Many guys cope with the stubble, leaving wounds on the skin of the face every day ....
OBJECTS]
45. The second method of concentrating the mind, namely, without the use of objects, consists of three steps: instant expulsion of a thought at the very moment when it appears like a flash; leaving unfinished any thought that has arisen; bringing the mind to its natural state [absolute rest, not disturbed by thought processes (2).
(2) Briefly, the essence of these methods is to immediately block thought, allow thoughts to arise freely without limiting them, and bring the mind to a state of complete rest.
[STOPPING THOUGHT]
46. The eradication of thought at the very moment when it arises like a flash is carried out as follows.
While meditating in the manner described above, the meditator finds that thoughts continually arise because the mind reacts to stimuli. Knowing that even one thought should not be allowed to arise, one must exercise vigilant control and try to block this continuous arising of thoughts. And as soon as a thought arises, you need to uproot it entirely and continue to meditate.
47. When the meditator devotes a longer time to efforts to prevent the arising of thoughts, he finds that thoughts follow each other on the heels, and it seems to him that their number is infinite. This is the knowledge of the nature of thoughts, which is the recognition of the enemy (1). This is called the "first resting place". The first stage of calmness of mind is reached, and the yogi, with an equanimous mind, observes the uninterrupted stream of thoughts as if he were resting serenely on the bank of a river, watching its course (2).
The enemy of a long yogi is uncontrolled thoughts.
To convey the meaning of this phrase, I had to resort to a free extended translation of it. Literally, it could be translated as follows: "This is called the" place of the first rest, "like the bank of a river, past which water flows." In other words, if the yogi has acted successfully up to this point, he will be freed from the tyranny of the thought process and will be ready to perform even greater tasks awaiting him on the Path to Nirvana.
48. As soon as the mind comes to a calm state, even if only for a moment (3), it notices the arising and disappearing of thoughts. This will give the impression that there are more and more thoughts. But in fact, thoughts always arise, and there is no increase or decrease in them. Thoughts are born instantly. That which is aloof from the arising of thoughts and is able to immediately stop this arising is Reality (4).
Indian yogis define this shortest unit of time (which they can record) as the length of time between cutting the first and second of three hundred banana leaves stacked on top of each other and cut with a single blow of the sword.
Tib. pierce, what-nyid. Reality is not the human mind, which knows the continuous flow of thoughts. Reality is comprehended only in the True State, and the yogi, being in it, if he has merged with Reality, with this Noumenal Source, can prevent the emergence of thoughts, just as a person who knows how to use a switch can turn on and off the electric current.
[NON-RESPONDING TO THOUGHT]
49. At the next stage, which is leaving unformed any thought that has arisen, the method consists in an indifferent attitude towards it, allowing it to act independently, without falling under its influence and without making attempts to stop it (2). Let the mind behave like its shepherd [or watchman], and you continue to meditate. Then thoughts will cease to arise, and the mind will be in a passive calm state, focused on one thing.
This method is diametrically opposed to the method described in paragraphs 46-48. However, for one who has mastered the preparatory exercises of yoga, there is no discrepancy between them, since both methods are mainly a means of discipline of the mind, in a certain sense fulfilling the same role as Latin language for the student studying it. Through the first method, the yogi begins to realize that the formation of thoughts is as natural as breathing, and when the organism is biologically functioning normally and the mind is active, the latter is as difficult to calm down as any other process inherent in embodied existence. The second method, considered here, leads to the true goal, when the Knower, having reached the superconsciousness, observes from the sidelines and dispassionately the spontaneous flow of thoughts.
50. Again thoughts are going to rush like a meteor [rushing through the sky for one instant, but in an uninterrupted way] (3).
(3) In the original, khyur-khyur. An onomatopoeic word that means movement in relation to a meteor flying in the sky, an arrow cutting through the air, or a puff of smoke blown away by a light wind.
51. If you meditate as before, the state of peace will continue. This is called the "middle state of calm," likened [in its serenity] to the calm flow of a river.
52. Keeping the mind in this inactive state leads to the formation of sediment in the mind (1).
(1) Sediment is thoughts, as the following saying will make clear.
53. Expert in the Teachings (2) said:
If the mind is inactive, it becomes calm. When the water settles, it becomes clear.
(2) The text does not give the name of this sage. But it was Gampopa or Dzongkapa, who were the illustrious apostles of the White Dynasty Guru who transmitted, as stated in the homage formula, this treatise (see Book 1, introduction: the author of the book and his fellow student).
54. And the great teacher of yogis [Milarepa] instructed:
When the mind is in the original immutable
state, Knowledge is born.
When this state, which can be likened to the calm flow of a river, is maintained, the fullness of Knowledge is attained.
O yogi, stop directing and formulating thoughts,
Keep your mind calm all the time.
55. The great Saraha summarized in the following verses the essence of the teachings about this double method applied during meditation:
When the mind is bound [unrelaxed], it strives
wander in each of the ten directions.
When it is free, it is firm and immovable.
And I understand now that he is as stubborn as a camel.
[WAY TO RETURN THE MIND TO A NATURAL STATE]
56. The third way, which is bringing the mind to its natural state, consists of four steps.
[THE DEGREE SIMILAR TO THE SPINNING OF THE BRAHMIN CORD]
57. The first stage is to keep the mind in a balanced state with the same diligence with which the Brahmin thread (1) is spun, since it must be spun evenly. It should neither be too tight nor too loose. Likewise, when meditating, one should not strain the mind too much, otherwise thoughts will get out of control (2).
(1) The cord of a Brahmin, which a Brahmin wears as a sign of his caste, must, according to tradition, be spun by a virgin, and with the greatest care, for if it breaks while spinning, misfortune will follow. Saraha (see books 2 - INTRODUCTION: 1. On the origin of the teachings of the great symbol) was a brahmin by birth, which explains the appeal to this analogy.
(2) Thoughts must be under the control of the consciousness, which, like a shepherd, guards them.
58. If you relax too much, laziness arises. So one should meditate with the same energy.
59. At first, the meditator uses the method of instantly cutting off thoughts (3) and therefore strains. But when fatigue appears, one must relax, allowing thoughts to wander spontaneously (4).
(3) See No. 46.
(4) See No. 49.
60. This method of alternating tension and relaxation, used in our school, has now been considered. Tension and relaxation of the mind, which can be likened to increasing and decreasing the tension of the threads while spinning a Brahmin thread, is called "keeping the mind in a state similar to spinning a Brahmin thread."
[DEGREE SUITABLE TO DISCONNECTING THE STRAW HARNESS]
61. At the second stage, called "the separation of the mind from thoughts is like separating a straw bundle into parts by pulling out a part," necessary condition is to make an unwavering decision to remain vigilant, for previous attempts at blocking thoughts have created thoughts (1).
(1) The efforts hitherto made to keep thoughts from arising, to control them or not, inevitably lead to the formation of other thoughts. Now the goal is to achieve a higher level of peace of mind. It is necessary to stop the continuous thought process, just as a bundle of straw is divided into parts, in which each stalk of straw serves as an analogy for some separate thought, and the bundle symbolizes the continuity of the thought process.
62. The methods of blocking thoughts described above involved the ability to know, leading to the formation of new thoughts, and this made meditation difficult (2).
(2) The Yogi must now realize (and be reminded of this) that he has not done much yet. The goal is still far away. But at the same time, he begins to realize that his yoga classes are necessary for his further development, as those who are preparing to become an athlete need exercises that develop muscles.
63. Switching off from the ability to know and from the knower and keeping the mind in an inactive calm state is called the way of freeing the mind from all mental activity and effort, and this way of switching off can be likened to breaking a straw bundle.
[DEGREE SUITABLE TO A CHILD'S PERCEPTION]
64. The third stage is called "the state of mind of a child looking at the frescoes in the temple [and completely absorbed in this occupation]".
