This last Thursday, I shared my presentation with everyone entitled “ Vacation from Rumination “

So what are ruminating thoughts?  

Rumination is a focused attention on the symptoms of our anxiety or distress, and on it’s possible causes and consequences. Rather than looking to its solutions.

I know for a fact, that I along with many others have experienced ruminating thoughts many times.  Some people may even refer to it as spiraling.

But when our thoughts turn more negative, that’s known as rumination. It can also be the obsession over negative events that happened in the past.

Signs of Rumination: As a general rule, the following can be sure signs of rumination: 

 1) focusing on a problem for more than a few minutes. 

 2) feeling worse than you started out feeling. 

 3) no movement toward accepting and moving on.

 4) Being no closer to a solution. 

 Dealing with negative emotions can help to handle rumination and the feelings of stress that come with

Getting caught up in ruminating thoughts can have negative effects on our well-being. 

 What do I do to help get rid of those ruminating thoughts? I try to re-focus on something else. Something that will distract me so that I can possibly forget about what I am so worried about. Such as maybe play some of my favorite music, or call a family member or spend time talking to a friend. What helps you escape those ruminative thoughts? A few ideas on how to catch yourself ruminating and refocus:

Establish a time limit: if you’re looking for support from friends, secretly set yourself a time limit on how many minutes you’ll devote to talking about a problem, before focusing on a solution. Then talk about solutions with a friend, or on your own, possibly even through journaling.

Keep an open mind: I read somewhere once where some therapists believe what bothers us in others may be a reflection of what we don’t like or accept in ourselves. When you think about what another person did to make you upset, try and think of a similar experience you have had, to help better appreciate their perspective and the reasons for what they did.

Something to remember, if you find yourself constantly replaying something in your mind, and thinking about what you should have said or done, without taking any action, we’re usually making ourselves more stressed. And that’s when we are likely experiencing some of the negative effects of rumination. No fun, right? 

Below are some activities to help you escape rumination: 

 Go outside for a walk .

 Yoga poses and stretching .

 Drawing 

 Being Mindful of your surroundings, what you hear, smell, see and even the air temperature .

 Try reading a good book .

 Meditation 

 Journaling 

 Adult coloring books .

 Writing, or song writing .

 Listening to music .

 What are some other things that you do to help you with rumination?