simply stop trying to fight or rebel against any thoughts or overthinking that’s happening. And, we do that by following Step #2 which is... STEP 2: Separate Thoughts From Thinking! Here’s what I mean… So, we have thoughts that 'pop up' in our mind throughout the day. These can be random thoughts about anything. There’s positive thoughts, negative thoughts, hateful thoughts, loving thoughts, thoughts about death, thoughts about life. Thoughts about anything and everything are going to 'pop up' within your mind. That’s absolutely guaranteed! There’s nothing we can do about it because it’s the very nature of our mind. But, I just want you to imagine for a moment… You’re walking along the street and you see a poisonous pill on the pavement. And, you know it’s a poisonous pill because it’s got a great big label on it which says "poisonous!" Now, even though that pill has the potential to harm you, if you simply walk around it and leave it alone, you’ll be fine, right? It’s not until you take the action of picking up that pill and ingesting it does that pill now have the ability to cause you great harm or even death. Makes sense, right? Same goes with thoughts. They’re just like that poisonous pill. If you simply leave them alone, move around them and focus on other things, you’ll remain unaffected by them. You see, troubles like overthinking, anxiety or constant mental anguish don't start until we decide to take action and move towards specific thoughts. As in, we start thinking and interacting with those thoughts. And, as a result they begin to directly affect our mental, emotional and physical well-being. Either, in a positive, negative or neutral way depending upon the quality of the thoughts we’re interacting with. So, we have 'thoughts' and we have the “action” of 'thinking'. They are two very different things. Random thoughts, we cannot control but we CAN control which thoughts we think about or interact with. So, if you want to stop thinking about certain thoughts, you simply need to “cut the connection.” Stop “thinking” about them. Stop "interacting" with them. It really is that simple. Now, some may say... "But, I can’t stop my thinking!" "I’ve tried anything and everything and I cannot stop my chaotic mind." Well, I used to believe that too, once upon a time. But, here’s the deal… If you begin to see your overthinking mind as a wild, untamed bull which is bucking you all over the show! You’re being thrown from pillar to post and you seem to have no say in the matter, no control over what's happening to you. It’s totally scary because it seems only the bull has the ultimate power in this situation… But, we all know the wildest bull CAN be tamed with skill, determination and patience and that’s all we need to do with our chaotic mind. We simply need to strap ourselves into the saddle, take hold of those reins and tame it! And, how do you tame the chaotic mind? Well, the answer lies in step #3, which is... STEP 3: Calm Your Breathing To Instantly Calm Your Mind! Did you know, it’s absolutely impossible to have a chaotic mind and calm, deep breathing at the very same time. It’s physically impossible. It’s true! I mean, just start observing yourself. Start becoming aware of your breathing when you’re feeling tense, anxious, depressed or overwhelmed and you’ll soon see, that in these states your breathing pattern is shallow, it’s erratic or both. This is because the mind and breath always go together. If the mind is disturbed or agitated, our breathing is also agitated. If the mind is calm, our breathing is calm. And, vice versa. So, why don’t we use this fact to our advantage?! Let’s not worry about stopping our thoughts by a direct approach! Let’s not concentrate on calming the mind! Let’s instead, focus on calming our breathing which in turn, will naturally and very rapidly calm our mind. Remember, the breath and the mind go together, they’re intimately linked. What happens to one, directly affects the other. So, to completely calm your mind and free yourself from all those incessant thoughts stop, stopping your thoughts and instead do this: Simply make yourself comfortable, close your eyes and take SEVEN long deep breaths. You want to feel the breath reach deep down into your abdomen, so you can feel the abdomen and all the chest cavity expand. You want to completely fill your lungs…As you breathe in; hold the breath briefly. Just for a second and then, as you breathe out; release the breath calmly and slowly. Do your best to completely empty out all the air from your lungs. Then, breathe in and fill your entire abdomen once again.After completing this cycle of seven long, deep ‘clearing’ breaths, simply allow your body to just take over the natural breathing process.Just allow your breath to start flowing naturally without any interference, as you gently turn all of your attention inwards and become completely aware of the natural rhythm of your breath. Simply watch (observe) your breathing. Allow the mind to simply follow the breath in and out…Try to feel the sensation of the incoming and outgoing breath flow past the inner lining of your nostrils. Begin to see and feel your breath as the only thing that exists in this world. Nothing else matters to you in this moment. Just follow each breath and its movement in and out. Keep your focus entirely on the rhythm of your breathing.And, if you want to elevate this technique a little more then, as you breathe in; feel as though you’re breathing in peacefulness and tranquility. And, as you breathe out; feel as though you’re breathing out all of your tensions, worries and concerns. Whenever your mind begins to wander (and it will), don’t worry. Simply tell yourself; “It’s okay! This is natural.” And, just gently bring your focus back to your breathing. Be ‘with’ your breathing as long as you like. Place all of your awareness on your breath and simply allow each and every breath to refresh your mind, body and spirit. And, once you feel calm, rested and rejuvenated, gently open your eyes and continue your day feeling more refreshed and relaxed. Now, the great thing about this technique is not only is it really simple so anyone can do it but, your breath is with you every single moment, of every single day, so you can complete this technique anytime you like to instantly calm your mind. So, do give it a go so you can see and feel the positive benefits for yourself. Now, I would like to take a moment to emphasise that to begin with, distracting thoughts WILL rise within the mind when you start doing this technique. And, that’s okay, it’s natural, don’t struggle with them or try and push them away. Just allow them to pass through your mind, as if they are clouds floating across the sky. Just, visualise the thoughts simply floating THROUGH the mind. Yes, you are aware of them but you are not becoming entangled in them, you are not interacting with them. So, just allow them free passage ‘THROUGH’ your mind without any interference or any judgements and over time you will discover something really magical. You will experience the fact, that YOU are NOT your thoughts. That’s right! Those thoughts that 'yabber away' in your mind, may 'pass through’ you, but they are NOT a part of you! They are NOT a part of who you are, as a person. And, once you grasp this absolute fact of life, then no thought will ever hold power over you, ever again! And, you will finally be the master of your mind, instead of it constantly mastering you! So, there you have it! The 3 Proven Steps To Instantly Stop Overthinking. STEP #1: Stop Thinking About Your Thinking. Stop adding more unnecessary thoughts into the mix because it will just worsen your mental distress and your mental anguish! STEP #2: Separate Thoughts From Thinking. Because, they are two very different things. What thoughts 'pop up' in the mind we have absolutely no control over! But, we do have complete control over which thoughts we think about because 'thinking' is an action and just like any action, we are in charge of whether we do it or not. STEP #3: Calm Your Breathing To Instantly Calm Your Mind. Thanks for joining me in another episode of Overcome Depression + Thrive. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, I would love to know in the comments section below, what your biggest takeaway was. Don’t forget to subscribe and hit the bell icon so we stay connected and if you have any questions you’d like answered on this show, or you would like access to additional free resources to help you overcome depression, or your would like help with implementing any of these steps we’ve discussed today - then be sure to visit overcomedepressionandthrive.com and you’ll discover everything you need there. Thanks again for joining me and until next week, always remember to ask yourself.... Are you directing your mind or is your mind directing you! Because, even though we cannot control which random thoughts 'pop up' in our mind, we CAN control which thoughts we interact with. Take care, talk to you soon, bye for now. ;-)