How do you know when you are in your head? If any of these fit, you are most likely in your head, not in your body…you spend continuous and much of your time taking in excessive amounts of information without pausing to allow yourself the time to absorb that which you have read or heard. You have a need to analyze every decision before acting upon anything. In other words, you rarely if ever do anything spontaneously , Mr. or Ms. Over-thinker! You have set and firm ideas or beliefs of the way things are or ought to be (I.E. You have a strong need to be in control of your environment and others). You believe if you “go with the flow” as free spirited people do, that something is bound to go wrong for planning every step with its detailed descriptions of your long to do lists in your mind is imperative.
What is wrong with being a person with a brilliant mind zooming on high speed? *Ahem* It just doesn’t work. We who are stuck in our heads believe logic is the only way to live life. Obsessive thinking and not listening to our bodies has the result of serious consequences which are hardly ever the outcome we want. Research validates overthinking people of all ages are challenged with anxiety and depression. These are people who only think they are coming up with solutions when in fact they are only recycling old patterns , using up valuable time and energy , resulting in fatigue and frustration. Being stuck in one’s head is a clear blockage to living in the present moment…the place where life is really happening.
Now there is nothing wrong with thinking. However, when we are the proverbial hamster on the non-stopping wheel of returning again and again to the same problem or issue searching frantically for illuminated clarity and solutions, we are stuck in a layer of quicksand that only pulls us down deeper into hopelessness . What to do?
First, get grounded . When you are stuck in your head , you are not in your body. Try doing something creative and with some form of movement (drawing, painting, jumping up and down, dancing, walking, exercise , petting your dog or cat, doing a puzzle). Practice mindful meditation. Practice radical self forgiveness with compassion. Get in touch with things that are definitely out of your control and feel that in your body (yes in YOUR body) how freeing that feels when you accept there is nothing you can do to change others or the situation. Be in the present by acknowledging you cannot change the you of the past or any other situation. Breathe and embrace your exhale with a loud ahhhhhhhhh.
Getting out of our heads and into our bodies realigns and empowers us to be the best version of ourselves for ourselves and for all our relationships. As always, practice makes progress. The key here is to begin.
Jaguarwind 