Why stop the internal dialogue? Find out how a restless mind prevents us from living and developing fully.
What is internal dialogue?
Internal dialogue¹ is not just a verbal form of dialogue occurring in the mind, it is the totality of all thought processes, including creative thinking, mood, any form of movement and redirection of attention.
Tracking only speech form internal dialogue, a person loses attention to all other processes of his perception.
Internal dialogue plays a very big role important role in our lives, since external behavior reflects only a small part of our true “I”.
Most of the time, self-talk is negative, it reinforces any negative attitude and behavior. Only a few people have having enough faith in yourself and your abilities to lead a positive internal dialogue.
How to stop internal dialogue?
Stopping the internal dialogue is the task of every self-respecting yogi, even if he has not read the yoga sutras² of Patanjali³, where the first thing it says is that “yoga is the essence of stopping the bustle of the mind,” which is extremely important for self-development and spiritual improvement.
In fact, stopping this dialogue is very simple. Eat simple technique, which will help with this.
Technique
1. First you need to imagine a watch with a running and clicking second hand. Tick-tock - two seconds. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock - already six seconds. And tick-tock, tick-tock - it’s already all ten seconds!
2. While the arrow was clicking in my head, there was no internal dialogue.
3. By continuing to practice the exercise, you can eventually stop the internal dialogue for a minute or more.
To do this, you need to imagine in your head an arrow that has run for ten seconds, then repeat everything stated above, imagine an arrow that has already run for twenty seconds, and again for half a minute. And repeat it all over again (the arrow will run through the other half of the mental dial).
So, you were able to stop the dialogue for a minute. In order to stop it for 2 or more minutes, you should add to your imagination minute hand, which will move 1 minute after 60 seconds have passed.
With practice, the need for counting will disappear and the hand will move along the dial itself.
This technique is simple to the point of disgrace, but effective to perfection. You can combine the ticking of an arrow and breathing or heartbeat (if you can hear it). If you combine your breathing with ticking, then this technique can be adjusted to.
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Notes and feature articles for deeper understanding of the material
¹ Internal dialogue is a concept in psychology, the process of continuous internal communication of a person with himself, within personal autocommunication (Wikipedia).
² Yoga Sutras are the basic text of the Indian philosophical school of yoga, which has had, often indirectly, a huge influence on the perception of yoga in India and the rest of the world (Wikipedia).
³ Patanjali is the founder of Yoga, a philosophical and religious school (darshan) in India in the 2nd century. BC e. (
Sometimes after a hectic day at work or bright events in life, which require a lot of energy and emotions, when you go to bed in the evening, you return to the situations you experienced again and again. Every time you replay events in your head, you turn on your internal dialogue: argue, choose words that you could have said but didn’t, or simply relive the situation, the site agrees. This process does not allow you to switch off and relax. How I would like to fall asleep and not return to obsessive thoughts! Today we will teach you how to come into harmony with your own thoughts and feelings.
Why does the process of internal dialogue appear?
The thought process goes with us throughout life and never stops. Upbringing, social norms, religion and our self-image leave an indelible imprint on it.
But there comes a time when we start to think that something in life goes on not the way we would like, and we are trying to change it. However, we do not always succeed. As a rule, the obstacles are the ingrained attitudes that this internal dialogue creates.
Often internal communication a person’s relationship with himself almost never stops, and is only interrupted by sleep. Even he himself is not aware that this happens all the time.
Mental techniques for achieving silence in thoughts
If you like to draw pictures in your mind and visualize everything, then the following techniques will suit you:
- Imagine an object. Choose for yourself any object that you like (a ball, a car, a book), there is no difference. Now visualize this object down to the smallest detail. Relax before doing this exercise. The more real this item you can imagine, the better. Try not to be distracted by other thoughts.
- Count. Take any big number(eg 1000) and start counting down. Think purely about numbers.
- Strength of will. If you can, try to tell yourself to just not think. Use willpower to silence the voice in your head.
- Stalking. This method is based on monitoring your emotions and feelings during a dialogue, while managing your thoughts.
- Contemplation. Draw in your imagination some fairy world and just start contemplating how it functions.