65. In order to keep the vital currents in the channels, one binds the mind to cognitive ability and the knower (1), like an elephant to a post.
(1) It was said above that the mind has the property of a stubborn camel. Now he is compared to a clumsy and clumsy elephant. There is a vital force (Skt. prana) in the body, which is divided into ten vital currents (Skt. vayu). "Vayu" comes from the root "va" - to breathe or blow, meaning the driving force of prana. These vayus, composed of negative prana, govern the vital processes of the body, and therefore each of them has its own location and is in charge of certain functions. The normal health required for a yogi depends on the preservation of each vital current in its normal state, that is, in the channel it must occupy (see The Tibetan Book of the Dead, p. 346).
66. As a result of this practice, forms similar to those woven from smoke, or ethereal, arise, and the yogi experiences the bliss of ecstasy, being on the verge of fainting (2).
(2) This is due to the fact that the vital currents penetrate the median nerve (Skt. sushumna-nadi), which is the main channel for the psychic forces moving with the help of their carriers - vayu. In addition to this psychophysical factor, a spiritual factor operates in parallel, namely the first faint glimpses of the knowledge of the mind, not affected by thought processes. In the West, this ecstatic state is called "illumination." This is the first fruit of perfection in meditation. In this state, the mind of the yogi embraces the deepest peace that arises from the direct sensation of oneness with Nature and Its Source. The human nature of a yogi who has reached the True State gives way to the divine. Now he is faced with the task of entering this state at will and remaining in it for ever longer periods of time. His final goal is to enter this state forever at the time of death, or to choose the Highest Bodhisattva Path and give up this Freedom in order to help others achieve Liberation.
67. The visions that arise in this inactive state of body and mind, when it seems that you are floating in the air, must be perceived with indifference - without sympathy and antipathy, that is, not to be attached to them and not to turn away from them. Therefore, when there is neither attachment nor aversion to any vision that arises, such perception is called "the state of mind of a child contemplating [the frescoes] in a temple [and wholly absorbed in this occupation]" (1).
(1) The child, looking first at one fresco, then at another, does not feel attracted to one of them, but at the same time his attention is entirely focused on looking at the frescoes, since he does not know what he will see next. And such mental concentration, based on expectation, but without attachment, must be maintained by the yogi at this stage of mental training.
68. The fourth stage is the preservation of the mind in such a state of indifference, with which the elephant receives pricks from thorns (2).
(2) At this stage, the "Knower" must be completely indifferent to such stimuli as constantly changing thoughts, just as an elephant, due to its thick skin, is insensitive to the pricks of thorns.
69. When thoughts arise in a calm state of mind, they are realized simultaneously with their occurrence. When the "preventing" [i.e., the mind accustomed by yoga to the vigilant vigilance mentioned above for the purpose of controlling thoughts] and that which is to be prevented [i.e., the process of forming thoughts] meet each other, the arising thought is deprived of the ability to give rise to a new thought (3).
(3) When calmness of mind is attained, apperception or grasping of it arises simultaneously with the appearance of thought, which then occurs unconsciously or automatically, like the beating of the heart. As a result, the development of thought stops, and it loses the ability to transmute into a new thought.
70. Since the "Preventor" appears itself and does not need to be sought, this state is called "the state in which the uninterrupted stream of consciousness operates automatically."
71. The ability to keep the mind in such a state in which thoughts are not interfered with and not reacted to when they are noticed, is compared with the indifference of an elephant, not sensitive to the pricks of thorns, and hence it is so called (1).
(1) This yogic faculty may be classified as the highest form of indifference to physical and mental reactions to stimuli. This is one of the black steps on which the illusions of samsara are neutralized, and this path leads to the True State. However, this is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to realize that samsara (i.e. the created world) and nirvana (i.e. the uncreated world) are an inseparable unity, comprehended at the final stage of analysis by the Mind illuminated by the Light of Bodhi. Other elephants, the state in which thoughts arise, and the state in which thoughts do not arise, are two opposites, which, when mastering the yoga of the Great Symbol, will be perceived not as duality, but as unity.
[HIGHEST STATE OF REST]
72. This [state] is called the highest state of rest and is compared with the ocean, on the surface of which there are no waves.
73. Although in such a calm state the movement of thoughts, their arising and disappearing is registered by the mind, it is called "the state in which the line between movement and rest disappears", because the mind has reached calm and is indifferent to movement (2).
74. Thus, concentration of the mind on one thing is achieved.
75. That by which the "moving" and "immovable" [that is, movement and rest in inseparable unity] is known, is called, if It is rightly understood, the "All-discriminating Wisdom, or the Supermundane Reason" (3).
The human mind is inseparable from the One Mind. The purpose of yoga is to bring about this union of the human and divine aspects of the mind. This will happen only when the mind is freed from the illusions of samsaric existence and knows itself. All-distinguishing Wisdom is the Wisdom of the Bodhic (Supermundane) Consciousness (or Mind) in the state of nirvana, endowing with the ability to cognize each thing separately and all things in their unity.
76. As the "Graceful Sutra" (1) says:
Similar information.
Since we are people, and the eternal presence of black and white both in our lives and in our heads is determined by nature, we cannot get away from this dilemma. Even wrestling. And depending on which side we fight on, it will outweigh. But even when our lives seem to be woven mostly of white, strange, sometimes terrible black thoughts still visit us sometimes. They can scare us, alarm us. It is difficult to understand their nature without knowledge, since this element of the vital activity of the brain is considered to be part of the psychology of the unconscious. The so-called dark side of personality can help us understand ourselves - if we “cooperate” with it correctly.
The Inner Demon: Why Terrible Thoughts Come to Our Minds
It's good that there is no mind-reading device yet, otherwise any of us would be caught red-handed. After all, even the most meek and delicate person can sometimes rejoice at the failure of his neighbor or feel the desire to crush someone's head. Why do respectable citizens enjoy watching thrillers with dismemberment, while ardent liberals sometimes catch themselves in xenophobia? And is it possible to prevent such “thought crimes”? Psychologist Jena Pincott wrote about this, this article contains the main theses of her article.
Each of us sometimes catches ourselves in the wrong, frightening or vile thoughts. To bend over a cute baby and suddenly think: "I can easily crush his skull." Comfort a friend who has experienced a breakdown in his personal life, and secretly savor the humiliating details of his story. Riding with relatives in a car and imagining in detail how you lose control and drive into the oncoming lane.
The more persistently we try to distract ourselves from these ideas, the more intrusive they become and the worse we feel. It's not easy to admit, but we do enjoy primitive thrills and other people's misfortune. People have a surprisingly poor command of their own black thoughts: we have no control over their duration or content.
In his famous experiment in the 1980s, Eric Klinger asked volunteers to write down their thoughts for a week each time a special device beeped. The scientist found that during a 16-hour day a person is visited by about 500 unintentional and obsessive ideas, lasting an average of 14 seconds. Although most of the time our attention is occupied with everyday affairs, 18% of the total number of thoughts cause discomfort to a person and are marked as bad, evil and politically incorrect. And another 13% can be described as completely unacceptable, dangerous or shocking - these are, for example, thoughts of murder and perversion.
The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung was one of the first to become seriously interested in black thoughts. In his work The Psychology of the Unconscious (1912), he described the shadow side of the personality - the receptacle of sinful desires and animal instincts, which we usually suppress.
How is the dark side of personality formed? From the point of view of neuroscience, part of the cognitive processes forms the "I" with which we are accustomed to identify ourselves - prudent, normal, logical, while other processes serve as an impetus for the development of a dark, irrational consciousness, where obsessive images and ideas are born.
According to Klinger's theory, the ancient preconscious mechanism in our brain is constantly looking for potential sources of danger in the outside world. Information about them, bypassing consciousness, is transmitted in the form of emotional signals, which cause unwanted thoughts. Neuroscientist Sam Harris believes that these thoughts are random and completely uncontrollable: although a person is conscious, he cannot completely control his mental life.
