When your mind is stuck on a topic, repeating phrases or thoughts, over and over again, you might be experiencing racing thoughts.

These thoughts might be about something that has occurred or might occur—past or future. They are rarely, if ever, about the present moment. Often they are self deprecating.

Racing thoughts might sound like this:

“How could you forget to do that. You shouldn’t have done that. There was really no excuse to forget. Now what is going to happen? Will I be in trouble?….What about this…. This might happen… You are so … You’ll never get that right…. ”

Racing thoughts “drain your energy, stop you from living in the present moment, create a loop in your brain that feels difficult to escape.” It becomes hard to concentrate and accomplish daily tasks. Memory can be impaired and sleep difficulties arise. Racing thoughts can be disturbing and frightening because it feels like you are out of control.(Psychology Today)

Racing thoughts are the result of an overactive mind. There is no single cause for them and they can occur at any time. They are a stream of thoughts that come on one subject or many. They can completely take over your mind.

Many of us experience these types of thought loops at night, when trying to fall asleep. It can feel like there is a symphony starting as soon as your head hits the pillow.

For others, these occur on waking or when we make an apparent “mistake.”

As you go through your day, stop and notice if you have episodes of racing thoughts.

During the practice of yoga and meditation, we learn to become the observer of our thoughts. Just the act of noticing the thoughts removes their power.

Using this principle, here are 5 ways to calm your mind when it feels out of control:

1. Ask these powerful questions:

What topics are in my racing thoughts right now? I am replaying something that happened at work.

What is actually happening right now? It is time for sleep.

Talk to the topic from a place of compassion and without emotion:

“I see that you are worried about what happened at work today. Let’s take some deep breaths.”

“It is interesting that you feel that you are not good enough. Let’s take a walk and focus on the breath.”

You are noticing the thoughts and deciding not to become further agitated by them. You are giving them space, but also deciding to focus on your breath instead.

2. Find the truth. You can ask my favorite question: What is the truth of situation? For me, many of my racing thoughts are false. When I can see that, the power of those thoughts is lost.

3. Decide to give the thoughts time to run. Set a timer for 5 minutes. When that timer rings, decide to focus on the breath. You can say: “Ok mind, I am giving you 5 minutes to run wild. And then I will focus on my breath.”

4. Give your thoughts space to run by writing them down. This is very powerful because you are getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. In my coaching program, my clients use a “brain dump” as a way to help themselves fall asleep. They free write whatever is on their mind before sleep. This works!

5. Lastly, use your counting breath to refocus the mind and find peace. Watch this short meditation, to learn how to use this breath. (Hint: this technique is how I fall asleep almost nightly and how I get out of an anxious mind.)

Remember, when we hold onto our racing thoughts they can destroy our peace and create a new and terrifying story we could believe. (All based on potential untruths.)

If you are having trouble getting racing thoughts under control, it is a great idea to talk to a therapist or trained professional. This doesn’t make you weak, it makes you strong.

You have the power to choose a new path and no longer allow racing thoughts to steal your peace. Life is far too short to lose even one minute believing the lies of the mind.

You matter. Your life matters. It is time to live the life that you were designed to live.

So much love,

Rachel

P.S. Let me know what you think of these techniques and if you are going to try them. I love to hear from you. It is truly my honor to be in your inbox.