Physical techniques for getting rid of internal dialogue
IN this method not imaginary, but actually existing objects are used to achieve inner silence:
- Observation. Make it a habit to observe objects that you like, allowing your thoughts to simply flow in the direction in which they go. Observe nature, animals, processes.
- Physical work. You can distract yourself by playing sports or doing housework. Then you will be busier with the question of how to relax than with your internal dialogue.
- Meditative practices. This method is perfect for clearing your thoughts.
- Sensory deprivation. You turn off one or more senses on your own (you can close your eyes and ears at the same time). But do not abuse this method, the effect will be the opposite.
How do you stop the flow of obsessive thoughts? Share your practice on the site.
Hello, friends.
Today we will talk about turning off the internal dialogue, we will get acquainted with the concept of stopping the internal dialogue, what it will give us in terms of improving health and finding happiness. Read, it will be interesting, you will learn a lot of new things for yourself.
What is internal dialogue
Many people, when they hear about stopping internal dialogue (or they also say OVD), imagine stopping thoughts. But in fact, internal dialogue is a broader concept. It includes not only our thoughts, but also feelings, emotions and perceptions. We can say that this is our entire psyche. When we truly stop VD, we stop not only thoughts, but also the work of the entire psyche. But we can say it differently. Stopping internal dialogue is divided into stages. First we stop thoughts, then feelings and emotions, then the deeper layers of the psyche and everyday perception of the world. And the deeper and better the quality of internal affairs, the deeper and deeper layers of the psyche we stop. And stopping thoughts, feelings and emotions is just the first stages.
But we will consider OVD precisely as stopping thoughts, feelings and emotions. For our purposes in terms of improving health and finding happiness, this is quite enough. A deeper stop is an advanced practice used for other purposes.
Therefore, below I will consider VD in exactly this way. The techniques I will present are aimed at this result. But I repeat, this will be enough for you to change your life in better side.
Why stop internal dialogue?
If our thoughts and emotions constantly work and never stop, this will greatly deplete the body and even lead to illness.
The thing is that a lot of money is spent on such work. energy resources. To stop wasting energy, nature provides for the internal dialogue to periodically stop itself. For these purposes there is a dream. Also, when we get tired, we feel dullness, when we don’t want to think about anything or react emotionally. , blues or low level mental response, all this is the body’s defense when the body’s energy is greatly reduced.
But the fact is that a person’s psyche has gotten so out of control and began to work incorrectly that sleep can no longer fully restore the body and restore order in the head. The saying: “the morning is wiser than the evening” is no longer relevant. In theory, we should rest at night and make decisions in the morning with clear brains. But, I repeat, sleep is no longer able to fully restore our strength.
Having gotten out of control, the psyche not only exhausts us, but often drives us into depression, phobias, panic attacks or all kinds intrusive thoughts, which are difficult to get rid of.
All this is so tiring that there is no strength left for a normal life. Internal dialogue, its obsessive thoughts, interfere with a normal life.
If you think that everything is fine with you, you do not have depression or other psychological problems, then you are wrong. There are problems, you’re just so used to them that you consider them the norm of life. We are all constantly dissatisfied with something, we are often nervous, offended by trifles, and cannot bear the stresses of life. We often quarrel with loved ones and colleagues at work. For the sake of their selfish goals, they are ready to resort to meanness. We all have our own fears, attitudes ingrained in our heads and programs instilled by the system that do not allow us to live normally and breathe freely and fully.
We are on the verge due to reduced vital energy. Yes, the energy level of most people is low due to uncontrolled and intensified internal dialogue and this is considered the norm.
People just don't know any other way.
If they learned to stop their obsessive, uncontrollable internal dialogue and put their psyche under control, their lives would improve a thousand times. Lost health would be restored, vital energy would increase, relationships with people would improve. The psycho-emotional sphere would improve, positive emotions there would be more. And an increase in vital energy would manifest itself in the fact that we would be more successful in life and do everything easily and naturally. And there are many such bonuses that can be listed, all due to the fact that the energy that was previously spent on improper mental functioning would return to us and change us for the better. I think I’ve convinced you why you need to learn to stop internal dialogue, because the consequences and results of such practice are only positive.
But if there is no internal dialogue at all, then this is also bad. It only needs to be stopped temporarily for the body to recover.
But after stopping there will be normal internal dialogue.