Dark and frightening thoughts: "This is disgusting, show me more"
People are embarrassed to admit that they are attracted to sinister and vile stories: it is believed that this is the lot of freaks and perverts. Fans of bloody thrillers, photo compilations of car accident victims, or alcoholized embryos have a reduced ability to empathize. Thirty years ago, University of Delaware professor Marvin Zuckerman determined that some people are more thrill-hungry than others. When confronted with something abnormal and terrible, people with this type of personality are more aroused - this can be established by measuring electrodermic activity.
Cravings for unhealthy and creepy things can also be beneficial. According to psychologist Eric Wilson, thinking about the suffering of others allows us to neutralize destructive emotions without harming ourselves and others. They can even lead to a state of awe: “I can feel the value of my own life, - writes Wilson, - after all, I myself and my family are alive and well!
Thoughts on perversions: "Do not open at work ... and nowhere at all"
Many of us consider the most terrible thoughts associated with taboos: there is nothing worse than catching yourself fantasizing about something immoral or illegal.
The good news is that being a little aroused doesn't mean anything. Clinical psychologist Lee Baer, a professor at Harvard Medical School, argues that arousal is the body's natural response to attention. Almost everyone thinks about it in one way or another, but not all fantasies should be taken literally.
Politically Incorrect Thoughts: "If they know what I'm thinking, they'll hate me"
A hateful voice in your head that turns on when the “other” appears in your field of attention - be it a person in a wheelchair, a woman in a veil, or a foreigner with an unusual skin color. This voice, which you do your best to muffle, calls into question the adequacy, behavior, abilities and, in general, the human qualities of “others”.
Mark Schaller, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, believes that such thoughts are caused by a primitive defense mechanism that was formed at the dawn of mankind, when outsiders were by definition a source of threat. The mechanism of "psychological immunity", however, does not justify modern manifestations of intolerance - fat-shaming, xenophobia, religious prejudice or homophobia.
The good news is that automatically occurring politically incorrect thoughts can be overcome: psychologists advise you to stop thinking about how polite and open-minded others think you are, and concentrate on the personality of the person with whom you communicate.
Malevolent thoughts: "Your failure is my joy"
When we hear on the news that some girl was caught drunk driving and arrested, we don't care. But if that girl turns out to be Paris Hilton, we feel a strange, malicious satisfaction that the Germans call "shadenfreude" (literally, "joy at harm").
Australian psychologist Norman Feather (Flinders University) proved that we are more pleased with the failure of someone outstanding than the failure of a person of our equal status. When successful people fail, we feel smarter, more insightful, and more confident.
Perhaps this is how our inner desire for justice manifests itself. But where does the feeling of shame come from? According to Professor Richard Smith, author of The Joy of Pain, there is no point beating yourself up for this banal emotional response. To overcome an attack of gloating, you need to imagine yourself in the place of the victim or concentrate on your own achievements and merits, because the best antidote to envy is gratitude.
Cruel thoughts: “I wish I had a chainsaw now…”
You are calmly cutting onions in your kitchen, and suddenly the thought flashes through your head: “What if I slaughter my wife?” If thoughts of murder were considered a crime, most of us would have found guilty. According to psychologist David Bass (University of Texas at Austin), 91% of men and 84% of women have ever imagined pushing a person off a platform, strangling their partner with a pillow, or brutally beating a family member.
The researcher offered a radical explanation: because our ancestors killed to survive, they passed on to us a predisposition to kill at the gene level. Our subconscious mind always stores information about murder as a possible way to solve problems related to stress, power, limited resources and security threats.
However, in most cases, thoughts of violence do not precede actual violence, but rather block it. The heartbreaking pictures that the brain paints make us analyze the situation before we act. The scenario plays out in the imagination, the prefrontal cortex turns on, and creepy thought disappears.
But what happens to dark thoughts when we suppress them?
The Hydra's Dilemma: "The Method of Radical Acceptance..."
The thoughts we try to suppress become intrusive. This is reminiscent of the battle with the Lernaean Hydra: instead of a severed head, new ones grow back. When we try not to think about something, we only think about it. The brain constantly checks itself for the presence of a forbidden thought, and it pops up again and again in the mind, while feelings of shame and self-loathing distract us and weaken our willpower.
Depression and stress can exacerbate the painful process of suppression. The more effort we spend on fighting the obsession, the more time we need to recover and rest. For people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, dealing with unwanted thoughts can take several hours a day. None of us can fully control our minds. As Jung wrote, we do not control the shadow "I", we do not create dark thoughts and desires of our own free will - which means that we cannot prevent their appearance either.
Dr. Baer recommends the Buddhist method of radical acceptance: when an undesirable idea arises, one should try to perceive it as just a thought, without deep meaning and hidden meaning. No need to judge yourself or resist - just let the thought go. If she comes back, repeat again. Another way to let go of an obsession is to write it down on paper and destroy it. This helps to distance yourself from an unpleasant thought, and then literally get rid of it. The “door effect” can also work - physically moving to another room helps the brain switch to a new topic and reset short-term memories. For difficult cases there is a radical approach: not to let go of frightening thoughts, but on the contrary, to play them to the end in the imagination in all details.
What is really important in terrible thoughts? The value we give to them. We can perceive unpleasant thoughts as valuable objects for investigation - clues that the shadow self, the dark side of personality, gives us. By analyzing its manifestations, we better understand others and ourselves. A gloomy, vile and uncomfortable "black" thought becomes a source of inspiration. As Eric Wilson writes, highly imaginative people can turn destructive ideas into fuel for mental and emotional development.
Father analytical psychology Carl Jung kept a diary, which was subsequently published under the title The Red Book. In his diary, Jung recorded disturbing images and ideas from the unconscious, including his encounter with the metaphorical Red Rider. The presence of the Horseman is unpleasant for Jung, but the researcher enters into a dialogue with the stranger: they talk, argue, and even dance. After that, the scientist experiences an extraordinary surge of joy, feels agreement with himself and the world. "I'm sure this red man was the devil," writes Jung, "but it was my own devil."
In detail about obsessive thoughts: what is it, treatment for OCD. Psychology
Syndrome of obsessive states and thoughts - OCD. What is this mental mechanism, and how to get rid of obsessive thoughts and fears? Video
Greetings!
For me, this article is very important, because I am familiar with the problem of obsessive thoughts from my own experience.
And if you are reading it, you may have encountered something like this yourself and do not know how to deal with it.
It will be not only about the knowledge of psychology, but even more importantly, about your own experience, feelings and important subtleties that you need to go through yourself to know about.
I want you to apply and test what will be discussed in this article on your own practical experience, and not on someone else's words that you heard or read somewhere. After all, nothing and no one can replace your own experience and awareness.
Somewhere I will repeat myself in the course of the article, but only because these are very important points that I want to draw your special attention to.
So, intrusive thoughts, what is it?
In psychology, there is such a thing as “mental chewing gum”. This name alone should tell you something - a sticky, viscous, addictive thought. 
Obsessive thoughts, obsessive states or obsessive internal dialogue - scientifically OCD (), otherwise called obsessive-compulsive disorder.
This is mental phenomenon, in which a person has a painful feeling of the forced appearance in the head of some repeatedly repeated information (some thoughts), which often leads to obsessive actions and behavior.
Sometimes a person, exhausted by obsession, himself invents some behavior for yourself action-ritual, for example, counting some numbers, numbers of passing cars, counting windows or pronouncing certain “stop words (phrases)” to yourself, etc. etc., there are many options.
He invents this behavior (action) as a way of some protection from his obsessive thoughts, but in the end these “action-rituals” themselves become obsessions, and the situation only gets worse over time, because these actions themselves constantly remind a person of his problem, reinforce and amplify it. Although this can sometimes help in moments, it is all one-time, short-term and does not get rid of OCD.
