How to Silence Thought Chatter and Find Peace of Mind
Five science-backed ways to restore well-being.
We all have a voice inside our heads that is our constant companion. For the majority of us, this voice doesn’t mean that we’re suffering from schizophrenia. It is a natural part of being human called “thought chatter.” We often aren’t aware that we’re chattering to ourselves, but whether we are aware of it or not, it affects how we feel about ourselves, our lives, our work, and just about everything else. It can bring us up or tear us down unless we learn how to monitor and control it. This starts with our understanding that our brains never stop thinking.
The brain evolved to be alert at all times. This ensured our survival and allowed us to evolve into the remarkable beings we are today. All day, all night, our powerhouse brain processes information and makes sense of data. According to Barry Gordon, professor of neurology and cognitive science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in an interview with Scientific American:
“Even in the modern world, our mind always churns to find hazards and opportunities in the data we derive from our surroundings, somewhat like a search engine server. Our brain goes one step further, however, by also thinking proactively, a task that takes even more mental processing.”