How to stop internal dialogue
Let's look at some simple but effective techniques stopping internal dialogue.
Sit down, close your eyes and relax. It doesn’t matter what your position is, the main thing is that you are comfortable. But it is better that you do not lie down, otherwise severe relaxation may occur.
Set yourself up to leave all external worries and problems behind and focus only on yourself.
Bring your attention inward. Try to look at your thoughts from the outside. Here they appear, dissolve, and are replaced by others. Don't fight them, let them live their lives. You are separate, they are separate.
You may notice all sorts of everyday thoughts that you had never looked at from the outside before because you were fused with them. “I forgot to go to the store today. I’m so tired of problems at work. They’ve been rude to me again, I feel bad. I’ll have to do it tomorrow...” And everything like that.
But now you observe them, you become disidentified with them. In addition to thoughts, feelings and emotions may also appear before your eyes. Watch them too. Don't fight them, just quietly observe. Practice this for a few minutes. The bigger, the better.
Then calmly, relaxed, turn your attention to the body. Try to take in your entire body at once with your inner gaze. Our attention, our brain cannot simultaneously think about something and at the same time look at something, contemplate intently. Moreover, contemplate several objects, several parts of the body at once. If we look attentively, without distraction, at the whole body at once, the internal dialogue will subside or even stop completely. The main thing is to do this calmly and relaxed.
You will also notice that again some thoughts begin to creep into our heads. This internal dialogue wants to turn on again and capture us, our attention. You just need to catch yourself in the fact that we are again thinking, and not looking at the body, relaxingly look at the thoughts from the outside, without fighting them, and again turn your attention to the body. It's actually easy. The main thing is to overcome the habit of constantly thinking and learn, just for the duration of practice, to look at your thoughts and emotions from the outside.
Try turning off the internal dialogue in this way for at least 5-10 minutes to begin with. And for best results then the time can be increased to 20 minutes.
If you do everything correctly, you will notice how you have achieved peace of mind, calmness and peace. Your soul will become lighter, bad thoughts will dissolve, stress will fade away. This state is the key to health and happiness.
Now you know how to stop the internal dialogue in your head; a short session of this exercise is enough to relax after a hard day at work, regain your strength, and forget about everyday problems.
Stopping internal dialogue using the technique of listening to internal sound
If you don't know how to stop internal dialogue, there is great way. This is focusing on the so-called internal sound in the head. This kind of stopping of internal dialogue is used in such ancient systems as yoga and qigong. If we step away from external sounds, turn our attention inward and listen, we will hear the background sound inside our head.
This may be a barely audible hiss, hum, whistle or other sound. The main thing is to catch it with your attention the first time, to hear it, next time you can easily find it. And if you listen to it for a long time, without being distracted by thoughts, the internal sound will become clear, loud, well helping to stop thoughts and emotions.
The mechanism is the same here. As soon as the internal dialogue tries to turn on again, catch yourself thinking again, calmly turn your attention to the internal sound and continue to listen to it. Focusing on the inner sound is very good at stopping the mental and emotional flow.
How to get rid of internal dialogue with yourself through observation
As I said before, if our attention is focused intently on something, whether we are listening intently, looking at something, or feeling something with our body, then we cannot think or react emotionally at the same time. In this case, the psyche simply does not have the resources or energy supply.
Many techniques for stopping internal dialogue have been created based on this law of nature.
You can simply take a break from everyday affairs during the day, finally escape from the constant bustle of restless thoughts and look at what surrounds us. It doesn't matter what to look at or where, be it office space, home room or street landscape.
Look carefully at the objects around you, notice every little detail in them, try not to miss anything. I assure you, you will definitely see something new in an ordinary environment, you will be surprised that you have not noticed it before. Don't be distracted by thoughts, observe and observe again.
Thoughts will try to settle in your head again, just calmly turn your attention back to the objects around you. Negative thoughts and emotions will subside, and you will achieve calm peace and quietness of mind. It's better if you take a walk on fresh air and in this way enjoy the beauty of nature. This will be a great rest after a hard day of work.
Also use the skill of close observation wherever possible.