Mechanism of occurrence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
No matter how strange it may seem to someone, but the main reason for the emergence and development of obsessive states, in whatever form it manifests itself, are: firstly, the formed the habit of constantly having an internal dialogue with oneself, moreover, in an automatic (unconscious) way on any exciting old or new occasion;secondly, it attachment to some of their beliefs (ideas, attitudes) and deep faith in those beliefs.
And this obsessive thinking, to a greater or lesser extent, is present in many people, but many do not even know about it, they just think that it is right, that this is a normal way of thinking.
Having become habitual, an obsessive internal dialogue manifests itself not only in what is important for a person, but also in any everyday, daily and new situations. Just watch yourself carefully and you will quickly understand.
But more often this is manifested in what a person is obsessed with, what worries him greatly and for a long time.
From the constant scrolling of a monotonous, restless (often frightening) and essentially useless internal dialogue, such fatigue can pile up that, apart from the desire to get rid of these thoughts, there is no other desire. Gradually, this leads to fear of one's own thoughts, before their appearance, which only aggravates the situation.
A person loses freedom and becomes a hostage of an obsessive state. There is insomnia, VVD symptoms () and almost constant, increased anxiety.
Actually, the general internal anxiety and dissatisfaction for some reason led to the possibility of this problem, but this is the topic of other articles.
Obsessive ideas (thoughts) in their essence.
What are obsessive thoughts in general in their inner essence?
It is very important to understand that obsessive thoughts are those thoughts that, without our will, make us think about something. As a rule, these are straining, monotonous (monotonous) internal scrolling dialogs the same mental plot, just in different ways. And this unconscious stream of thoughts in the head can so absorb attention that at that moment everything else that is happening around almost ceases to exist.
An obsessive state, as a function of the brain, oddly enough, has its own natural task, it plays a certain role and is something like a “reminder”, “signal” and “enforcer” that push a person to something.
Many of you may now think, and here is some kind of “reminder” and “signal”, because obsessive thoughts are still just thoughts.
Actually, it's not just thoughts. And the main difference between obsessive thoughts and ordinary, logical ones is that these thoughts, despite all their often seeming reasonableness, do not contain anything healthy in their internal filling.
These irrational, emotional thoughts, as a rule, are always connected with our fears, doubts, resentment, anger, or with something important and disturbing us. These thoughts are always based on an emotional charge, that is, their basis is emotion.
And what can be useful in this obsessive mechanism?
The Imposing Signal is called a signal that informs us about something. This mechanism is mainly designed to automatically remind and focus our attention on what we consider important to ourselves.
For example, if you have a loan from a bank, you need to repay it, but you don’t have money right now, and if you are a sane person, you will look for a solution. And in many ways you will be helped by obsessive thoughts, which, whether you want it or not, will often or constantly, at any time of the day or night, remind you of the situation that has arisen so that you resolve it.
Another example of the usefulness of this intrusive feature.
What is so vitally important that a person can think about that can bring him to an obsessive state?
About money, oh better job, better housing, personal relationships, etc. For example, a person has a goal, and he begins to constantly think about it, makes plans, not looking up, does something and continues to think about it.
As a result, if it is non-stop, it goes on for a long time, there may come a moment when, having decided to take a break, he tries to switch and occupy himself with something else, but notices that he continues anyway. unconsciously reflect on your important goal.
And even if he tries to tell himself with willpower and sound reasoning “stop, I need to stop thinking about this, I need to rest,” it won’t work right away.
Obsessive thoughts, in this example, make a person think about the important. That is, they perform a completely useful role, not allowing a person to stop there, but at the same time, not caring about his health at all, because this is none of their business, their only role is to signal, remind and push.
The very occurrence of an obsessive state - dangerous and harmful for us - is a sign that failures in the psyche have begun.
Just keep in mind: whatever important you are doing, if you do not give yourself good rest, this can lead to any disorders, chronic fatigue, increased anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders and neurosis.
There is only one conclusion
- no matter how valuable and useful what you are doing, and what important things you think about, you must always take breaks, stop and allow yourself to have a good rest emotionally, physically and especially mentally, otherwise everything can end badly.
Imposing thoughts on an alarming (frightening) occasion
Obsessive thoughts can be associated with something natural and completely justified, or with something completely absurd, frightening and illogical.
For example, thoughts related to health, when a person, having felt some painful symptom, begins to worry, think about it, and the further, the more he frightens himself. My heart stabbed or pounded hard, immediately thought: “Something is wrong with me, maybe my heart is sick.” A person gets hung up on this symptom, worries, and obsessive thoughts arise about this, although in reality there is no disease. It was just a symptom caused by some disturbing thoughts, fatigue and internal tension.
But you can’t just take them and immediately ignore them. Perhaps it really makes sense to listen to these thoughts, because you really can have some kind of physical illness. In this case, consult a doctor. If, after all the tests, you were told that everything is fine with you, but you still continue to worry, go to the second doctor, but if it is confirmed there that you are healthy, then you are, and you are now just prone to OCD .
Other people are attacked by the obsessive thought to harm and even kill someone close to them or do something to themselves. At the same time, a person does not really want this, but this very thought haunts and frightens him with the fact that it comes to his mind at all.
In fact, this is a proven fact: there is no recorded case in the world that would lead to terrible consequences. Just the presence of these obsessive thoughts keeps a person from such actions. And the fact that they arise indicates that you not inclined to it, otherwise it wouldn't scare you.
Those who are inclined to something like this, they do not experience within themselves. They either act or wait, that is, they really want it and do not worry about it. If this scares you, then you are not like that, and this is the main thing.
Why did you have your problem? The following happened to you. Some crazy thought once visited you, and instead of saying to yourself: “Well, stupid things can come to mind,” and without attaching importance to this, you would leave yourself alone, get scared and begin to analyze.
That is, at that moment some thought visited you, you believed it and believed that since you think so, it means that you are like that and can do something bad. You trusted without solid grounds this irrational thought, not knowing what is so absurd and can visit anyone healthy person, this is quite a common phenomenon. That thought, in turn, triggered an emotion in you, in our case, the emotion of fear, and off you go. Later, you got hung up on this thought because it scared you, began to analyze a lot and endowed it with power (importance), so you now have a problem, and not at all because you are some kind of abnormal or mentally ill, that you can and want to do something terrible. You just have a disorder that is definitely treatable, and you definitely won’t do anything bad to anyone.
Thoughts themselves cannot force you to do something, for this you need a real, strong desire and intention. All they can do is make you think, but nothing more. This, of course, is also very unpleasant, and how to deal with it, how to get rid of obsessive thoughts, will be below.
For others, obsessions may be related to everyday things, for example, “did I turn off the stove (iron)?” - a person thinks and checks a hundred times a day.
Some are afraid of getting infected with something and constantly or repeatedly wash their hands during the day, wash their apartment (bath), etc.
And someone for a long time can worry and obsessively think about their appearance (), or constantly worry and think about their behavior in public, control over themselves and their status in society.
In general, everyone has their own, and no matter how scary or acceptable what is imposed, it is all essentially the same - OCD only in different manifestations.
An example of how obsessive thinking can manifest itself
Let's briefly, using a simple example, see how often the habit of obsessive thinking can manifest itself, and what physically strengthens and reinforces this habit.
If you have a conflict or argument with someone, and some time has already passed, and the thoughts associated with the situation do not let go.
You continue to mentally, unconsciously scroll through it in your head, conduct an internal (virtual) dialogue with the opposite side, argue about something and find more and more justifications and evidence of your rightness or your guilt. You get angry, threaten and think: “You should have said such and such or done such and such.”
This process can go on for quite some time until something grabs your attention.
