Stop Endless Mental Chatter

Allison, thank you! What an interesting blog, I have bookmarked it for future reference. You were right on target in several things you said -- especially that the mind never gets a break, for instance. (I have long said that it must not really be "my" brain, because if it was "my" brain, I would be able to tell it what to remember and what to forget, when to be active and when to be still, and so on, LOL.)

I also looked at your blog for yesterday -- in which you talk about being at a crossroads in life. There are so many people who are out of work right now and/or seeking their next step in life that I thought I'd link to it here as well:

http://liveknowingthis.blogspot.com/2009/03/are-you-at-crossroad-in-your-life.html

Again, thanks, and I'll look forward to reading what you come up with about internal-focus chatter!

Hi Diane, your point about the internal vs. external focus is very interesting - thank you for making it. I wrote the article from the 'judging others' external perspective, and hadnt actually considered how the internal can be just as mentally tiring. I think meditation helps me create a peace and a silence that we all so desperately need(I've written a piece about it here: http://liveknowingthis.blogspot.com/2009/01/meditation-tool-for-super-successful.html )doing this regularlly allows my mind to automatically focus on what is important and leave everything else behind. I might see if I can russle up enough words to write about the internally focused mental chatter soon, as like you I'm thinking about my 'to do' list while cooking (brain in 'organising' mode). We need to teach ourselves when to stop! Thanks so so much for your thoughts. :) Allison

Allison, I loved your post.

I'm one of those who usually have something "on" in the house -- the television, or music. But it's partly because in silence, my inner chatter actually seems LOUDER. Somehow, if there is some background noise, my chatter calms down. I'm not sure I understand why, but I do know that the thought of so much silence stresses me out a little.

This is not the case when I am deeply involved in reading a book, for instance -- I can do that quietly all day long. So clearly, the reading quiets my mind's chatter on its own.

My chatter doesn't tend to be about others. It tends to be about myself -- things I need to do, or things I feel about myself, areas in which I'm feeling like I'm falling short, things I'm trying not to forget, or just something that's on my mind. I wonder if you've been successful at calming this internal-focus type of chatter as well as the external-focus types you're writing about?

There is such a tendency today to multi-task. We are cooking dinner while kids are eating a snack, doing homework and asking questions. We watch television and fold laundry. We check our email and go to the gym with our ipods, stopping at the post office on the way. We combine business and pleasure, lunch and meetings. We get dog food on the way home, and check our calendars before bed. No wonder the chatterbox is on fulltime!

Would love to hear more of your thoughts. And thank you for writing.

Hi Susan, Yes a lot of it is habit and just repeated thought patterns. Most people would be shocked if they actually audited their thoughts (I still am surprised at my thoughts sometimes and have been auditing them for ages). People that think they are super positive may see how many negitive/nasty thoughts they really have. Its a good question about it being cultural or environmental. I suppose within peer groups where a lot of gossip, negative/petty talk goes on it is defintely environmental. If people within that peer group want to change that, they'd need to step right back or try and get the group on board with being nicer and more positive.

P.S. I cringe to think how much bad grammar you found in my piece - I'm writing for 'love' though, not correctness!