Mindfulness Practice For Recurrent Looping Thoughts

We all get stuck in habitual, unproductive thought loops, endlessly churning over past events or future worries. Join me in this somatic-based practice to get off the wheel of repetitive thinking and back again to the present moment by attending to your body. This is a practice of fierce compassion by not letting your thoughts hijack your present moment experience.

Transcript

Thanks for joining me today.

We will be focusing on a somatic practice for getting off the wheel of recurrent looping thoughts.

I learned this practice on a retreat from Wes Nisker.

Let's begin.

We all get stuck in habitual thought loops,

Going around and around with the same thoughts and often charged emotions.

Right now,

Pick one persistent thought loop to work with in our practice today.

Notice and name the thought loop.

Is it worry about health or replaying an argument with your partner or frustration with global issues?

What happens in your body as you are circling in this loop?

You may notice tight muscles,

Shallow breathing,

A stomach ache,

Or a host of other sensations.

It helps me to notice the negative impact of being in my particular loop as I can then identify how it is not serving me.

Next,

Notice the thoughts in your habitual loop and immediately shift your attention to any body sensation.

It can be a comfortable or uncomfortable sensation,

But it needs to be a present moment sensation such as feeling your feet in your shoes,

The hunger in your stomach,

Or your back against your chair.

You'll notice that your mind shifts again to the persistent thought loop.

This is normal.

The practice,

Though,

Is that each time your mind goes to that loop,

Notice it and immediately shift your attention back to a present moment body sensation.

Do this again and again.

What you are doing is essentially not indulging in this thought loop,

And over time,

You will shrink the neural pathways of this loop by not giving it attention and energy.

This is a practice of fierce compassion for yourself.

You are not allowing yourself to be hijacked by the thoughts of others.

And you fiercely and kindly bring yourself back to the present moment through a body sensation again and again.

Let's keep practicing.

Every time you notice that you're in a loop,

The same one or perhaps a different yet familiar one,

Return your attention immediately back to a body sensation.

This practice requires a lot of repetition,

But it will eventually help you decrease the time that you spend in your non-productive thought loops.

Know that you are offering yourself deep kindness as you reshape your thought pathways.

And come back again and again to your body,

Which is always in present time.

Take deep care,

And thanks for practicing with me today.

Reviews

So glad that I ran across you today. I found this exercise extremely helpful and grounding. I’ll return to it often so that, with time, I’ll have a new neural pathway leading directly from repetitive anxious thoughts to the soothing feelings I am experiencing *NOW* in my body. ❤️🕯️

Fabulous meditation technique. Also appreciated the scientific explanation of how this works by weakening the neural pathway. Thank you Bhanu!

This simple yet powerful meditation really helped me in shifting my mind from that unimportant feeling that was making me so stiff to present where I am relaxed and peaceful.
Thank you so much 💕💕

A very practical method to reduce your involvement in looping thoughts! Will do daily until I have this practice ingrained in my thought life! Thank you!

I loved this quiet and focused practice on how to return to presence and interrupt the loop of recurring thoughts. The meditation both promoted acceptance of the thoughts as they come and connection with body as a means to be present. All of this was freeing. I also really appreciated the emphasis on compassion and that our thought habits won't change overnight. It's a really helpful perspective for managing through the process of letting go. Thank you. 🙏🏾

Finally! The HOW! Thank you for providing me with a useful tip to get out of that thought loop. I’m exhausted.

This is a lovely practice and one that I think will really help me with my thought loops. I’m glad I found this talk. Thank you. 😊🕊️🦋🌼🌞🥰🌈🌻✨🙏🌹♥️

Thank you for this helpful practice. I’ve been trapped in thought loops for decades now.. 😭

I find this really helpful. Thank you Bhanu Joy. I think I’ll practise it a lot.

Wonderful meditation! Kind and amazingly effective. Thank you, Bhanu! ❤️

🙏🏼 Thank you Bhanu!
A technic easily put to practice.
✨💞💫