Lehal Library

Self-Repeating Thought Patterns Self-repeating thought pattern problems occasionally arise during or as a result of mental development exercises. This problem can happen to anyone at any time and for no apparent reason. What happens is this: A line from a song, an advertising ditty, a poem, a snatch of dialogue, worries and upsets, or anything similar will suddenly appear in the surface mind, for no apparent reason. It will begin repeating itself over and over and over, ad nauseam. To a lesser extent, this problem can also take the form of fantasy or memory images. This can be a serious, infuriating, and frustrating problem. It makes any kind of serious mental work, or even sleep, virtually impossible. This is no laughing matter. I have seen people lose days of sleep over this. I have seen grown men and women streaming tears of frustration. I have also seen children banging their heads against doors and walls trying to silence self-repeating thought patterns. This may never happen to you or anyone you know, and hopefully it never will, but in case it does, there is a solution, in four stages. Stage One: Clear your mind through sheer force of will, blank slate it, silencing the repetition and brutally holding it clear, while taking deep, powerful breaths, for as long as you can, gritting your mental and physical teeth if necessary. Whip and cudgel your mind into temporary obedience. Physical relaxation is not required for any of this. Put everything you have into this and be prepared to shed some honest mental sweat over it. Use breath awareness to help with this as needed. This first step is designed to highlight the problem thought pattern, as well as being a brutal but excellent thought-control exercise. If this fixes the problem, fine, but if the rogue thought pattern persists or resumes, continue with stage two. Stage Two: Replace the rogue thought pattern as soon as possible after it begins repeating, before it grows any stronger. Do not allow it to continue! Replace it with a simple but slightly longer thought pattern and deliberately and strongly repeat this in your mind, over and over. Say this new one aloud a few times, or sing it, as this will help to strengthen it. Concentrate on repeating the replacement until you sense the pressure coming from the original thought pattern weakening. The replacement used can be absolutely anything, a snatch of song, a verse, a ditty, a jingle, a prayer, an affirmation, etc. Something that flows easily or rhymes will work better. Once the original problem begins to weaken, change the replacement thought pattern again. Use anything but the original thought pattern for this purpose. Repeat the new repetition until the first replacement weakens. If this solves the problem, fine, but if not, proceed to stage three. Stage Three: If the original problem returns, repeat stages one and two, but double or even triple the number of replacements used. Shorten these slightly and use more enthusiasm and mental volume. Take a shower and sing loudly! Try to make the last few replacements in the set tail off, using progressively shorter phrases. If any of the replacement lines begin repeating, repeat this entire process using the new rogue thought pattern as the base. This will also help to bury the original problem. Avoid the original problem thought pattern: never use it as a replacement. Stage Four: Clear the surface mind through sheer force of will and breath awareness, silencing the final repetition used. Hold the mind clear, well away from any repeating thought patterns, even replacements. Finally, relax and allow your mind to return to normal thought activity. If the surface mind behaves itself, you can stop fighting and return to what you were originally doing, or go back to sleep. But stay alert for problem thought patterns in the future and deal with them quickly as they appear. Repeat these steps as often as necessary to control the problem. As a last resort, use headphones and play music, as loud as necessary, to drown out the repeating thought pattern. This will occupy the surface mind and encourage silence. Continue for as long as necessary to overcome the repeating thought pattern. Sleep with the headphones on. Have the music on continual play or on a timer, as necessary, but do not allow the problem to continue untreated. This last method is best used for children who cannot do the above mental exercises. If the process fails and you are still plagued with self-repeating thoughts, you most likely will not succeed with any serious mental development work at this time. I suggest you give up on it and try to get some sleep, watch TV, or get some work done to take your mind off it, whichever is most 89