Mojo Monday: Need to Get Out of Your Head? Try this Strategy, with Carly Taylor

Published Aug 18, 2024, 2:00 PM

All of us struggle with overthinking at some stage. In this episode, we explore a practical strategy, recommended by a clinical psychologist, to help you shift your attention away from your thoughts.

Find out more about Carly at carlytaylorcoaching.com.au
Follow her on Instagram at @carly_taylor_coaching

Hi everybody. Carli Taylor here for this week's Mojo Monday. I've got a bit of a cold at the moment, which is why I'm probably sounding slightly nasally. There's a lot of nasty bugs going around Melbourne at the moment, but hopefully this one won't get any worse. So I was talking to a clinical psychologist the other day who works in the area of mental health and obesity intervention, and he's actually extensively trained in Marita therapy, which is why I was talking to him, and he uses Marita therapy and other Japanese techniques in a clinical setting. And he said something to me that I already knew, but the way he presented it really struck a chord with me. And that is a simple tool that we can use to get ourselves out of our heads, and that is to use our fingers. So he pointed out that we are not our thoughts. In fact, what he actually said as we are not the rubbish in our heads. But as humans, we innately seek comfort and this is a driving force for us, and it's something that is really important that we are consciously aware of our innate need or drive to seek comfort, and this sort of made me reflect on the strategies that many of us use to try and quieten the noise in our minds. So do you crack open the wine when you're stressed? And while it's fine to do this on occasion and it numbs the pain short term, relying on alcohol as a strategy regularly doesn't serve us well in the long term. Or perhaps you find yourself living for some ideal future where its stress is magically disappeared, and this is what Marita described as a contradiction of ideas. This is where we struggle to accept our current reality because we're clinging to this idealized future. And there needs to be a balance between striving through a better future whilst also living life in the present moment. And often we become so preoccupied with waiting and hoping for a better future, especially when things are really challenging, that we miss the richness of our current experience. And sometimes wishing for things to be different can be a form of avoidance of what is happening now, and this can stagnate us. So ask yourself, are your current strategy serving you in the long run or are they short term? And these are strategies to try and manage the rubbish that's in our heads. So are they a way to avoid your own comfortable feelings or do they motivate you to take meaningful action. So here's a simple yet effective strategy to help shift your focus. So use your attention like a flashlight. So imagine you are holding a flashlight and the beam of light represents your attention and you have control over where you direct it. So you direct it either inwards towards your thoughts and your feelings or outwards towards the world around you. And one practical approach is to shine that flashlight of attention outwards to engage in activities that involve working with your fingers and working with your hands. So the clinical psychologist explained beautifully that there's this space between your mind and your hands. Things like cooking, gardening, even fixing a bike or a car, any type of craft, even resistance training requiring your attention to be directed through this space. For me, it's cooking. It's a perfect example of when you've got to follow a recipe and you focus on each step, which requires this presence and concentration. So engaging in these hands on activities can offer a very much needed break from our overthinking and our stress, and by immersing yourself in these tasks, you can shift from feeling stuck to being absorbed in what you're doing in the present moment. So many of us need a break from the inputs that are dominating our lives right now, and they can fuel our overthinking and rumination, and that's when we often feel stuck. So activities that involve turning that attention outward and using our hands and our fingers is a way to give ourselves a break. Have a think about what you can do that will turn that beam or re direct that beam of light away from your mind and that inner chatter and onto an activity that you can absorb yourself in. So my plan is to cook something new, something that I've never done before. So I'm going to flick through some recipe books and see what I can come up with. Have a great week, everyone, and I will catch you next week.