How to Practice Slowing Down Racing Thoughts

Racing thoughts are no fun. They’re intrusive. They’re exhausting. It sometimes feels like they are on a looping roller coaster that can’t slow down. It can even continue along a whirlwind of “what ifs.” And, even worse, those racing thoughts can lead to a feeling like you’ve lost control of your own mind.

With those racing thoughts commonly a response of stress or anxiety, they quickly repeat around the same topics over and over again. So, it can be most helpful to recognize those same patterns as they occur for you in order to slow them down for yourself.

Some strategies to slow them down can include the following:

1. Identify your triggers. Recognize when and why they happen and take a step back to ask yourself what you’re thinking about. You might find the triggers, and note about it in a journal and eventually reduce your stress levels.
2. Create a mantra to repeat and replace those racing and stressful or anxious thoughts. It can be a powerful weapon to drown out any unwanted thoughts.
3. Immediately do something else. This is just a forceful change of your physical activity to intentionally disrupt your mental tailspin.
4. Schedule your own worry time. You can set a specific amount of time each day to sit and worry about the specific issues that spark your racing thoughts.
5. Meditate. Practicing meditation literally retrains your brain to let go of intrusive thoughts.
6. Love yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for your racing thoughts and be sure to bring your self-care and self-love to the priority of your daily life.
7. Consult a mental health professional. If this reaches a point of a great struggle a therapist or other professional may be additionally helpful for treatment.

With all of these steps, you have the ability to work with your daily schedule to watch your thoughts closely. And, you can protect yourself from the racing thoughts that you know may tend to come frequently on your stressful or anxious days. So, with the knowledge of your triggers and controls, you have the ability to slow your racing thoughts and feel much better.