For example, when you eat, you don’t need to rush, swallow food quickly. This will lead to problems gastrointestinal tract. Eat mindfully. Slowly feel the pleasant taste of food during. While swallowing, imagine how the food has entered your stomach for your benefit, and the energy inside your stomach is filled to digest it.
When you take a shower (preferably), you don’t need to dwell on thoughts about the events of the past day. It’s better to observe the sensations in your body, how it reacts to water. How streams of water touch you, how it flows down your body.
All this will help reduce and even completely stop internal dialogue, which means achievements in the future healthy body and spirit.
Try something of your own, be creative. The main thing is to grasp the state of peace that will come to you as a result of ATS. In the future, I assure you, you will like it, you will easily be able to do any practice of stopping the internal dialogue.
I have given the most famous and easy techniques for stopping internal dialogue. In fact, there are a lot of ways and methods to stop internal dialogue. But remember, it’s not about the number of techniques, it’s about the quality of stopping and calming the mind. One or two techniques are enough, but used regularly and in sufficient quantities (at least 10-20 minutes) for your life to change for the better. Your strength and health will gradually return. The energy previously wasted by your restless thoughts and negative emotions, will return to your body, and also change you and your life.
The main thing is to achieve a state of mental silence and... It is this condition that contributes to proper ATS. Otherwise, some try to stop thoughts with all their might, coming to yet another more voltage. To achieve relaxation, we need to enter a state of non-doing, when we stop any attempts to change something in ourselves, achieve a stop, and simply humbly observe everything that happens inside our psyche.
To better understand the state of not doing, I suggest you read an article about. After all, meditation in its essence is stopping the internal dialogue, but used in a special position, sitting with a straight spine, which is more correct.
Also, the topic of internal dialogue is closely related to such a topic as. When we stop the internal dialogue, we gradually come to awareness in life. Awareness is a state. This next stage evolution, infallibility and impeccability in any actions, life without fuss and problems. Be sure to read about mindfulness.
I think you understand how to learn to stop the internal dialogue. Stop it and then you will be happy and healthy.
See you soon, friends on the blog pages.
And at the end of the article very interesting video. From it you will learn what ATS practices can lead to next. After all, happiness and health are just the beginning.
Internal dialogue- This is autocommunication of a continuous nature. Simply put, this is the communicative interaction of a human subject with his own person within a person. An element of internal conversation that ensures dialogism of consciousness is considered to be reflection, which is the concentration of the individual’s attention on subjective experience and state. Internal dialogue is considered to be the result of several subjects of communication being simultaneously inside the consciousness. In addition, the analyzed process is an integral element of altered states, a component of their formation and development. Also, internal dialogue can be used as a psychotechnical tool in all kinds of meditative practices and religious techniques.
What is internal dialogue?
A number of scientists in the field of psychology suggest that by this concept we mean detailed communicative activity of the individual, aimed at aspects of reality and one’s “I” that are significant for it. The originality of such activity is due to the interaction of at least two contradictory views formed by one subject.
According to the position of other researchers, internal autocommunication is an “intrapsychic speech process, occurring in the form of dialogue and aimed at solving intellectually ambiguous, significant in the personal and emotional aspect of conflict issues. At the same time, the described concept is not considered as a confrontation of opposing semantic beliefs due to the presence of an unsolvable problematic situation.
Internal dialogue is rather a method of “getting used to” and transforming emotionally intense, personally or intellectually important entities by the subject.
Many ordinary people who are far from understanding psychology are interested in internal dialogue. Is this normal?
This phenomenon is considered normal. Closed people resort to the process under consideration because they reluctantly interact with the environment and do not want outsiders to interfere in their own existence. However, sociable subjects also conduct internal dialogue. Conversation with oneself begins in childhood and persists until the end of life. According to Freud, the phenomenon under consideration is a communicative interaction between three components human psyche, namely: its comprehended part or “Ego”, the repressed part by consciousness or “Id” and manifestations of the “Super-I”. Hence, he considered the essence of internal autocommunication to be a dialogue between the meaningful consciousness of the subject and its unconscious component, the judge of which is the Super-Ego. During the conversation, an agreement occurs within oneself between the listed three elements of the psyche, which contributes to the process of constant personal development. In serious situations, in important points being, internal conversation helps the subject to accept the right decision in order to find a way out of the current circumstances.
