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An Unusual Meditation Technique For Over-Thinkers
How to harness your active mind and use it to your advantage
I don’t know about you, but I’m naturally an overthinker.
I’ve always struggled with formal meditations because my mind becomes really active. I sit down to do a meditation, and within 10 seconds, I’m thinking about something else. Sometimes, I ruminate over mistakes or start planning for the future. Sometimes, I start having great ideas and powerful moments of clarity. Other times, something sparks my imagination, and I get lost in some pretend situation that will probably never happen. My point is, I think a lot — about interesting, helpful, productive things, and also about pointless, mundane, and negative things.
Over the years and a lot of practice, I’ve come to enjoy meditating, even with my active mind. But a few years ago, I came across the concept of “personal thinking time,” and it revolutionized my meditation practice. The idea is to set aside time to think without too many distractions.
I remember feeling particularly excited about personal thinking time because it was like letting myself do something that felt natural to me.
As I dove into the topic more, I learned that personal thinking time could be a helpful strategy for people who feel easily…