You worry and get nervous over and over again, but in fact you are engaged in the most real, very harmful absurdity, which is reinforced and automatically moved emotional obsession state and anxiety.
The only right thing to do in this situation is to stop thinking about it, no matter how much you would like it and no matter how important you think it is.
But if you give in, and this compulsive process drags on, then it can be very difficult to gather yourself internally and stop the internal dialogue.
And you can exacerbate the problem even more if at some point you realize that you are not in control of the situation at all, you become even more afraid of these thoughts, you start fighting them in order to somehow distract yourself, and you start blaming and scolding yourself for everything that is now is happening to you.
But the guilt for everything that happens to you is not only yours, but also in the running mechanism, which has both a mental basis and a physical and biochemical component:
- certain neurons are excited, and stable neural connections are created, at which automatic reflex response;
- the body produces stress hormones (cortisol, aldosterone) and a mobilizing hormone - adrenaline;
- vegetative nervous system(VNS), and somatic symptoms appear - the muscles of the body tense up; increased heart rate, pressure, tension, sweating, trembling in the limbs, etc. Very often there is dry mouth, fever, lump in the throat, shortness of breath, that is, all signs of VVD (vegetative-vascular dystonia).
Remember: what to scold and be angry with yourself in this situation - a crime against yourself, a lot here simply does not depend on you anymore, it takes time and the right approach to stabilize all these symptoms, about which we will talk below.
By the way, you should not be afraid of these symptoms listed above, this is a completely normal reaction of the body to your anxiety state. The same as if there were real a threat, for example, a huge dog would run at you, and you would naturally be afraid of it. Immediately, the heart would pound, the pressure would rise, the muscles would tighten, breathing would become faster, and so on. These unpleasant symptoms- consequences of ejection chemical elements and adrenaline, which mobilizes our body at the moment of danger.
Moreover, notice and realize the fact that all this happens in our body not only at the moment of a real threat, but also during fictitious, virtual, when there is no real danger now, no one attacks you, and nothing falls from above. The danger is only in our head - we think about something restless, wind ourselves up with some kind of disturbing thoughts and begin to tense up and get nervous.
The fact is that our brain simply does not feel the difference between what is happening in reality and a mental (mental) experience.
That is, all these strong, unpleasant and frightening symptoms can easily be caused by disturbing (negative) thoughts that will provoke some unwanted emotions, and those, in turn, unpleasant symptoms in the body. This is what many people constantly do, and then, in addition, they begin to be afraid of these natural symptoms and even bring themselves to PA () and.
Now, I think it will be difficult for you to immediately realize this, because this moment of the relationship between the psyche and the body requires a more detailed and deep explanation, but this will be discussed in other articles, but now, so that you can slowly begin to understand yourself, I will Again I suggest learning to observe yourself, your thoughts and emotions.
Understand where and what comes from, how thoughts, emotions and other related sensations arise; what happens unconsciously and what we consciously influence; how much it all depends on us, and how your thoughts affect your current state.
How to get rid of obsessive thoughts, fears on your own?
First of all, you need to realize the fact that you cannot completely believe everything that comes to your mind, and you cannot associate (identify) yourself, your “I” only with your thoughts, because we are not our thoughts. Our thoughts are only a part of ourselves. Yes, very important, intellectual, necessary for us, but only a part of us.
Logic (thinking) is our main ally, it is a magnificent tool given to us by nature, but we still need to know how to use this tool correctly.
Most people are sure that ALL our thoughts are only our own thoughts, it is we who invent them and then think them over.
Indeed, since some thoughts arise in our head, then these are, of course, our thoughts, but besides this, they are to a large extent derivatives of various external and 
internal factors.
That is, what we can experience, and what thoughts now come to our mind, does not depend only on us whether we like it or not. All this directly will be related to our mood in this moment(good or bad) and will be a consequence of circumstances already beyond our control and the experience of the past.
If we had other attitudes, a different mood, a different past, for example, we would have been born to different parents or would now live in Africa - there would be completely different thoughts.
If some negative moment in the past had not happened to us, there would not have been a bad experience, therefore, there would not have been any obsessive thoughts.
When we associate ourselves, our “I” only with our thoughts, when we are sure that our thoughts are WE, then we have no choice but to deeply believe in everything that comes to mind, but it can come such…
In addition, it is very important to realize that we are able to observe our thoughts, comment on them, evaluate, condemn and ignore them. That is, we are what can be attended to outside of thinking to be aware of oneself outside one's thoughts. And this suggests that we are not only our thoughts, we are something more - what can be called a soul or some kind of energy.
This is very important point in solving this problem. It is necessary to stop identifying yourself with your thoughts, stop believing that they are you, and then you will be able to see them from the side (detached).
Our body is talking to us all the time. If only we could take the time to listen.
Louise Hay
If you start observing yourself and your thoughts, you will quickly notice the fact that most of our thoughts in the head are nothing more than automatic thoughts, that is, they arise unconsciously, on their own without our desire and our participation.
And what is most interesting, most of these thoughts are repeated every day. These are 80-90% the same thoughts only in different variations.
And these are not just someone's words, this is a confirmed scientific fact based on numerous studies. In fact, every day we most often think and scroll through the same thing in our heads. And you can track it yourself.
Second step which I briefly wrote about in the article ““, you can’t fight intrusive thoughts in any way, resist and try to get rid of them, dismiss them and forget.
Take care of yourself: if you try very hard not to think about something, then you already think about it.
If you strive to get rid of thoughts, switch or somehow drive them away, then they will overcome even stronger and more persistently.
Because by resisting themselves endow them with an even greater emotional charge and only increase internal tension, you begin to worry and get even more nervous, which, in turn, intensifies the symptoms (unpleasant physical sensations) that I wrote about above.
So the key point is do not struggle with thoughts, do not try to distract yourself and get rid of. In this way, you will save a lot of energy that you are now wasting on fighting them, without getting anything in return.
How to stop the obsessive internal dialogue if you can not fight?
At the moment when you were visited by obsessive thoughts, and you realized that these thoughts do not tell you something really necessary (useful) - it's just from time to time, repeatedly, like a broken record, a repetitive internal dialogue that gives you something something that is very disturbing and has not yet solved your problem - simply, impartially, indifferently, begin to ignore these thoughts, without trying to get rid of them.
Let these thoughts be in your head, allow them to be, and watch them. Look at them even if they scare you.
In another way, and perhaps it would be more correct to say, without entering into a dialogue with them, without analyzing You just contemplate them gently trying not to think about them.
Do not analyze what obsessive thoughts tell you, just observe them without delving into their essence. Always remember that these are just ordinary thoughts that you are not obliged to believe in, and you are not at all obliged to do what they say.
Don't avoid feeling
Also observe the emotions and sensations that arise in the body that cause these thoughts, even if they are very unpleasant for you. Take a closer look and feel what, how and at what moment is happening. This will give you an understanding of why your unpleasant symptoms occur and why at some point you start to feel worse.
Just like with thoughts, don't try to get rid of these feelings, give in to them even if you feel bad for a while. Remember that these are completely natural, although painful symptoms, and they have a reason. During the war, people did not experience such things, and after that they lived long and healthy.
These sensations are necessary accept and live to the end. And gradually inside of you, at a level deeper than our consciousness (in the unconscious), there will be a transformation of these sensations, and they themselves will weaken until at some point they stop bothering you at all. Read more about sensations in this.
Without struggling with internal processes, you can smoothly shift your attention to breathing, make it a little deeper and slower, this will speed up the recovery of the body (more on correct breathing read).
pay attention to the world, people and nature - on everything that surrounds you. Look at the texture of different things, listen to the sounds, and while doing something, direct all attention on this matter, that is, with full attention, plunge into real life.
Acting in this way, it is not necessary to do everything in the sequence I have described, do as you are doing now, the main thing is mindfully and attentively observe everything.
