Do people stop their thoughts?
this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2024
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Autism
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I think so? I especially wish I could do it at night, it's so hard to fall asleep when your brain refuses to turn off. I am so envious of people who can just shut their eyes and have no thoughts and fall asleep in a couple of minutes.
I've noticed that when I can fall asleep, the mind keeps working on its' own but I slowly stop paying attention to it, like it's talking in the background and I'm zoning out. I start by gently focusing on my exhales.
Then suddenly the mind will take me on a trip, without me even realizing it. I'm asleep.
Some nights, I do "count sheep", but with lists, like:
"Five world capitals that start with the letter B", or
"Twenty movies with Robert De Niro"
Yeah, that's pretty much my experience, except it only gets harder to actually drift off the older I get.
Some nights, I do "count sheep", but with lists...
I've tried lots of "counting sheep" variations, but most are too boring for my ADHD brain to be able to maintain for longer than a minute. It's really hard to find something I'm interested in enough to be able to focus on, but not so much that thinking about it actually keeps me awake.
I’m one of those types who can create pretty vivid internal images, especially when I concentrate.
If you can do the same thing, try combining the list making with a visual aspect. I literally just count numbers in my head, but at the same time I imagine what each number would look like in a fancy typeface, but as if it were a 3D object floating in blank ”mind space.”
It takes up almost all of the capacity for my mind to wander, and unless I’m having a particularly difficult time I can usually use this to fall asleep within a half an hour or so.
Doesn’t help with staying asleep, though.
Lots of people with no thoughts with their eyes open either.
Imagine going through life in screensaver mode
What helps me is leaving on a show I've seen before. Something you enjoy but not something that surprises you. X-Files, Classic Twilight Zone, House works for me.
I think a lot of people can chill naturally instead or chilling briefly and through immense focus. Must be nice.
Sometimes I can if I do breathing exercises. It loses efficacy if I do it too much though.
Sleep. Pretty much the only time for me.
I lay down, put on a narration, and at some point my memory cuts out and it's the next day. Nothing happens so far as I recall between losing consciousness and waking up.
This is why I love weed. It shuts the electrical jello in my skull the fuck up.
🤣
meditation really helped me actually
Whenever I try to meditate I forget that I was meditating :-(
Seems like you're just too good at it. Congrats, you won meditating!
Reminds me of the scene in Parks and Rec where they take Ron to a meditation place and he's just like "what's the big deal? I just sat there and thought about nothing for 2 hours."
No, the opposite, I get lost in my thoughts and forget I was supposed to be meditating :-( Same in the shower: I forget I'm in the shower and end up staying in there for 30 mins
I have the opposite problem actually. I feel like I'm not thinking much at all (probably from a continuous shutdown) During these moments, constantly thinking and feeling seems like an improvement.
Mindfulness and meditation? As far as I understand it, it's about controlling your thoughts and what to think (and feel). I know it exists, can't say if it actually helps - it looks promising but requires training and persistence. Ahem... :)
Mindfulness meditation is not about controlling your thoughts, it's supposed to let you "ignore" them and let them pass by.
chemicals.
Sometimes I take an evening walk so it won't be too bad when I try to sleep.
I'm sure this is only a me thing, but for me I found it easier to concentrate on specific sounds... Like the ringing in my ears.
As a kid, I've always had ear ringing, but it doesn't bother me too much in day to day life. I do have to ask people to repeat themselves if I'm not focused directly on them or cant read their lips, but at night or quiet moments, the ringing is a soft and gentle sound, like someone running a moist finger over the rim of some crystal ware. Very nice in winter on a soft moonlit night
I focus on that ringing in a nice quiet and dark room, let it sing in my ears, and then close my eyes.
I then focus on the funny golden geometrical sparkles, triangles, and if I relax, a small black circle with a white border starts to show up. It seems like a 2D object, constantly rotating quickly on a 3D plane, but slowly grows bigger.
For some reason, I find these oddities comforting. The visuals remind me a bit of the pressure halo's in your vision when you get a migraine, but without the pain, and covering the field of vision with your eyes closed only.
Once when I was 4, I let that black circle engulf the entirety of my vision as I lay in bed, and the black faded into a creamy golden background with rainbow confetti falling. Obviously it's not really, just some other strange visuals.
Ahem. In either case, I use these to focus and relax at night to tell my brain to shut up.