How To Stop Overthinking

In this teaching, Geoff Bell-Devaney talks about the importance of recognizing when we are getting drawn into thoughts and gives specific advice about how we can use those moments to find deeper inner peace.

Transcript

If you're experiencing a lot of persistent thoughts,

Give this a try.

Keep your awareness as much as you can throughout the day,

Gently and deeply in your body.

Just feel your whole body.

This is why Buddhism teaches us that the body is a profound anchor.

And by anchor,

They mean if we're not anchored to something in reality,

In the present moment,

Like the breath or the body,

Then we can easily be swept back to sleep,

Back into the ego,

Into the mind.

And we can see this with thoughts.

If we're paying attention,

When a thought arises,

Which we don't have control over,

That thought as it arises can easily pull us into thinking.

Consider that a thought is a noun.

We can't control the noun,

But we can control the degree that we engage in the verb of thinking.

And the more we practice being mindful and being aware of the mind,

We can start to see how this is true.

When a thought arises,

It wants to draw us into thinking.

It wants to draw us into story.

It wants to draw us into the past and the future,

Which often just stirs up a whole bunch of old pain and keeps us small.

And it's in using our anchors.

It's in staying grounded intentionally,

Courageously,

And gently in our bodies that we can not only let go of so much of this unnecessary thinking,

But we can start to wake up.

We can start to wake up to all the peace and power that can only be found in the present moment.

Reviews

That was a great reminder- thank you Groff- and I trust that you are well. Have a wonderful 2026!

💗