How to Stop Overthinking & Worrying

(air hissing) (mouse clicks) (gentle music) Headspace Studio. (soft music) Hello, welcome back to Radio Headspace. It's Eve here, and it's a brand new Thursday. So I often joke that I'm a natural born warrior. I didn't come to meditation because I have a naturally mellow mind. 14 years of practicing mindfulness later, I still worry a lot. But the difference is is that my practice has helped me recognize when I've hopped onto the worry train, and it's given me tools to step off before it picks up too much speed. A restless mind is one of the most common challenges in both meditation and daily life. And restlessness often begins as a scattered mind, this inability to focus, bouncing from one thought to the next. But left unchecked, it can quickly turn into worry. And we've all been there, playing out the what if scenarios in our mind, overthinking every little thing, and finding it nearly impossible to relax. So in meditation, this restlessness might sound like, "Why is this taking so long?" Or, "I should be doing something more productive right now." Or, "I emailed them about that job five minutes ago and I haven't heard back. Do you think they hired someone else?" This is such a common experience, and it's easy to forget that taking time to meditate is actually a very skillful use of your time. When you take a few moments to pause, you come back to your day feeling more focused, less stressed, and ultimately, more productive. So how do we work with restlessness and worry? Well, in meditation, giving the mind a specific place to focus can be incredibly helpful, whether that's the breath, a sensation in the body, or even the sound of your surroundings. And it is completely normal for the mind to jump around. And when it does, we simply guide our attention back to our point of focus. And some days, this will feel easier than others. The key is to approach it with curiosity and without judgment. And it's also worth noticing how restlessness shows up in the body. For me, it often feels like tension in my shoulders or an overall sense of agitation. When this happens, I do find it helpful to shift my attention to areas of the body that feel at ease. Maybe it's the softness of my hands, or even just my toes. Sometimes that tiny shift can help me let go of the tension I'm holding onto. When worry creeps in, I try to ask myself a simple question, what's within my control to change, and what isn't? So often, we get caught up trying to solve things that are completely outside our control. But when we shift our focus to cultivating our inner resources, patience, resilience, and self-compassion, we remind ourselves that we are actually better equipped to handle whatever comes our way. And outside of meditation, movement can be such a great way to work with restlessness. Taking a...