If thoughts return, let them be, but without mental analysis and struggle from your side.
Your indifference and calm attitude without a fight to these thoughts will significantly reduce or even deprive them of their emotional charge. With practice, you will understand this yourself.
Do not rush things, let everything take its natural course, as it should go. And these thoughts will surely go away. And they will leave without consequences or without serious consequences for you. It will turn out that you are calm and smooth, somewhere imperceptibly for yourself, naturally turn your attention to something else.
By learning not to fight thoughts, you learn to live when those thoughts are and when they are not. No annoying thoughts - fine, if there is - also normal.
Gradually, with a change in your attitude towards them, you will no longer be afraid of the appearance of any thoughts, because you realize that you can live in peace, without fear and without being tormented by them. And these thoughts in the head will become less and less, because without running away from them, without empowering them, they will lose their sharpness and begin to disappear on their own.
Arguing with obsessive thoughts and finding a logical solution
It happens that you, trying to get rid of a constantly overpowering, obsessive thought, are looking for some thoughts or mental solutions that would calm you down.
You are thinking intensely, perhaps arguing with yourself or trying to convince yourself of something, but by doing so, you only strengthen the problem from the inside.
In a dispute with obsessive thoughts, you won’t prove anything to yourself, even if you manage to find a thought that calms you for a while, obsessive thoughts will soon return in the form of doubts and anxieties, and everything will start in a circle.
Trying to replace thoughts or convince yourself of something doesn't work with obsessive states.
How to get rid of intrusive thoughts: mistakes and warnings
Don't expect quick results. You could cultivate your problem for years, and in a few days change your attitude to thoughts, learn to observe them impartially, not succumbing to their provocation - it will be difficult, but this really needs to be learned. Some will have to overcome a strong fear, especially in the beginning, but it will get better later on.
Something you can succeed almost immediately, and it will immediately become easier for someone, it will take time for others to feel how it all happens, but everyone, without exception, will have recessions, the so-called “kickbacks” or “pendulum”, when the past state and behavior are returned. It is important here not to be disappointed, not to stop and continue to practice.
Very bad to talk with someone about your condition, about what you are experiencing, to share and discuss your experiences with a non-professional person.
This can only spoil everything. Firstly, because you once again remind yourself, your psyche, your unconscious about what is happening to you, and this does not contribute to recovery in any way.
Secondly, if the one to whom you tell something, showing his initiative, begins to ask: “Well, how are you, everything is fine? Are you well already? or “Never mind, this is all nonsense” - such questions and words can simply destroy the healing process. You yourself can feel what you feel at the moment when you were told this, take a closer look at your inner sensations, you are clearly getting worse, you begin to feel sick acutely.
Therefore, it is very important to exclude any conversations on this topic with other people, except for a specialist doctor. Thus, by not communicating what you are experiencing, you will remove a lot of reminders (internal messages) that you are supposedly sick, and stop developing your problem further.
Trying not to fight with obsessive thoughts, you watch them, but at the same time you internally want and try to get rid of them, fight them, that is, in fact, the same struggle takes place.
Therefore, a very important initial step here will be to capture and fix the self wish get rid of intrusive thoughts. Do not follow this desire, just be aware of it within yourself.
You don't have to wait impatiently for these thoughts to go away and not to reappear.
It's impossible, because you can't fool the memory, but to induce amnesia, friends, well, it's imprudent. If you keep waiting for some of your thoughts to disappear and never come back, you are already creating resistance and struggle, which means that the problem will remain a problem, and you will continue to dwell on it.
The key to solving it is not that there will be no more of these or similar thoughts, but in your correct approach - in change in attitude (perception) towards them. And then you just won't care much about what comes to your mind from time to time.
Notice this fact when you are already immersed in an obsessive internal dialogue, or you have some kind of obsessive fear, sound logic completely stops working. You seem to be able to remember or think about something right and necessary at this moment, you can say sensible words to yourself, but if you didn’t succeed in immediately following them, then the logic is no longer perceived, the obsessive state stubbornly dictates its own. Even understanding all the absurdity of this obsession (and many people understand), it is impossible to get rid of it either by willpower or logic.
Impartial(no rating) conscious observation without logical analysis(because, in essence, obsessive thoughts are absurd, and even if in some cases they come on business, they only remind and signal that we need some practical steps to solve the problem, and not about what these thoughts need to think), without identifying yourself with this state (that is, to observe everything that happens inside you: the thought process and sensations from the outside, you are separate, the obsessive state (thoughts and sensations) are separate), and natural, soft, without resistance to these thoughts switching (when you don’t try in every way on purpose, by an effort of will, to get distracted, get rid of, forget, etc., that is, you accept everything that is happening to you now), is the most correct way out of the situation and the natural process of recovery (liberation from an obsessive state and thoughts), except for .
If you had done this in the beginning, you wouldn't have this problem now.
P.S. Always remember. In any case, no matter what your intrusive thoughts tell you, there is no point in delving into them repeatedly and scrolling through the same thing a hundred and a hundred times.
Even if some kind of obsession suddenly turns out to be justified and will inform you about a real case or some real problem, then you must solve it in a practical way ( actions), not thoughts. You just need to do what needs to be done; what the imposing thought tells you, and then there will be no reason to worry and think about it.
Sincerely, Andrey Russkikh
I had already prepared this article for a long time, but still could not write it for the reason that I was not sure that I had a complete idea of how to get rid of intrusive thoughts.
Now I have experienced first hand how to deal with such thoughts and am fully prepared to tell you about it.
Perhaps some of my readers think that since I started creating this site, I have completely got rid of all personal problems. Indeed, I have already changed a lot by the time of the first entries in this blog, but my current state cannot be called complete freedom from negative emotions, prejudices and fears.
My position can be described as a struggle with myself, during which the experience and materials for these articles are born. Of course, in this confrontation between my true self and the primitive, instinctive, emotional self, the first gradually wins.
But this struggle continues: two steps back and four steps forward. Self-development stems from the awareness of one's shortcomings and work on them. If there is no struggle, then this does not speak of a final victory, but rather of surrender.
After all, self-development is an endless process. I keep running into some problems and struggling with them. Including intrusive thoughts.
Mind "gum"
These thoughts have always been with me. They could occupy my head and make me nervous, endlessly mentally referring to the same experiences. It was like mental gum.
I constantly chewed the same thoughts in my head, tried to resolve them, to untie some imaginary knot. But from my attempts to weaken it, on the contrary, it tied even more strongly.
I remember how, back in my early childhood, I could not stop thinking about some things that I could not think about at all. The habit of my brain endlessly “processing” some experiences and ideas must have been exacerbated during times of other psychological problems.
Recently, I realized that I learned to work with obsessive thoughts. Moreover, I am ready to formulate a method that allows me to get rid of them. I realized that this article might now finally appear.
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Obsessive thoughts come from emotions
This is the first thing you must understand. Obsessive thoughts are emotional, unconscious, irrational nature. They are connected with your fears, anxieties and complexes deprived of everything reasonable.
That is why they are obsessive. The emotions that form in you make you constantly think about something. They seem to signal “Problem! Problem! We need to find a solution!"
It's like a notification in Windows or something operating system, which appears as an icon and will irritate your eyes until you update some program, remove a virus, or install the correct driver.
We can say that obsessive thoughts have a positive function. They remind you of the problems you need to solve. And you can’t just take and turn off these “notifications”. It's hard to starve to death when your brain constantly reminds you to eat.
But, unfortunately, obsessive thoughts do not always tell us about some real problem. The mechanism of the emergence of these thoughts is quite subtle. And if, for some reason, the “standard settings” of this mechanism get lost, then natural human fears and worries can take an extreme form, manifesting themselves in the form of obsessive thoughts, which are very difficult to get rid of.
Everyone knows how normal concern for one's health can turn into hypochondria, how a natural fear of danger threatens to turn into paranoia.
