Having returned from a break I realised how busy my mind can get! The thing is that you have as much chance of stopping thoughts as you do in stopping your nails from growing. One of the jobs of the mind is to think...and think it will.
We apparently have around 70,000 thoughts per day...thousands of them we are not aware of and others like working out what to eat, drink are pretty useful. Some make us smile and some are helpful with coming up to a solution to a problem or creating a fabulous idea.
However what happens when the thoughts are emotionally charged or the never ending to-do lists that want to keep us up at 3am in the morning?
A really helpful technique is called the STOP technique.
S - Stop visually hit the stop button
T - Take a breath
O - Observe what is happening and why is it causing you to react?
P - Proceed - choose your response
While doing this technique also take the time to belly breathe which has been proven to elicit the body's relaxation response. With both of these you will calm your system and mind and you will be able to proceed in the way you want to with your thoughts.