I came back home from a difficult trip and the taxi driver shot a questioning glance at me: “Where do you live?” My answer came back fast like a trigger, “In my head most of the time, actually.” He looked at me again, his face now puzzled. It was clearly too early in the morning for a riddle so I gave him my address.
Overthinking is like a fire
But it was not a joke I was making–I was stating the truth about my trip. I was facing some challenges during the trip and I was stressed too often. In fact, I was in my head most of the time, desperately trying to overthink solutions to very complex problems. I noticed at times my overthinking was like a fire destroying everything in its path and at night I couldn’t sleep at all. When I got finally back home, I remembered to breathe, to take a walk, to get some feedback from friends, so the decisions I needed to make could be done within a nurturing, thoughtful community. Eventually I came to realize home was not only a physical location but a place of clarity I could arrive to every moment.
As you face difficult challenges in your life, do you have reminders that bring you deeper into your real self? Do you have the tendency to spend too much time in your head? Do you overthink and get caught in reactivity? When you have to make important decisions, where do you live?
Try this meditation to bring yourself deeper into the wisdom of the heart:
- Breath in and out, and witness as objectively as possible your thoughts, feelings and sensations in the moment. Notice “thinking” is what the mind does all the time, but is it now in the override mode?
- Evaluate kindly whether or not the situation has triggered your fears, and now your are overthinking and triggering more and more difficult emotions. Open the heart to those feelings. Stay present without judging your “likes” or “dislikes.” Breathe in deeply, breath out slowly.
- Clear the mind as much as you can. Look for the space in between breaths.
- Without repressing anything, in the spirit of openness and clarity, moment by moment, find your home in the stillness. Slow down the overthinking, open the heart to the wisdom surging from within.
Juan Velasco