The word ‘rumination’ originates from a latin word meaning ‘to chew the cud’ and interestingly is all about how animals like cows, repeatedly chew their food.  Likewise, rumination means repeatedly turning something over in our mind.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with thinking about things, this is necessary when we have a problem to solve or we are trying to create something (like me writing this blog for you right now!).  The problem with rumination is that we tend to be thinking about negative past events and saying things to ourselves like ‘why did that happen’, ‘If only I’d …’ and ‘nothing ever goes right for me’.  The difficulty with this is that we can’t change the past and by ruminating we just end up feeling even more low, guilty, ashamed, tearful and overwhelmed.      

To get a handle on rumination the first step is to notice that it’s happening.  How many times have you been lost down a rabbit hole for half an hour before you’ve even realised what’s happening!  Once you’ve spotted it make a note of where you were, what you were doing and the time of day.  After about a week of this see if there are any patterns to your rumination.  Are there particular places it gets a hold of you?  Times of the day?  When you are doing certain activities?

Armed with this knowledge consider what you can do to change these situations to make rumination less likely.  For example, if you notice that the train journey home from work can be a time of rumination for you try listening to a podcast, do a sudoku or phone a friend.  The key is to distract your mind from those negative, past events, by giving it something more positive and present to focus on.

Rumination can be a tricky habit to break and finding the right distraction for you may take a bit of experimentation.  Going back to the train journey example, it could be that you put a podcast on but after a while you’re not really listening to it because the rumination has snuck back in.  In which case, find a different podcast which really draws you in, something you find interesting or funny.

It’s not just about WHAT you do to try to prevent rumination but HOW you do it.  Try to give tasks your full attention so you can really absorb your mind in them.  This is particularly important if like me you tend to ruminate when you’re doing mundane tasks like washing up or ironing.  Whatever it is you are doing engage all of your senses by noticing what you are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling.

I hope this brief introduction to rumination and the tips for overcoming it are helpful for you.  Do give them a really good try over the next few weeks and be patient with yourself as change can be  challenging, but so worth it!

If you feel that you would benefit from some more personalised one to one therapy with an experienced professional please get in touch with me on 07926 485 362 or email: hello@forresttalkingtherapies.co.uk.