Overthinking is a problem for many of us, living as we do in environments with constant external stimulation.

This constant thinking can lead to chronic mental stress and anxiety, which in-turn effects the quality of our lives, and which can over time lead to ill-health, both mental and physical.

So how can meditation methods help?

 

Meditation and Overthinking

The goal of meditation is not to stop thinking, rather during our meditation practice we learn to break our addiction to it.

Ironically, it is often only when people try to learn meditation that they find out just how busy their minds are.

One important distinction to make is the difference between thoughts and thinking. Thoughts naturally appear in our mind, and thinking is the process where we engage with those thoughts, creating an internal mental dialogue.

There are two common meditation traditions: Hindu Yoga and Buddhist.

In yoga, there is a preliminary stage to meditation called concentration. Here concentration methods, such as gently gazing at a external object, are designed to quieten the mind down to the point where there are few if any thoughts. Once this is achieved, the meditation practice can begin.

In Buddhist meditation, thoughts and thinking are viewed as internal distractions from the object of our meditation. They are simply noticed and let go of without judgement, so we can return to our meditation object. They are treated the same way as an external distraction, such as a barking dog or a nearby car door closing.

 

Natural thought processes

For simplicity, we can view our mind’s as having two aspects, the conscious and the unconscious.

It’s the overthinking in our conscious minds that we are plagued by, and that is what we want to manage. Our unconscious mind is very, very active, every second of every day, keeping us alive. And we do not generally want to control or manage this aspect of our mind.

Thoughts naturally percolate up from our unconscious mind into our conscious mind on a constant basis. Some of these are very helpful, like a reminder of what groceries to buy. Whilst many are just random noise, which often make up a significant part of the habit of overthinking.

 

Best meditation method to manage overthinking

Earlier I mentioned the two main meditation methods of yoga and Buddhism, are their different approaches to thought management. So, which of these two approaches are the most effective?

Let’s consider the advantages and disadvantages of employing both methods to manage overthinking.

1. Yoga meditation

As mentioned, yoga employs a preliminary stage called ‘concentration’ to calm down thoughts. With a little practice, these methods can be very effective.

The disadvantage is that as mentioned in the above section on our natural thought processes, the unconscious mind is continually feeding thoughts into our conscious awareness. Which leads to the risk of using concentration techniques to suppress our natural mental activity, which in-turn creates a rather stiff and inflexible mental state.  You can sometimes see this expressed as a unnatural fixed stare in the people who do this practice too much.

The other big disadvantage is that people can falsely believe that to be successful at meditation means they have to stop thoughts and thinking. Since this is almost impossible to do, it can lead many people to feel as if they have failed, and that they can never learn meditation.

 

2. Buddhist meditation

In contrast, this approach doesn’t try to stop thoughts or thinking, rather it weans us off our addiction to mentally run after them all the time.

The disadvantage of this approach is that however long and diligently we practice meditation, there is always the possibility of thoughts appearing, together with their subsequent thinking activity. However, when we realise stopping them was never the goal of meditation, then they just become a part of our mental landscape.

The advantage of this way of managing thoughts and thinking, is that it does not try to suppress our natural mental processes. Our mind stays open and flexible, and we just accept them as they are.

The other advantage is that we cannot feel as if we have failed at our meditation. We’re not trying to stop thoughts and thinking in the first place.

Plus, we get to experience that we are not our thoughts, we are the being who is aware of them! They simply arise, stay for a time, and pass away in our conscious awareness.

 

In summary

I hope the above clarifies how over thinking can be managed through meditation, and which approach I have found through personal experience to be the most effective.

Learn more about my online Meditation Course.

Why not treat yourself to a beginner-friendly meditation retreat in the beautiful Devon countryside?

Best Wishes,

David.

© D. R. Durham, All rights reserved, 2024.