Therefore, the answer should be yes to the question, is internal dialogue normal?
A continuous conversation takes place in the head of any subject. Such a conversation can take a lot of effort, a lot of attention and time. Internal conversation begins from the moment of awakening and lasts until the moment of departure into the realm of dreams.
Autocommunication occurs constantly and it does not matter what a person does. A conversation takes place within oneself while the subject is having breakfast, reading, working, walking, etc. During the process under consideration, spontaneous assessment of surrounding people, commenting on current events, and planning occur.
The structure of this process contains internalized images of important interlocutors within, as well as various (positive, pathological or neutral) forms of interaction that arise between them.
Internal conversation contributes to the implementation of processes and mental activity, awareness of certain components, transformation of the hierarchy.
The described concept is also used in esotericism. However, it began to be used more widely after the publication of books by C. Castaneda, who argued that internal conversation completely takes away the flexibility and openness of the brain.
Castaneda considered internal dialogue to be a tool through which the subject forms and fixes an image own world. He believed that people constantly discuss the world with themselves. Castaneda believed that through internal dialogue the human subject actually creates the world, and when he stops having a conversation with himself, the world becomes exactly the way it should be.
Stopping autocommunication will lead to openness and meaningfulness, a change in worldview, and the world will become brighter. After all, everything around is not objective reality. This is only a subjective perception of the Universe, generated by an endless dialogue with oneself. Such dialogue is always constant, and therefore, until it changes, nothing in existence will change either. This is why Castaneda believes it is necessary to stop the internal dialogue. Since it is possible to distinguish a number negative consequences endless conversations with yourself:
- inability to concentrate;
- a stable mental background in the head;
— permanent processes reflection;
- duality of consciousness;
- a state of continuous stress;
- inability to make decisions;
- insomnia;
- narrowness of thinking;
- increased drowsiness;
- inability to establish control over one’s own thoughts;
- , guilt.
How to turn off internal dialogue?
Many individuals have repeatedly noted that they communicate mentally with themselves. It is generally normal to talk to yourself mentally. However, there are exceptions. Some scientists are confident that constant communicative interaction with own personality often leads to the loss of the line between reality and far-fetched things. Therefore, there is a practice of stopping internal dialogue and many techniques have been developed.
Failure to turn off internal conversation leads to a distraction from important events, solutions to issues, and loss of energy. Destructive autocommunication is when an individual constantly seems to “chew” in his own thoughts what he said, what was answered to him, what else he could have added, why the interlocutor did this, etc.
Below is the method for disabling internal conversation, liberation from excessive mental “garbage” that does not contain a creative basis.
How to stop internal dialogue? First of all, you need to understand that it is impossible to turn off your internal interlocutor with one wave of your hand. The technique for stopping conversations with yourself consists of 3 steps.
On elementary level the individual needs to realize the free flow of thoughts. It is easier to find and comprehend the “thought stream” in a state of forced inactivity or rest, for example, during a morning commute. The mind is not taught to remain silent. Various chaotic thought streams invariably arise in it. Therefore, the task of the stage under consideration is precisely the awareness free movement mental images, as well as feeling them physically.
The next stage is based on awareness of internal autocommunication. You should move to this stage only after mastering the ability to recognize the freely flowing flow of thoughts and the ability to observe this flow. Here you need to try to find thoughts that are interrupted, immature, incomplete, not fully thought out. In addition, on physical level it is necessary to feel the imperfection of unfinished mental sentences, for example, in the form of a feeling of creaking foam. At the same time, you should learn to look for “foundling thoughts” among the flow of your own thoughts, generated not by the consciousness of the individual, but intruded from the surrounding reality. At the same time, “alien thoughts” do not always cause damage. However, there are mental images that are unique “ Trojan horse", through which various puppeteers try to control a person. Actually, you need to get rid of them, first of all. An alien thought is harmless to an individual until it is transformed into emotions, a call to action, directly into action.
The practice of stopping internal dialogue at the last stage is to replace the internal “auditor” with a “gardener.” Here, unfinished thoughts should be considered as “unblown flowers” that need to be nurtured into “fruit.” A completed thought must go through the entire chain of associations and leave the brain without generating a desire to return to it, thinking about it endlessly. This helps to calm the mind, freeing attention, subordinate vicious circle fictitious problems.
