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This article was originally submitted by Romasa Mustafa
The thought is data flowing continuously on the screen of the brain, as Yasemin Saplakoglu in her article, ‘Can we ever stop thinking?’ puts it.
The endless spiral of thought is a product of chemical firing between neurons. Showing vivid memories, ideas, and emotions formed from experiences of the past, what is happening in present and predictions of the future.
Thoughts manifest in two forms; one is that we are aware of them which mostly occurs when we do something intentionally. While most of them run in the background without us being aware of it, to put this simply: take the example of your phone running some apps in the background. You may not know about them, however, they start draining your phone charge.
Thoughts are very important for daily functioning; they are the programs which run our brains to make decisions, express feelings, make new discoveries and what not?
But there is another side to this story… No matter how much thoughts make our life optimistic, there are always some nagging pessimistic thoughts; waiting to hunt us down in the darkest hours of life like a pebble thrown in the serene ocean causing ripples. A feeling of discomfort arises; engaging us in the spiral of thoughts, and we travel down the stairway; into a loop of thoughts.
And our brain keeps playing the unwanted movie again and again. The irony is that it happens subconsciously and people are not aware of it; they are dragged into the maze of thoughts and end up hurt, depressed, and anxious.
Though it is hard to get out of this easily, there are some steps to end this nightmare.
Awareness is the key to the lock. The first step to stop this spiral of thoughts is to ‘know it when you have it.’ Whenever it feels that the thoughts create an overwhelming situation, be consciously aware of the Ferris wheel ride.
The second step is to stop the ride that makes your head spin. It helps to break the chain of thoughts. By pausing for a moment, it doesn’t mean thoughts just stop. It is like a pause, temporarily moving the attention span.
Investigation or careful observation is the third step. Doing so will eventually lead to the root cause of this puzzling network. It can be any desire or fear, though it is a very difficult process it will let you know what happens in the brain during this process and will make you more aware and in charge of your thoughts.
Also, Read 10 Things People With Anxiety Will Understand!
These steps although seem difficult to take are very helpful to break the spiral of thoughts. Through practice and mindful observation, the suffering a single thought generates can be minimized.
So whenever it feels that you are about to experience a spiral of thoughts, it is time to make some mindful efforts to end the painful ride ahead.