Ways to stop internal dialogue. Stopping internal dialogue or stopping the brain

Good day to everyone who is reading this article. Today we will reflect on a very interesting topic.

You may have some experience with meditation and complete relaxation. Or, perhaps, on the contrary, it may be difficult for you to fall asleep, relax, various thoughts come into your mind, not that they are negative, but you definitely have no peace from them. This happened.

What is this? How to deal with this, is it necessary to fight, is it possible to stop this mental noise, and perhaps even benefit from it? That's exactly what you'll learn in this article on Stopping Self-Dialogue.

The psyche and inner world of a newborn child is a blank slate. Gradually, the imprints of upbringing, social norms, the opinions of others, schools, friends, and parents are left on it. This is how our worldview arises. The picture of the world, born of external factors, thought out by the brain and passed through the inner consciousness, creates our life and subjective reality.

The thought process continues to shape our picture of the world throughout life, without changing or stopping. In addition to the picture of the world, a person’s thoughts create an image of himself in his own mind. The background thought process occurs in the form of a mental dialogue and fetters us, keeping us within the framework of formed ideas.

And now an adult is trying to influence his environment, change his life and other people, but nothing works. "How so?" - he laments and does not understand - “well, what am I doing wrong, why do I need this, why is this?” And it’s all our fault, created and recorded by our internal dialogue.

Mental dialogue from the point of view of psychology

The concept of mental dialogue in psychology is mentioned quite often and for a long time. This is a person’s internal communication with himself; it does not stop, except perhaps in a dream or during a change in state of consciousness (but more on that another time). So, often a person himself does not realize that many thoughts are constantly spinning in his brain, very often unrelated to each other. Each of them, like a tail, clings to a “piece” of the one that just left, the next one clings to it, and so on in an endless string.

E. Berne, the creator of the theory of transactional analysis, explained internal dialogue as an endless communication of different states in which our ego resides. This is the state of the child, the state of the parent and the state of the adult. These three models constantly communicate with each other, often contradicting each other.

This theory closely echoes psychoanalysis, where, as is known, Freud identified three structures of the human psyche: “IT” (or “libido”), “I” (or “EGO”) and “SUPER-EGO” (or “SUPER-EGO”) ").

At the subconscious (that is, unconscious) level, these structures are in a state of conflict. There is a simple explanation for this. “IT” is subject to the principles of pleasure and happiness (which are the main goal in human life), “SUPER-I”, on the contrary, is a kind of censor, it is conscience, the bearer of moral and moral standards.

The “I” tries to establish a balance between the craving for pleasure and moral standards. If, to please the “libido”, but in opposition to the “SUPER-EGO”, the “I” commits a certain act or makes a decision, then it experiences remorse and a feeling of guilt. In addition to these two structures, our “I” is also dominated by the opinion of society with its requirements, social norms and foundations.

In Gestalt psychology, for example, the technique of internal dialogue is often used for therapeutic purposes. When a person has a problematic situation with which he turns to a specialist practicing Gestalt therapy, he invites him to consciously initiate an internal dialogue. The purpose of such dialogue is the mental logical conclusion of a situation that arose in the past, is not completed and causes problematic consequences in the present. But here we are talking about meaningful dialogue.

It’s one thing when we consciously begin to think and ponder upcoming plans, to look for possible solutions to emerging problems. And it’s completely different when endless reflection begins (internal assessment and delving into one’s own feelings and sensations), experiencing again and again events that are in the past, blaming or self-flagellation for certain actions of one’s own self.

What type of people are you? Are you using your own brain productively?

Internal dialogue in esotericism

In esoteric science, the concept of internal dialogue became widely used after Carlos Castaneda covered it in his books. According to his teachings, internal dialogue completely deprives the brain of flexibility and openness. It captures a certain perception of the world, which is repeated again and again, confirmed by an endless internal dialogue.

Special creatures - flyers (inorganic entities), through internal dialogue, instill in people the ability to perceive the world through greed, pity, boredom, despondency, envy and other negative qualities. And at this time the flyers themselves “pump” energy out of us, leaving only the smallest amount, which is only enough to be fixated on our ego and endlessly reflect.

A person does not realize that the thoughts that arise in the process of internal dialogue are the “intrigues” of the flyers, but believe that these are their own thoughts. Thus, he constantly loses energy and lives an absolutely limited life, perceiving the world in a one-sided plane.

If you stop the internal dialogue, you can get rid of the attacks of the flyers. This will lead to awareness and openness, the worldview will change, the world will shine with many new lights that were never even dreamed of before.

