- Compassionately identify the unproductive pattern.
- Focus on breathing through your nose to shift out of your mind and into your body.
- Kindly tell yourself, Overthinking won’t help resolve the problem. It only frustrates me.
- Focus only on the Now rather than making up scary stories about the future.
- Accept what you do have the power to change rather than dwelling on situations beyond your control.
- Gently put your hand over your heart and visualize an uplifting image that relaxes you.
- Keep repeating, All is well. With time, this issue will be solved. Or simply “Om,” which in Sanskrit means “I am peaceful.”
- Listening to serene music transports you out of your mind and into your heart. It’s impossible to “think” the experience of music. You must feel it.
- An antidote for overthinking is to revel in the wonder of nature: a sunset, a dusky dawn, a sliver of moon . . .whatever touches you.
Once you shift out of your intellect and ego, loving forces can offer extra help. With an open heart, you may become willing to consider: Perhaps there’s a better choice that I’m unaware of. Perhaps I can change my attitude or behavior to heal a relationship.
Adapted from The Genius of Empathy by Judith Orloff, MD (Sounds True, 2024)