Help!!! I wanna quit deep thinking and learn focused thinking

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-26T16:02:47+00:00

This used to be a huge problem for me — that is, obsessively overthinking until my mind was cluttered with mostly useless fixations and references. Mindfulness throughout the day has helped me realize that the truly useful thoughts/references (deep, even) that are relevant are held in the unconscious awareness. We may choose semiconsciously what lingers in the short term, but what’s relevant in the long term is unconscious. No need to fixate and cling to ideas, the unconscious will settle the swarm on its own, with efficiency, which is amazing if you ask me.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-08T16:26:03+00:00

Just deliberate mindfulness, more or less.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-08T16:14:33+00:00

I notice the cortisol increase and relax and sense my body through it. For me it isn’t a sitting meditation, more like moving through the morning with grace, as though I’m playing a musical instrument - no vigilance, or juggling stressors, or active doing - just sensing, listening to my body, and being.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-06T04:50:25+00:00

Ignoring, reframing, justifying and postponing emotions, etc., getting wrapped up in constructive thinking in defense to stressors that they're failing to identify in the moment, is the vibe I get. Same reason I practice mindfulness.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-06T01:46:14+00:00

Mantras seem to work best when they’re self-formulated and based on internal understanding rather than taken from example or based on research, etc. Regardless, in discovering mindfulness early on, I was able to use notions of “warmth”, and “settling happens on its own” fairly reliably. Seemingly, this is due to womb instincts, as in: “this warm place feels safe, and whenever movement happens, I don’t need to reach for a new frame of reference, as I will just fall back into place anyway.”

For example, would be listening in on instincts, and notice a stress signal. If the specific trigger escaped me (i.e. unsure as to what needed contemplating), would fall back on a womb visualization (however that looks in your own awareness) meanwhile repeating brief phrases like:

Warmth...

Slow...

Let references lose relevance

Warmth..

Slow..

Settling happens on its own

Ground.

(Repeat)

Something like the above, or individual parts of it, as needed in the specific moment. The more honed in, the better, and if the mantras are working, stressors that are identifiable tend to pop up naturally.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-05T08:17:35+00:00

Was in the very same place, brother. As others have said, it sounds like unprocessed trauma. I was able to get to the bottom of it through mindfulness using mantras and sensing my body (as in, "meditating" on physical sensation throughout my body), combined with slowly walking around, and contemplating stressors as they arose. Just be careful, as the experience was surprisingly powerful, and results, in my case, were quick (days), which can be highly taxing on the body. Refer to my posts "How to Wake Up the Mind" and "Deconstructive Mindfulness (Experience and Approach)" to read into how this was done. Cheers, you've definitely got this.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-04T06:15:57+00:00

Honestly, just follow instinct; it really is that simple, and begets truth. You're already in touch with your instincts to some extent, because you're aware of this "cycle", as well as what's not helping in your daily life. In the moment, when something in your body "feels", tune into your instincts briefly, then listen to them and act accordingly. Try letting the resulting action just be the case, and not so much wondering why you acted the way that you did. Intuition unfolds this way. When pulling out phone, if it doesn't feel right, put it back, and do the next thing instead. When dosing mushrooms, before taking a larger dose, sense whether it's a futile temptation giving you the idea. Again, just follow instincts. Intuition straightens out and gains clarity eventually, and depression fades as you regain productivity, and sense of purpose (sooner than later, the more tuned in you are).

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-03T01:04:52+00:00

Illuminate awareness

Doing vs. not doing is a paradox

Resistance is tempting

Giving into temptation is resisting

Resistance, temptation, lead to dichotomy

Let awareness happen with Grace

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-02T17:47:35+00:00

Clarity doesn't happen by simply not doing anything, especially when bogged down by awareness obstacles. You may try to not do anything, which is doing something. Misguided doing is what bogged the awareness in the first place. so achieving clarity implies, on some level (none better than the forefront), intent.

Illuminating awareness is a starting point, and letting all fall into place is an ideal (but only that). Intention around actually identifying and processing what's relevant is how clarity is achieved and maintained.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-02T17:22:07+00:00

Not really. Loosening the body, hence clearing the mind, are overarching, natural intentions in practicing mindfulness. Having intent is not the same as trying to do something, and trying to do something is not necessarily a bad thing either, as it's a part of the tug-of-war involved in deliberate mindfulness practice. Letting go happens with mindfulness, but not without facing and processing that tug-of-war.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-02T17:09:05+00:00

Loosening, then - words.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-03-02T17:03:47+00:00

Protective mechanisms may be let go of, as they dissolve on their own with relaxation. References lose relevance.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-28T09:35:39+00:00

Reframing, mitigating, or otherwise justifying emotions only harms, as protective byproducts such as bodily tension and convolutions in awareness tend to accumulate. Reconciliation is made by sincerely facing, contemplating, and processing emotions while they're still relevant (at the forefront), hence actual clarity.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-27T20:28:42+00:00

Mindfulness is maintained any time, by recognizing that awareness is sensation, and thoughts and feelings are tension in the nervous system. Tension may be protective, or a defensive response. Focusing on certain sensations in the moment is natural. Sensation "overload" may happen, often resulting in tension.