Everything that surrounds us is not an objective reality, it is our perception of the world, born of an endless dialogue with ourselves about ourselves and the world. And this dialogue is always the same. And until he changes, nothing will change in life. Castaneda believes that if you do not stop the internal dialogue, a person will not be able to change anything either in himself or in his picture of the world.

Signs and consequences of self-talk

Inability to concentrate;
constant mental noise in the head;
continuous reflection;
state of permanent stress;
inconsistency of consciousness;
inability to make decisions;
causeless anxiety;
suspiciousness, suggestibility;
insomnia;
tightness physically and mentally;
one-sided flat perception of the world;
limited thinking;
drowsiness;
difficulty in practicing meditation;
inability to control your own thoughts;
living life on “autopilot”, not being aware of yourself in the current moment;
aggression, guilt.

And believe me, this is not a complete list. And now are you ready to realize, wake up, become a warrior (for fans of Castaneda), in short, are you ready to stop the internal dialogue? No one promises an easy path, but it's worth it, believe me.

Stopping methods

There are many techniques for achieving inner silence, silence, purification, catharsis, insight. We will tell you about some of them. They are divided into mental and physical. The first group of methods refers to mental ones.

Stopping by willpower

These methods are suitable for individuals with a developed imagination, the ability to visualize and at least somewhat control their own thoughts.

Recreating a thought form. This method is best practiced in privacy and quiet, ideally before bed. Relax as much as possible, starting from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. Visualize any thought form, it can be a rotating ball, a sphere, a fiery cube, a luminous cone. Focus completely on this idea, hold it in your mind, do not allow your attention to switch and extraneous thoughts.

Check. This method, simple at first glance, can be practiced at any time, provided that nothing distracts you or interferes with you. Start counting backwards from a thousand. Count as much as you can, while thinking only about numbers.

Mental order(complete internal silence). Just tell yourself not to think, to shut up. Using your willpower, “catch” thoughts. As soon as a thought appears in your inner field of vision, immediately give yourself an order.

Stalking. This is tracking your own thoughts, feelings, sensation reactions in order to gain complete control over yourself.

Mental contemplation. Recreating, with the help of imagination in your mind, mental images of existing or non-existent places, countries, natural phenomena, examining and focusing on them.

Physical practices

Contemplation. Unlike volitional methods, this practice uses complete “letting go” of thoughts. Choose an object of contemplation, it could be the surface of the sea, natural beauty, a fire, a waterfall, a starry sky. Just watch and let go of your thoughts, don't try to control or stop them, let them flow freely, just relax and enjoy the contemplation. One day you will feel that there are simply no thoughts, your whole being is filled with aesthetic beauty. Practice this method more often, and in addition to stopping the internal dialogue, you will experience pleasure and peace.

Hard physical work. If volitional methods fail to overcome the obsessive mental noise, you can use exhausting labor. Your body will be exhausted with fatigue, and your thoughts will be spinning only in the area of rest and relaxation. This could be strength sports, wrestling, walking, running, swimming.

Meditation and yoga- classical methods of stopping not only internal dialogue.
However, they require a systematic approach and have many other positive effects.

Tensegrite- these are special exercises that Castaneda describes in his book “Magic Passes of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico.”

Sensory deprivation. A win-win. This is “turning off” one or more, and ideally all, senses. This can be achieved by eliminating the influence of external factors.

There are special sensory deprivation chambers. The conditions of sensory deprivation in the chamber are complete darkness and silence (thus eliminating the effects on the organs of hearing and vision). A person is placed in a container filled with salt water, which creates weightlessness due to its density. The water temperature is equal to body temperature (thermosensitivity is eliminated).

But this cannot be abused, in short periods of time the brain is literally cleared, the internal dialogue stops, consciousness is reconstructed, complete relaxation and relaxation occurs. With a long stay in a sensory deprivation chamber, the effect can be the opposite: hallucinations, depression, and inappropriate behavior occur.

A sensory deprivation chamber can be partially recreated at home in your own bathroom. Fill it with water at 36-37 degrees so that you don’t feel your body in it, use earplugs for your ears, turn off the lights. Relax and lie in this bath for 10-15 minutes.

We wish you, friends, a successful stop to the internal dialogue, gaining control over your own thoughts and easily achieving happiness.

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Every person constantly has a variety of thoughts in his head, each of which is capable of attracting his attention. Attention begins to jump from one thought to another, so a person cannot concentrate on something really important for himself for a long time. Thoughts begin to float into your head on their own and involve you in experiences, occupying your mind with unnecessary conversations. Thus, thoughts begin to control a person.

