Slow Down: Banishing Hyperthought

Whose mind isn’t racing, given the hyper pace of modern life and incoming information? Here is an exercise to slow down your mind and sanely process ideas, tasks and thoughts so you don’t simply react to things without being fully aware; to stop your mind from racing.

1. When feeling overwhelmed, like your head is going to burst, sit in a quiet place. Relax. Breathe deeply. Be comfortable. Make sure you are not disturbed.

2. Withdraw from the chaos of your mind a bit. Observe your thoughts. Do not try and control them, do not focus on any of them. Do not get hooked into following any of the thoughts. If that happens, stop and begin again. Simply watch your thoughts flow by, like they are racing by on a movie screen.

3. Breathe deeply. Slow your breath down. Relax. As your breathing and heart slow, so will the flow of your thoughts.

4. Count your thoughts. For example, “Oh, I was late to that meeting!” (1) “My foot itches.” (2) “I hope it is sunny tomorrow.” (3) That is all. Just count them. When you reach 100, stop.

5. Now let a thought come. Hold it. Examine it. Deal with it. You have banished that overrun and overwhelmed feeling. You have control of your mind, not the other way around.

Read more: Spirit, Exercises, Guidance, Self-Help

Adapted from Clean Sweep by Denny Sargent (Weiser Books, 2007). Bopyright (c) 2007 by Denny Sargent. Reprinted by permission of Weiser Books.
Adapted from Clean Sweep by Denny Sargent (Weiser Books, 2007).

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Danielle I.

11:59PM PDT on Oct 1, 2012

Thanks for the great article :)

October 1
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Danuta W.

1:09AM PST on Jan 21, 2012

Thanks for the article.

January 21
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Naomi M.

5:01PM PST on Dec 4, 2011

Thanks. I definitely needed to read this.

December 4
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KS G.

5:59AM PDT on May 5, 2011

May 5
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Robert O.

1:00PM PST on Feb 26, 2011

It's very hard to slow down ourselves and our thoughts in our over mechanzed, fast paceds, press 1 for more options society, but it can be done and is well worth it. Thanks.

February 26
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William F.

2:14PM PST on Jan 16, 2011

Yikes? Slow down so have to?

January 16
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Silver J.

4:17PM PDT on Sep 9, 2010

another thing to keep in mind is your copper intake. copper=conductive, and thoughts are electricity! Peanuts, potatoes, pipes, etc are sources of too much copper. Too much copper= not enough zinc!

September 9
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Claire N.

6:36PM PDT on Jun 28, 2010

Thanks for the good suggestions. My monkey mind has been on a rampage lately! These are good tips for slowing down.

June 28
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Lynn C.

7:40AM PDT on Jun 16, 2010

This is an absolutely wonderful post. I have this race-car brain and it's in control!! I'm going to start counting right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you.