Often the first spontaneous reaction to an event is negative. If the individual does not track it and does not eliminate it, then this reaction can turn on a chain of undesirable processes, such as: accelerated heartbeat, dream disturbances, depressive mood, inappropriate behavior, leading to the destruction of habitual existence.
Stopping internal dialogue - techniques
Mental noise often distracts subjects' attention, preventing them from finding solutions and performing everyday tasks. Internal auto-communication, when uncontrolled, is such mental noise. Constantly racing thoughts take away the attention of individuals, which negatively affects daily life. Therefore, quieting the mind and shutting off the internal dialogue is the most important tasks. Since thoughts tend to involve a person in their flow, the consequence of this is the control of human activities by thoughts.
The subject begins to think, worry, while giving energy to thought, jumping from one mental image to another. This process becomes continuous. As a result, it is difficult for an individual to focus on what is significant, to grasp the essence of a problem situation, and to find the right solution among hundreds of existing ones. As a result of obsessive mental noise, individuals are unable to hear the voice of intuition. Therefore, they make many mistakes, some of which cannot be corrected.
How to stop internal dialogue?
First of all, you should try not to think for 20-30 seconds. The main thing is that the thought does not flash through your brain: “There is no need to think.” Because every phrase spoken inside is already an internal conversation. After a given time, it will become clear that thinking process did not disappear anywhere, that thoughts flowed by themselves while the individual tried not to think.
So, turning off the internal dialogue begins with an attempt at detachment own consciousness. In other words, the individual should become an outside observer, trying to track the moments of the birth of new thoughts. In addition, he should catch the moments of flow of one thought image into another. Most techniques aimed at stopping internal conversation are based on understanding the functioning of autocommunication processes and the ability to monitor the emergence of unwanted thoughts.
The success of practicing self-talk shutdown techniques is influenced by external factors. Therefore, it is advisable to practice in a separate room, in which the possibility of extraneous stimuli is minimized. Such irritants include other subjects, noise, light. In addition to the need to eliminate extraneous distractions, you should also eliminate obvious reasons for the emergence of thoughts. For example, if the subject urgently needs to decide important question, then you should not start practicing the technique of turning off inner speech.
The body should be relaxed, preferably practiced in a horizontal position. Therefore, it is recommended to start any technique with relaxation. In the morning, immediately after waking up, it is easier to practice the technique of stopping internal dialogue. However, the most effective practice is considered to be before leaving for the realm of dreams.
The simplest technique for stopping internal dialogue is to create so-called “white” noise. It is necessary to close your eyelids, mentally draw a white screen in front of your eyes and move your gaze from corner to corner every 3 seconds, and then in a haphazard manner.
Simple and at the same time maximum the hard way turning off autocommunication is a technique based on willpower. Here the individual needs to silence his own inner voice. If willpower is developed, then there will be no problems with the implementation of this technique.
The next technique is to achieve peace of mind. Her target setting consists in preparing a vacuum of consciousness. Here the subject needs to fill consciousness in order to gradually empty it in the future. However, in the technique described, this process is simplified and accelerated by the fact that only one representation, but richer in content, is created and then eliminated.
The course of the exercise is as follows. The subject positions his own torso comfortably and imagines a hot rotating ball. Eyes closed. You need to concentrate on this dazzlingly luminous ball; at the beginning of the technique it is colored reddish-yellow. With practice, the ball should become more distinct. Its color should resemble a candle flame, which an individual looks at at a distance of 200 mm. After a few trainings, the practitioner of this technique will be able to instantly conjure up the described hot ball in his own imagination. Upon reaching desired result You can gradually make the ball smaller until only a dark background appears.
Achieving absolute inner emptiness should be brought to automaticity. In other words, the individual must instantly awaken this state at any time.
Suitable for people with patience next technique. In a lying position and a relaxed state, a person needs to silently count from one to one hundred in rhythm with his breathing. Moreover, if during the counting at least one, even the most rapid, thought arises, the countdown should be started again. You should practice until you reach the number 100 without a single extraneous thought, then it is recommended to increase the range to 200. The result of the described technique will be the achievement of a state of silence, which does not require the application of force to achieve it.