Rumination, a term popularized by , refers to the situation in which a stressed or depressed person focuses on repetitive thoughts about their symptoms and their possible causes and consequences in a passive manner (that is, they do not look for solutions). The subject enters a cycle of thought rumination. While most people go through this experience, some do it much more than the rest. Rumination can represent a problem in the lives of these people, especially if they have symptoms of anxiety or depression, since they will possibly be exacerbated.
There are different psychological treatments that have been shown to be effective in treating thought rumination, such as . In this article we want to present 4 exercises that can be used as additional resources to therapy and aim to relieve the tension that rumination transmits to us:
Write
Writing about your sensations, emotions and thoughts is a good therapeutic tool, as it allows you to organize what you have in your head and put it outside.
voice notes
Making voice notes is a good alternative to the task of writing. In addition, it will allow you to talk to the part of you that is stuck, learn to calm it down and tell it to breathe.
Exercise: “What can it be used for?”
When you feel absorbed by your negative emotions or thoughts, focus your attention on some object around you and look for five imaginary uses for it. For example, a book could be used to put under the leg of a table to balance it; as a ping-pong racket; to protect from the sun; to light a fireplace or as a fan. If it is not enough, you can repeat the exercise with other objects.
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This task will help you focus your attention on something external and is therefore indicated for when you feel dominated by your thoughts.
Positive message with non-dominant hand
Write a positive message for yourself on a piece of paper, about ten words long. When you feel overwhelmed by your negative emotions, take the paper and copy the message three times… but with your non-dominant hand. You will pay all your attention to ensuring that the handwriting is as careful as in the original message. Here is another example of focusing attention on something external (concentration on writing well with the non-dominant hand) in order to divert it from a negative emotion or cognition.
Dare to try!