Mental Imbalance:- Rumination/Overthinking

Reflexology and Reiki can help rebalance your whole system including mental imbalances. One mental imbalance is rumination. This is also referred to as overthinking. Overthinking is dwelling and repeating the same thought. This can in turn become worry. Worry is a sign of anxiety. Anxiety is a medical term for fear. This often leads to a lack of decision making, even the simple decisions can be affected like making the bed, eating breakfast or what to wear that day.

Stress, anxiety and other intellectual characteristics when not channelled constructively can create rumination. Self doubt can create the fear of making the wrong choice and therefore running over the same ‘problem’ in your mind leading to difficulty in making a decision, when depending on the situation choosing anything would be acceptable and may in fact be better than inaction. e.g. Put the rubbish out or check the mail box. Make the bed or do the dishes.

Rumination can be mistaken for procrastination which can be mistaken for resting! It is common for me to see people feeling guilty for taking a break and calling it procrastination when their body actually just needs a break and is resting. An effective strategy to ensure this doesn’t become a habit affecting your daily function is to give yourself a set time to rest and then decide what you are going to go and do. Feeling guilty adds stress to the body which is the exact opposite of what resting is aimed at achieving.

An example of intellectual characteristics leading to rumination is having an analytical mind. For example, if a job role ends and this skill of analysis becomes redundant it can turn into overthinking with the mental energy having nowhere to go. Knowing this about yourself helps to manage your wellness.

Other signs of overthinking can include:

  • Dwelling on past events or situations.
  • Second-guessing decisions you’ve made.
  • Replaying mistakes in your mind.
  • Rehashing challenging or uncomfortable conversations.
  • Fixating on things you can’t control, change or improve.
  • Imagining the worst-case scenario or outcome.

There is a level of thinking which is beneficial. This helps us go about our day and move forward in life. When fear dominates our mind and affects our brains pathways overthinking is ineffective and can lead to disfunction and inaction in our lives.

Understanding this empowers us to make a choice and do something to manage it. Regular treatments at Heel to Heal of either Reflexology or Reiki will manage this and also provide your body with the relaxation, calm your nervous system and allow clear decisions to form. Additionally, Reflexology and Reiki are grounding activities which effectively allow the mental energy around the head to dissipate and re balance throughout the body.

I look forward to seeing you at your next session at Heel to Heal.

Many Blessings

References

  1. Article: When overthinking becomes a problem, what can you do about it, 12 April, 2021, Kate McCallum (https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2021/apr/when-overthinking-becomes-a-problem-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/)
  2. Article: What is overthinking and how do I stop overthinking everything, 13 July 2021, Stephanie Anderson Whitmer (https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/healthy-mind/how-can-i-stop-overthinking-everything)