The definition of stopping internal dialogue is a process that occurs in speech form and is aimed at solving an ambiguous and conflicting problem.

Features of internal dialogue

Internal dialogue is a very inefficient process that wastes a lot of energy. Most often, it is not aimed at finding solutions to problems and problems. Remembering past events (anxiety, grievances), a person analyzes them, suggests how things could have happened differently, regrets something unsaid or undone, etc. During internal dialogue, a large and senseless waste of energy occurs. To prevent this, you need to master techniques for stopping internal dialogue.

The benefits of internal dialogue

Internal conversation can be very useful in different situations; it helps to find a large number of ways to solve various problems, gets you interested in something, and helps you reason. Internal dialogue with yourself must be started when it is needed, and stopped in time when it is not necessary. With the help of internal conversation, you can find answers to many questions, as well as solve some problems and problems. But very often it happens that the conversation of the mind prevents you from concentrating on something. Under this condition, it is recommended to use techniques for stopping internal dialogue.

Negative consequences of self-talk

During internal dialogue, a person worries, gives his energy to incoming thoughts and jumps from one thought to another. This action prevents you from concentrating on an important matter and finding the right solution. Due to the constant attack of the mind by unnecessary thoughts, a person stops hearing the voice of his intuition, which can give the right advice. That's why people tend to change their goals instead of turning them into reality.

It is worth noting that internal dialogue, just like physical activity, can provoke fatigue. Immersion in thoughts and spending time on them leads to the fact that a person does not have any time left to do the necessary things.

So, if there is no proper control over internal dialogue, it begins to cause harm, namely: it distracts from business and work; focuses attention on negative events; foreshadows in advance failure in any business; brings up old worries and grievances.

When a person experiences past events, finishes conversations, reproaches and scolds himself, it is very important to stop such unproductive dialogue with himself in time.

Stopping internal dialogue: why and how to do it

The human essence is designed in such a way that it is able to constantly talk to itself without uttering thoughts out loud. Stopping this dialogue will help stop the internal conversation, and will also clear your mind of bad thoughts and help you focus on the right tasks.

It takes a lot of concentration and persistence to stop the internal dialogue. Those people who were able to master this technique of stopping internal dialogue note an increase in self-confidence, calmness and efficiency. By stopping or changing the internal dialogue, a person is able to change his picture of the world and the world around him. But this process requires persistence and regular targeted actions leading to results. It is very important to be able to stop the internal dialogue at will.

To turn off internal dialogue, you need to find and then turn off the sources of its occurrence, as well as apply techniques, practices and exercises to stop the internal dialogue. It is worth noting that each source must be turned off separately.

The following sources should be highlighted: hearing, touch, smell, taste, vision. After the sources of internal dialogue are blocked, its basis, or rather, thoughts, remains. Each individual source, sensually perceiving and analyzing, divides sensations into beautiful or ugly, pleasant or unpleasant, tasty or tasteless, etc. The combination of perceptions gives rise to rapid, continuous thoughts, calculations and analyses. Apart from this, there are other factors such as social, intellectual and everything related to life.

Therefore, the processing of impressions received from various sources generates a continuous stream of thoughts in the human mind.

Types of techniques for stopping internal dialogue

It should be noted that internal dialogue is nothing more than a habit formed by a person in the course of his life. Therefore, each person has a unique and unrepeatable internal dialogue. Changing this habit will require a sufficient amount of time, as well as regular training and self-control. It is known that the mind can change habits within 40 days after starting regular exercise. Therefore, you will need to train and meditate for about half an hour every day for 40 days.

The technique of stopping internal dialogue is divided into the following two parts:

1. The figurative and verbal flows from everyday life stop in the mind.

2. The process of incorrect interpretation and analysis stops.

Exercises must be performed in a standing or sitting position, in addition, with an even posture, that is, the head should be in line with the spine. You need to look straight ahead, without moving your gaze from object to object, but focusing your gaze on one point.

Theory and practice of stopping internal dialogue

Technique for stopping visual perception

When looking at any incident, for example, fun, a fight, a holiday, suffering, you must remain a calm and indifferent observer. At the same time, the gaze should remain indifferent. Looking at a pretty face, you don’t need to allow the image to be considered beautiful in your mind.

Neither good nor bad should affect feelings and thoughts. Using this technique, you can impartially look at things and events in life, see them in a new way.

Sound perception

When listening to some sad story from life, the thought of pity, resentment and anger should not creep in.

When listening to jokes or something funny, you must try to prevent the desire to laugh from reaching your consciousness.

You can create different situations based on opposites.