And now you become a regular visitor to medical forums, and thoughts about your health do not leave your head. Maybe you constantly think about danger while you are on the street. Or you can’t get out of your head the thought of what people think of you, although you yourself don’t see any point in thinking about it.
The conclusion I want to draw is that obsessive thoughts are based on emotions. Therefore, they do not have a rational nature. Therefore, they cannot be fought with logic.
This is a very important conclusion. I have watched myself a lot, trying to understand how these thoughts appear and how they disappear, how my mind tries to deceive and confuse me. Earlier, in the evening, when I was very tired, I could not stop some thoughts.
For example, I could start thinking something bad about myself, blaming myself. No matter how skillful the inner lawyer turned out to be, who, using logic and common sense, tried to convince me that everything was not so bad (although of course he did not rule out problems), the blaming side always prevailed, and everything became even more complicated. The more I tried to justify myself and get rid of annoying thoughts with the help of thoughts, the more I became confused and more these thoughts overcame me. This sport with oneself led to the fact that the invisible knot was tightened even more.
The next day, in the morning, with a fresh mind, I didn’t even want to think about this problem. If I started to think about yesterday's "dialogue" with myself, then I understood that the problem was there, but it was greatly inflated and exaggerated by my condition. I realized that the problem needs to be solved, not thought about. There is no point in these thoughts.
After a while, I realized what the deceit and deceit of these thoughts are. If you try to destroy them with logic, they will still prevail, as they are irrational and illogical and make you believe in absurd ideas that common sense is powerless to overcome.
You Can't Eliminate Intrusive Thoughts with Logic
If you are set on self-blame, then you will continue to blame yourself, even if you have nothing to blame yourself for. Because this is your mood and it is from it that these thoughts arise, and not because of some real situation! Even if you suddenly manage to convince yourself for a moment of the groundlessness of these thoughts, then after a while they will return again if you resist them and continue to logically rebuff them.
If you are in such a mood that you think that you are sick, that something bad will happen to your health, then no positive test results will convince you otherwise. “What if the tests turned out to be inaccurate?”, “What if I have something else?” you will think.
And you will not see the end of these thoughts, no matter how absurd from the standpoint of common sense they are.
It is useless to try to refute them. Because it is impossible. They will come back and attack you with new absurd arguments that you will believe in because you are in such an emotional state that gives rise to these thoughts about non-existent problems.
Remember the state when you are worried about something. No matter how you convince yourself that everything will be fine, that there is no reason to worry, your distorted nervous tension and the excitement of perception paints you a perspective in the darkest colors. Not because everything is really bad, but because you now perceive everything that way. If in this state you begin to think a lot and talk about the future, then your negative perception will attract your thoughts to the “negative” pole and it will be difficult to break out of this attraction.
How to get rid of obsessive thoughts
You will need common sense, but only at the very beginning.
First of all, you need to figure out if your obsessive thoughts are based on some real problem. It happens that mental chewing gum harasses you, exaggerating the problem. But an exaggerated problem does not mean the absence of one.
So think about what are the reasons for these thoughts. Getting rid of thoughts, you should not ignore the problem, if there is one. For example, it seems to you that you have some kind of illness and thoughts about it do not leave your mind.
Maybe these are really not groundless fears, and you have symptoms of some kind of disease. If so, go see a doctor. If you have already done this and you have not found anything - forget it.
Whether there is a problem or not, there is no point in thinking about it all the time! You either try to solve it if it exists, or you forget about everything if it does not exist.
This is the only moment in the fight against obsessive experiences in which you need to apply logic and common sense.
What to do?
Choose a moment in time when you are in the best morale, when you have more optimism and strength than usual. For example, in the morning, when you are full of energy, after exercise or after .
Convince yourself that it makes no sense to scroll through the same thoughts thousands of times in your head. That these thoughts are deception or exaggeration, the purpose of which is to confuse you.
Be well aware of the following things
- you will not come to a solution to a problem if you constantly think about it
- intrusive thoughts have no basis rational basis, and if they are connected with some kind of problem, then you will solve it, instead of constantly returning to it with thoughts
- you can’t get rid of mental gum with logical reasoning and thinking
Realize the absurdity of obsessive thoughts
Further, you can once again, with the help of a few logical theses, expose the absurdity of obsessive thoughts. For example: “I have nothing to fear, because the tests showed nothing”, “panic attacks do not die, I have read about this more than once”, “no one is trying to harm me”, “even if there really are things to be afraid of , do not think about them 1000 times a day, this will only lead to nervous exhaustion.
Your argument against obsessive thoughts should be clear and concise. You should not get involved in an argument with yourself. Remember, in a long dispute with obsessive thoughts, you are doomed to failure, in which emotions and fears will prevail over logic and mind, and negative perception itself will “pull” thoughts to the negative pole.
To destroy the force of this attraction, you need to think less. When you think about annoying thoughts, chew them endlessly, you only increase them.
Give yourself permission to ignore intrusive thoughts.
Tell yourself that you will no longer think about what you think about all day and what torments and torments you. Indeed, why constantly chew mental gum when it does not bring any sense?
An obsessive thought is the repetition of the same thought in different ways. You will not get any new and valuable information from it, you will not come to any decision.
Therefore, give yourself the installation not to get carried away by fruitless reflections. After you've said it to yourself, made a promise you won't break, draw an invisible line. After this trait, you no longer pay attention to intrusive thoughts.
Don't wait for thoughts to come back no more
They will return again and again. Tune in like this: "Let them come back, what's the difference, I realized that these thoughts are deception and do not relate to the real problem."
Thoughts will come back, sometimes you will again begin to untie this knot in your head. As soon as you notice that you are again carried away by this, smoothly divert your attention to the side. Do not argue with these thoughts, do not be upset that they have come (and they will come), ignore them, treat them with complete indifference.
If you suddenly need to remind yourself of the absurdity of these thoughts, do not go beyond short formulations: "nothing will happen to me, and that's it." Don't get involved in an argument you can never win. All the endless arguments that again make you afraid or nervous are lies and deceit.
Remember what I said in the article: if you are in such psychological state where you tend to worry about your health or your future or your loved ones, then your mind will focus on that fear, no matter how absurd that fear is. Don't turn your mind against yourself.
You must know the puzzle toy, which is like a tube. If you stick the index fingers of different hands into both ends of this tube and try to release them with the help of physical effort, pulling your hands in different directions, then nothing will come of it, the tube will only squeeze your fingers tighter. And if you relax and do not pull, everything will work out.
The same applies to intrusive thoughts. No need to want to get out of them by all means. Relax, "kill", let them be.
Be indifferent!
Your indifference to intrusive thoughts will deprive intrusive thoughts of their emotional content, which fills them with such power that you sometimes cannot control. Over time, you will learn to manage your attention and notice those moments when you again began to think about what you should not.
Then thoughts will leave you forever.
But there is no need to look forward to when this will happen: “when will they leave!”, “I try not to pay attention to them, but they still do not go out of my head!”. Such thoughts are not necessary!
Arm yourself with salutary indifference: thoughts do not bother you - it's good, they returned - that's also normal. No need to turn thoughts about the appearance of obsessive thoughts into obsessive thoughts!
It's no big deal that repetitive thoughts keep coming to you. If you've stripped them of their emotional "charge" and try to ignore them, then they don't get on your nerves like they used to. In this case, they become just an annoying notification window (you may have seen such windows on your computer) that appears in your head from time to time.
And it's not so scary anymore. You can live with this. Thoughts appear occasionally, but they no longer grab your attention or confuse you. They are just short signals in the head that come and go.
When I began to relate to obsessive thoughts in this way, they left my head and I learned to deal with them. BUT fighting intrusive thoughts is not fighting, if we perceive the struggle as a violent resistance. Relax!
