But there are studies-- I mean, in Germany, there was a study. rumination , then daydreaming is fine and can be good for you, and is creative, and lets your mind free, and lets you make sense of what's
There's a difference between constructive worry and rumination . Rumination is thought loops you can't stop thinking about that are upsetting, and you go over the same thing over and over.Constructive worry is when you think about it-- the amygdala wants you to think about it-- and you come up with something you can do.
We're going to talk about seven common psychological injuries that we encounter in daily life-- failure, rejection, guilt, loneliness, brooding and rumination , loss and trauma, and bouts of low self-esteem.I do hope we'll have time to get to all of them.
I know the snacks he likes and I was able to just focus on my next step. So rumination to agency. But as we moved along, one of the things I did right away was I had a calendar and this is what helped me.
And our conscious experience, like you're saying, is this kind of train of thoughts in perpetual motion. So ruminations , being stuck in the same-- in their case, it may be like a bad comment I made yesterday.
I mean, when people suffer terribly within themselves, even they are living in a little paradise, it's the product, the working of the mind. Those ruminations , hopes, and fears that lead to depression, to despair is mind-made. And then, you can see people who keep their joy of leaving even in the face of seemingly very adverse circumstances.
Right. I'm aware that a big goal of meditation is to try to tune out all that noise, which includes thinking about the past rumination and worrying about the future and try to live in the present. And a lot of that is done by concentrating on things like breathing cuz that's a kind of a good centering exercise.
And that's the last time you want to do reflection because, as you mentioned there, you instantly go into the Rolodex of anxiety. You trigger rumination . Rumination leads to something that we call catastrophization. Everything seems to be bigger in the darkness of night when you're not sleeping.
So this is just a summary of, basically, what I was saying with the left-hand side with amygdala dominant thinking. And it results in rumination and negative mind chatter. Now with prefrontal cortex dominant thinking, we're capable of that when the amygdala is calm,
I have a few-- DR. GABIJA TOLEIKYTE: I was afraid it wasn't really quite working. Amygdala's rumination is like a toddler screaming.
And so I think that where meditation helps is that I have learned how to draw the line between useless rumination and what I call constructive anguish. There's a certain amount of plotting and planning that makes sense, and hard work, and stress, and banging your head up against the wall.
Delete the draft. Put it into a document. and out of the rumination going on in your brain.
You need to be able to focus in on what you're thinking rather than just-- because if you're not watching them, you won't notice when they snare you and they get caught in that rumination . So it's as if you're the shrink.
I mean, it's something kind of morbid in that, but it took away the rage and it actually somehow, again softened that. And I was able to move from rumination into, I still hate this is the worst thing ever. But what's my next step.
So this is an attentional state which is very inefficient, particularly when people ruminate. There's a difference between constructive worry and rumination . Rumination is thought loops you can't stop thinking about that are upsetting, and you go over the same thing over and over.
And also we're releasing so many stress hormones into our bloodstream, it puts us at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. So that's all of the things that rumination does. And so to me, ruminate and brooding is basically like picking at emotional scabs.
Harold: Yeah, no, understood. I think what at least theoretically gives an artist a particular access that people in other profession might not so readily have is that the artist cultivates dream space and cultivates rumination . And spends time thinking in ways that aren't permitted to let's say people who work from 8 to 6. And the insights that come from this kind
digging themselves in. The solution is actually to stop expressing, to not keep going down that road. Now, the best way to make rumination stop is actually distraction, right? is just to find something that is totally engrossing and put your mind on it. I think about it like a forced change of one's mental channel. Um I have a dear friend who had a very very taxing job and she would call me at the end of the day and she'd be like, "Oh my gosh, I had such a day. There is no way I'm going
I have a few-- DR. GABIJA TOLEIKYTE: I was afraid it wasn't really quite working. Because if amygdala gets carried away, it creates rumination , which is really-- we can't just-- it's imaginable.
--and getting engaged into the work-related tasks, and-- I'm so guilty. There's dysphoric thinking, which is a rumination , which is going to be me tomorrow, going over this talk, and how some of the PowerPoint slides
And our conscious experience, like you're saying, is this kind of train of thoughts in perpetual motion. So we know that one of the hallmarks of depression is actually ruminations , speaking of farm.
And our conscious experience, like you're saying, is this kind of train of thoughts in perpetual motion. But it is important for me to explain that-- go back to depression for a second and rumination .
It prevents us from enjoying life. Because, yes, like rumination , it does put us at risk for cardiovascular disease and for depression.
you feel. From time to time, it doesn't work that way. Instead, the more we talk, the worse we feel. And so, then we keep talking and we keep feeling worse. Now, our technical term for this is rumination . But the best way to think about it is like getting stuck in an emotional rut. Or, frankly, it's kind of gross, but it's a really helpful metaphor, picking at an emotional wound, right? You won't leave it alone, it won't heal up, you're making it worse. So, if you notice
And it turned out to be a huge liability for me as a diver because I was constantly beating myself up for falling short of perfection, and that rumination
You are breaking a lifetime's habit of walking around in a fog, in a daydream of projection into the future and rumination about the past.
But what I've learned is to draw the line, at least 10% of the time, between what I call constructive anguish and useless rumination .
My stress has increased. One of the challenges I find is that, yes, sleep helps, but when we're feeling anxious, sometimes the ruminations in our mind just won't turn off. So any tips of how we can actually tap into sleep a little bit better when we are feeling anxious?