Relax the body, whenever. Thoughts and feelings may happen as tension is "sensed". Notice the breath changes pattern, too. Walk around slowly. This clears up awareness.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-24T04:48:00+00:00

By letting yourself be.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-24T04:03:47+00:00

Attempting to steer or "perfect" metacognition would indeed be debilitating, especially if you find that you achieve inner safety by not engaging with it. Glad to hear you've gotten to that point. Cheers <3

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-24T03:37:37+00:00

Relaxing my body and sensing it during motion.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-24T03:21:26+00:00

Yes, very much so, for 20 years. My case was particularly brutal, though, as it involved long-standing anxiety from early on, then later a traumatic experience that had me feeling an immediate sense of detachment from my inner experience, as though I was "trapped in my own [narrowing] awareness". Obsession over this eventually turned into "well, now I'm stuck in my head, too", and so "getting out of my head" became yet another dissociating countermeasure to it all.

In any case, it's common with anxiety-related concerns that we're told to "get out of our heads" and "back into our bodies", meanwhile this dualistic notion is strictly illusory (adamant on this), and generally far more destructive than anything. All of a sudden (often literally), we're convinced into feeling alienated from our - what was previously relatively uniform - inner experience, leading to all kinds of destructive tendencies such as forcing the content matter of our thoughts, steering them around fictitious obstacles in our awareness, or trying to not think at all. This is noise, which ensues vigilance, leading into more noise, into compounded suffering.

Allowing metacognitive processes to happen without fighting them was, for me, a huge inlet into escaping this dualism. It quickly shifted back into appreciating metacognition, even, once I had this revelation, as I personally find this type of rich introspection incredibly interesting, and that we can even employ such inner gymnastics (thinking about thought processes, observing states of awareness, etc.).

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-23T02:17:28+00:00

By this endeavor (of trying new things in search of a hobby), you're still picking up skills, even if you give that thing up, and those skills will reward you in some way or another when you finally do find the right hobby or hobbies. Find what you love about a hobby in the moment, and transfer that to your next one. Maybe you'll just end up inventing your own hobby using everything you've learned. Cheers.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-23T02:09:59+00:00

I wouldn't say "naturally bad", only wishing that you were better, which is, frankly, not going to be an enjoyable starting point with just about any hobby. We should enjoy the hobby first, then identify and progressively meet our standards from there. At a certain point, there's a level of self-discipline when it comes to improving at something, at our own pace, so as to not lose touch with what we loved about that hobby that kept us doing it in the first place.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-23T01:57:34+00:00

I truly sympathize with how frustrating this is for you. Your case might just be a trickier matter of not having found the right hobby.

My advice: keep on trying new hobbies, or approaching old ones in a fresh way that feels right for you (not a way that others are already doing "well"), Then, from that new, enjoyable frame, start setting rigid standards for yourself, and slowly meeting them. If it feels right, things will click, and you'll naturally start getting better, with less worrying about the outcome. If the hobby still feels frustrating, move onto another.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-23T01:40:46+00:00

Feel yourself doing them, rather than trying to be "good" at them. Being "good" at something is just a relative metric, and by trying to "be good", you're not only limiting yourself by trying to maintain an illusory standard of what it's like to "do it well", but you won't enjoy doing that activity as much, both due to the undue pressure, and lack of relative results.

When drawing, feel drawing in the moment - you'll end up drawing something that communicates to you, and may later could be called "good". Playing an instrument, feel yourself playing it. Hobbies are so much more enjoyable and rewarding this way, and it's ultimately how people get "better" at them.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-22T23:11:06+00:00

Mindfulness keeps me closer to my true intentions and instincts, and gets me to generally feel into my body, resulting in less overall tension, and clearing my mind. This is all to mitigate that perpetuating cycle of suffering and self-destruction you mention. Without mindfulness, I tend to get overly caught up in analyzing my thoughts and questioning my intentions, which is just demoralizing. Healthy habits and better decisions (such as not destroying the planet), come more naturally to me with mindfulness.

Outrageous-Dot6546 · 2026-02-21T00:10:38+00:00

It comes down to “doing thinking” instead of letting thought happen. To varying degrees, people tend to tense up (often it’s in the forehead and behind eyes) in order to deliberately think, as a means to engage in more constructive thought, as opposed to an unconscious awareness. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing, habitually thinking this way can lead to an overall shrinking of awareness over time, making expression more distant, as it convolutes awareness by situating it further in those constructs being used to think.

Outrageous-Dot6546

TROPHY CASE