To think or not to think

[Cyanatta]

"So this has showed me that the mind/thought is not stable. Now, from what I have gathered the alternative is to be aware of the thought, while trying not to identify with it, or label it, catching the monkey mind and returning to a state of no thought. One of main concerns about this (aside from the level of awareness and dedication it takes to actual skillfully practice this) is that I feel like by not trying to think my way out of a thought pattern I am somehow avoiding it and suppressing issues and not dealing with them. I feel like this may be another method of the ego trying to grasp on to overthinking and identifying with thoughts."


I have trouble with racing thoughts and overthinking as well and for the past year or so now I've been trying exercises in mindfulness whenever I feel like I'm over-analyzing reoccurring thoughts or get overanxious and dwell on them too much. I know a lot of mindfulness techniques have you think of your stream of thoughts like an actual flowing stream or river, and to envision/observe your thoughts like objects floating by (or like clouds floating by in the sky) - either way, the idea is that your brain is always active and generating thoughts, and instead of trying to "dam up the river" just to gather one thought, you acknowledge the continuous flowing river for what it is and observe/integrate thoughts as they come to you. Some thoughts/feelings can obviously have more weight than others and may be too difficult to fully acknowledge in one sitting, but you can always just come back to them later whenever you wish and chew through them at your own pace.

Doing mindfulness helps me if I practice it enough regularly, but I'm still right there with you as far as overthinking and over-analyzing goes. I've been told on multiple occasions by counselors/therapists that my go-to method for overthinking was exactly the same thing you described - I would cling tightly to a thought(s) and wouldn't stop thinking about it, racing it through my head repeatedly again and again in order not to forget or avoid it, and what was brought to my attention was how I was placing an excessive amount of focus on thoughts of the future/past and not being "mindful" (present awareness) of the feeling attached to the thought. Basically, for me it was too much processing going on upstairs (the brain) and not enough below (the heart). I was trying to "think away the thinking" and would get stuck in endless loops, when really I was just avoiding my emotions/feelings. Someone once told me to think of working through racing thoughts like solving a Chinese finger trap - you can take the instinctive/quick approach and keep pulling your fingers (thoughts) harder and harder to get them "out" and trap yourself by repeating the same action, or you can also take a moment, relax, and mindfully approach the situation by changing your direction/focus and move "inward" to find the release.