Conclusion
I have already said in other articles that mental illnesses: panic attacks, obsessive thoughts can either break you down or make you stronger (as in the statement of a famous philosopher).
Dealing with panic attacks can teach you. Working on getting rid of depression will help you find the source of happiness in yourself. And trying to control obsessive thoughts will teach you to control your attention and control your mind.
Arm yourself with patience and work on yourself, then you will not only get rid of your ailments, but also gain valuable and useful experience as a result of this, which will be useful in your life!
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"Pull your thoughts away from problems ... by the ears, by the heels, or by any other means possible". - Mark Twain
According to an old Cherokee Indian, there is a terrible battle going on in our minds right now. Two wolves are fighting within us. The first is bad: it is full of anger, envy, resentment, greed, sadness, condemnation, inferiority, criticism and doubt. The second is good: full of joy, gratitude, love, kindness, empathy, understanding, confidence, compassion and clarity. This fight is going on inside of you right now, even if you don't notice it.
"Which wolf will win?" - you ask how the grandson of the Indian did it. “The wolf you feed,” answered the wise grandfather. Your thoughts are two wolves. When you feed a bad wolf, your mind loses its clarity. You can't get rid of the bad wolf. He lives inside you for a reason. Personal growth is associated with full acceptance of oneself, and not attempts to hide one's own shortcomings. Taming the bad wolf (rather than killing it) is what will help you neutralize your own thoughts so that they do not cause you pain and suffering.
Let thoughts just be, don't cling to them.
“The world we have was created in the process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our consciousness.” - Albert Einstein
Your thoughts can eat you alive.
Having emotions and thoughts is normal. The problem is that you allow them to take over your behavior. If you identify with your feelings and thoughts, you lose perspective.
There is nothing wrong with thinking. It helps us understand issues and make decisions. Problems arise when your judgmental wolf takes over and you become trapped in your thoughts.
Too many thoughts distract you, take you away from the essence. Your inner wolves can cloud your mind. And then they start eating you alive. Piece by piece.
The cause of accidents that are in the nature of a "chain reaction" are not amateur drivers at all. Fog affects our perception, and this provokes collisions. Fog significantly reduces contrast, making objects appear blurry and barely visible.
Your thoughts have the same effect as fog.
The Mandelbaum effect, the tendency of the eyes to focus on objects up close in conditions of poor visibility, blurs our vision. We stop noticing everything else. Your inner wolves also cloud your vision. Allowing worry, fear, and stress to take over your thoughts can lead to clouding your head.
Driving in fog is risky. That is why it would be wise of you to slow down your vehicle. When the fog clears, visibility returns to normal. Reality didn't change while it was foggy. The fog only affected your vision.
Don't give in to your thoughts. Your inner wolves come and go, just like the mist.
The science behind our thoughts. “I think, and think, and think, my thoughts have taken me away from joy a million times, but they have never brought me closer to it.” — Jonathan Safran Foer
Our state of mind is like a wild wolf. As Chögyam Trungpa, author of Sanity, explains, our minds “contain memories of the past, dreams of the future, and the volatility of the present. We see this as a problematic situation." You need to tame your wild wolf. The ability to distance yourself from thoughts will not let the wolves eat you alive.
Diffusion is a term coined by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to describe the ability to separate oneself from one's own thoughts. Conversely, "fusion" means immersing ourselves in thoughts and allowing them to control our behavior.
In his book Acceptance and Responsibility Therapy in simple terms Russ Harris writes that "diffusion" is:
Look at thoughts, not through them; to notice thoughts, but not to succumb to them;
allow thoughts to come and go without clinging to them.
Thoughts do not control our actions unless we allow them to. Remember not to overfeed your bad wolf. Neither your thoughts nor your emotions can determine how you behave. Don't identify yourself with what you are suffering from.
We cannot run away from our own thoughts (or emotions), but we are able to decide what to do in spite of them. Tame your inner wolves instead of killing them.
Harris suggests doing the following exercise to test it out for yourself. Repeat to yourself: "I can't raise my hand." Say it over and over. Raise your hand as you keep repeating, "I can't raise my hand." So you raised your hand in spite of your own thoughts, right? But you probably doubted.
You are used to believing what your mind tells you, so it is very easy to be misled. Realizing the power of your thoughts is the first step to freeing yourself from their influence.
How to "neutralize" your thoughts - exercises. "Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel." – Gene Racine
You cannot control when your wolves attack, but you can avoid being eaten alive. When you respond to what's going on in your head, you allow your thoughts to pull you away from the present moment and put you on "life on autopilot."
Mindfulness is the opposite of living on autopilot.
As John Kabat-Zinn, author of Mindfulness Relieving Stress, writes: “Mindfulness means paying attention to something in a particular way; on purpose, at the present moment and without judgment. It is the practice of assessing the extent to which we identify with our ideas and beliefs, creating space for:
Awareness, not thinking;
openness and curiosity, not judgment;
attentional flexibility.
Mindfulness is not a method of distraction; it is not meant for you to avoid your thoughts. If negative feelings arise, notice them and move on.
Try the following simple methods to help you reduce the impact of your thoughts. Check for yourself those that work best for you, customize them for yourself and use them. The goal is not to drown out your thoughts—or the wolves—but to keep them from clouding your vision.
1. Label your thoughts:
The practice of meditation is not about eliminating thoughts, but about opening up to them. When you stop fighting the bad wolf, you gain control. When a thought comes up that wants to distract you, just label it. Say to yourself "thought" or "wolf." You can apply this exercise not only when you meditate.
2. Objectify your own thoughts:
By turning your thoughts into an object - in this case, wolves - you can neutralize their influence. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Imagine that your thoughts are wolves. What color are they? How big are they? What sounds do they make? How close are they to you? Start playing with your thoughts by changing the size, color, sound and shape
wolves.
This visualization helps me when I feel like I'm carried away by several thoughts at the same time.
3. Treat your mind like a wolf:
Imagine that your mind is a talking wolf. "You've spoken again, my mind." "Wolf, you've said that before." "My inner wolf always reacts and worries." The purpose of this exercise is to listen to the voice of reason as if it were coming from an animal and not from you. When someone else is talking, it feels less personal.
4. Question what your mind says:
React with skepticism, don't believe everything your mind says. "I won't buy it." "Really, how so?" "Who said that?" When you question your own thoughts, you stop taking them at face value.
5. Turn your emotions into a noun:
Think about the last time you regretted what happened to you. Share these moments with a loved one using adjectives: "I lost my last two tennis matches, I'm a loser."
Every time you share something, the other person needs to rethink it by turning adjectives into nouns. The goal is to make the story positive: "No, you are not a loser, you just lost two matches in a row."
6. Classify your own thoughts:
Not all wolf attacks are equal. Challenging exactly what you are experiencing at the moment provides clarity. In addition, determining the type of thinking will help to gain deep understanding and awareness. Whenever you feel threatened by your wolves, express your thoughts out loud using one of the following formats:
I think…
I feel…
I believe…
I remember…
I release...
I have a physical symptom...
7. Have fun:
Humor solves all problems, especially those caused by our way of thinking. When you stop taking your inner wolves—and yourself—seriously, you can relax and stop reacting. Here are some ways to help you clear your hazy thoughts in a humorous way:
Play with your own voice: experiment with different tones. Imagine yourself as a cartoon character, a child, a comedian, a wolf, and so on.
Treat your thoughts like a wolf: "My bad wolf is trying to divert my attention..." or "I'm sorry, my bad wolf, but I've run out of food for you."
Become a helicopter: imagine yourself lifting off the ground and rising higher and higher, moving away from your own thoughts.
Change lenses: Imagine that you are wearing glasses with cloudy lenses. What happens when you put on new glasses with clear lenses?
Create a song: turn your thoughts into words, sing them out loud.
How do you deal with your inner wolves? How do you tame your own thoughts?