When working with this technique, you do not need to associate different sounds with each other.

Smell stopping technique

Using such opposite concepts as “sharp” - “weak”, “pleasant” - “unpleasant”, you can come up with appropriate training. Sensations should not cause pleasant or unpleasant feelings - this is exactly what the practice of stopping internal dialogue with the help of smell is all about.

Taste

You can use what is tasty and tasteless. The main thing is that the sensations caused by food do not cause any feelings in the mind.

Touch

The following opposites should be used in the technique: sharp - dull, soft - hard, and others.

Technique for stopping internal dialogue at the level of thoughts

Every person has passive and active thoughts. Passive thoughts arise unconsciously, regardless of the person himself, while active thoughts are created by him himself. To perform the technique of stopping internal dialogue, you need to relax and concentrate on the thoughts running through your head. You need to sit like this for a while and monitor uncontrollable thoughts. By focusing his attention on a disturbing thought, a person thereby stops it. An important feature of the technique is that you need to track passive thoughts with your active thoughts. It is from passive thoughts that internal dialogue consists. Intentions and will are activated thanks to active thoughts, so they can be controlled and passive thoughts can be “caught.” To monitor your own thoughts, you need to look inside yourself and keep all your attention on the thoughts in the center of your head.

This technique is quite complex, but effective. It needs to be done regularly for half an hour every day.

Contemplative techniques for stopping internal dialogue

Another option for dealing with internal dialogue is the contemplative technique. To do this, you can use special images for contemplation. When conducting this, you must adhere to the description of the technique for stopping internal dialogue. This technique is performed with a defocused gaze and calm breathing. It is necessary to reach a state where the image becomes static. This will quickly get rid of internal dialogue and calm a shaken psyche.

Blocking incoming information using a mantra

This method is based on stopping the internal dialogue using your yoga technique. You need to come up with a word that you can fully concentrate on. To do this, you need to choose a euphonious word that does not evoke emotions. It should only evoke a feeling of calm. Examples of mantras: ra-um - calm, free-den - peace. A mantra can free a person’s consciousness from unnecessary thoughts at any time. After choosing a mantra, you need to take a comfortable position and fix your gaze on a certain point. Then you need to say the mantra in a loud voice, and then repeat it rhythmically. At the same time, you definitely need to enjoy this process, experimenting with the sound. Gradually you need to lower the sound, pronouncing the word quieter and quieter.

After the mantra has turned into a barely audible whisper, you need to stop saying it, close your eyes and listen to yourself. It is important to hear how it sounds from within, filling your consciousness. This meditation should be done for 20 minutes daily.

Internal dialogue is a continuous process occurring in the mind of every person. It represents communication with oneself. We are accustomed to not noticing how thoughts rush around in our heads, combining into logical chains, building a series of associations with certain words or events. At first glance, there is nothing wrong with this, but do you know how to stop the internal dialogue at the right moment? Such a “brake pedal” for thoughts is simply necessary in situations where you need to concentrate and direct the energy of the upper chakras in the right direction, namely to enhance creative abilities and activate conscious thinking.

Alone with thoughts: why do you need to stop the internal dialogue?

Learning to stop internal dialogue is necessary, first of all, for developing creative abilities, focusing on what is truly important, and limiting the amount of energy wasted by the brain. In addition, internal dialogue is the main obstacle to relaxation and complete isolation from the bustle of the world. It is very difficult to get rid of stress and put aside worries when you are constantly thinking and debating about something inside yourself.

Many people find it very difficult not to think about anything at all for at least 20 seconds. As soon as we try not to think about anything, the thought “Don’t think about anything!” is visualized in our heads. As a result, a person thinks how not to think about anything, that is, the internal dialogue continues.

How to stop internal dialogue - learning to control your mind

The first step, as with all meditative practices, is to limit your exposure to external stimuli as much as possible. Secondly, comfort is very important: take a relaxing position and tune in to the process of controlling thoughts. As practice shows, it is best to do this after waking up or before going to bed.

To stop the internal dialogue, it is also important to learn to take the position of an observer and try to trace the process of thoughts arising, as well as the stages of their transition into new thoughts. In the future, this will help you stop the internal dialogue.

There are four main methods for stopping internal dialogue:

for the smart;
for the cunning;
for the strong;
for those who are patient.

How to stop internal dialogue: the “smart” method

Go into the position of an observer, watch your consciousness in a detached manner and try to determine the point of origin of the thought. Gently push away spontaneous thoughts without saying within yourself the phrase “Now I will stop this thought,” because This kind of thinking is also an internal dialogue that you learn to stop.

