Rumination is the habit of going over and over negative events that happened in the past, either in thoughts or in words. It is associated with many negative effects on the mind and the body.
It could be a simple event like receiving negative feedback for something you did or something as devastating as losing a loved one.
But the thing is you don’t get out of it for a long time. You keep going back to the negative feedback you received and think about why you must have received it, feel bad about it and maybe take a decision never go back to that person who gave you the feedback. You also begin to doubt your own self-worth because of that feedback.
And if you regret it, then you feel guilty and wonder what that person must think of you and generally try to avoid the person whom you hurt. Sometimes you even begin to ruminate together with someone so both of you keep going over the same thoughts again and again.
We might think that it is good to think about such situations because we might find a solution to it. But because they are patterns of thought processes before you know it, they suck you right in and you get caught up in the same patterns of thought repetitively.
If you are able to catch yourself ruminating, you can wither let it go or you can take action that might help like talking to the person who gave you the feedback or apologising to the person whom you hurt and closing the event.
But to catch yourself ruminating, to accept what has already happened, you need to be aware of your feelings, sensations and thoughts. And to be aware you need to practice mindfulness.
Practising mindfulness by observing your thoughts for a few minutes on a daily basis helps you to be mindful in daily life situations. When we are mindful, we can observe ourselves ruminating and take quick action to solve the issue bothering us than just think about it.
Click on the audio link below to practise a guided meditation.
To get an idea about meditation and mindfulness, you might want to checkout the FREE Five-days Introduction to Meditation and Mindfulness here.
Bell The Mind 