To achieve success and learn to stop internal dialogue, you will need a lot of effort. An important condition is complete silence for 3-5 minutes. Over time, you will be able to maintain inner silence without much effort.

To consolidate the result, as soon as you reach a state of silence, come up with a code word for it, or better yet, a phrase to build an association with such a state - this will make it easier to stop the internal dialogue.

How to stop internal dialogue: the “for the cunning” method

This method is based on a maneuver that distracts consciousness. So, you have to concentrate your consciousness on mental work of a monotonous nature, which at the same time should completely capture your attention.

For example, imagine any geometric figure (red pyramid, green cube, pink ball, etc.) or any object. Your task is to imagine the selected object rotating slowly. You must fully concentrate on imagining the shape, size, color, speed of rotation of the object, without being distracted by other thoughts.

How to stop internal dialogue: the “for the strong” method

Only a person with fairly developed willpower can stop the internal dialogue using this method (which, by the way, also doesn’t hurt to work on). At first glance, this method is extremely simple: you simply order your thoughts to leave your head. However, in practice, this is not at all easy to achieve: few people have such willpower that can simply force the internal dialogue to stop. Perhaps, as you improve your thought management skills, you will master this method of stopping internal dialogue.

How to stop internal dialogue: a method “for the patient”

This method helps to stop the internal dialogue, as does the method with visualization of the object, since your only thought should be counting. Breathe and count from one to one hundred. If an extraneous thought creeps into your head, stop counting and start again. Count until you can fully concentrate on the numbers. If you wish or if you succeed, you can increase the count to any number if you have time for such practice: 200, 300 and even 1000. It will be easier to achieve a state of silence in your head.

Learn to stop the internal dialogue at will - and you will see how easily you can distance yourself from bustle and problems, deal with stress and other disturbing thoughts. Moreover, you will become more creative, since the energy of your consciousness will not be wasted on unnecessary thoughts that will not bring any benefit. It is worth noting that there are other ways to stop internal dialogue, but they are more complex - you can move on to them after improving the above methods of detaching yourself from thoughts!

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 imaginative thinking, mood, any form of movement and redirection of attention.

By tracking only the verbal form of internal dialogue, a person loses attention to all other processes of his perception.

Inner dialogue plays a very important role in our lives, since external behavior reflects only a small part of our true self.

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. There is a simple technique that 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 a minute hand to your imagination, 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. (

Stopping internal dialogue allows you to control the amount of energy invested in a specific thought.

Controlling the flow of thoughts, which has absolutely nothing to do with the activities of the human physical body.

A person simply trains his brain to save and properly direct his brain resources. And thus, direct 100% of the brain’s energy to any chosen task, which allows you to speed up finding a result several times over on any issue.

The importance of controlling self-talk

It seems like a simple task - to think correctly, not to be distracted by trifles. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

If a person makes a request and receives a response for a very long time, he is inclined to think that he has not achieved the result. Understanding requires results here and now, but in practice, it turns out that the brain simply does not allocate resources for this.

Often confirmation of brain overload is the appearance of answers the next morning, or 2-3 days after the request is made.

Control is also important when managing energy.

If a person’s brain is 100% occupied with different thoughts, and he is given the task: “Direct energy to that place!” The brain simply will not accept this task for execution, it will put it in a queue, it is fully loaded. The person will think that he cannot do this and “give up.”

When the brain frees up resources to complete a task, the person will often be busy with another, and will not notice the result, because he does not expect an answer to the first task.

Why stop internal dialogue?

A person cannot simply physically perform 3 or more tasks at the same time. So why, while a person is busy with one thing, spend effort on something else, which may not exist and is not relevant.

In general, stopping internal dialogue provides the following benefits:

saving energy resources. Almost 90% of the brain's energy can be directed in another direction - increasing the quality of magical actions (request - response, healing, etc.) Having a good level of thought control, it is several times easier to develop your abilities. Processes are strictly controlled;
increasing the speed and quality of obtaining results. one hundred percent on one task, and the result is as complete and deep as possible. Nothing has yet been forgotten; all areas of the issue are being studied.

Consequences of stopping internal dialogue

A large amount of energy is released. The person feels light, calm, in a good mood, with a lot of energy;
a person has no chaos, only one thought, which he thinks about, and to which it is very easy to find an answer;
the speed of thinking increases from 5 to 20 times;
magical results come 5–15 times faster.

It is important to know

Controlling internal dialogue is 90% of success in developing magical skills. And very often it’s worth reading not thousands of books, but eliminating secondary thoughts that simply “jam the air.”