When we experience problems we often turn our attention inward so that we can make sense of them. But often we get stuck. We deep-dive, we-worry, we view or present a situation as considerably worse than it actually is.
If there is ‘chatter’ we refer to this as those negative thought loops that characterise that experience of being stuck. It can involve re-cycling past events that repeat or prolong an action or thought beyond its use. This is what chatter is and it is the difference between your normal stream of consciousness and when you are starting to go into a chatter spiral.
When you find yourself rehearsing the same things over and over again rather than coming up with a more clear, objective solution to a problem and you find that those negative thoughts are really beginning to prevent you from doing other things in ways that can be counter-productive – you are in a chatter spiral.
Constant chatter and what I refer to as the ‘mind loop’ can induce stress and make it really challenging to think and perform well. Mind looping can also have social consequences – when we talk about our problems with others (which is encouraged of course) and we keep talking about them…and keep talking about them, it can push people away. When we’re experiencing heightened negative emotions, we can also often lash out at other people and displace our emotions on them.
What chatter does is take a stressful experience and prolongs it. Stress in and of itself isn’t bad. What makes stress bad is when it’s prolonged over time, and that’s what the mind-loop really does. If you’d like to lighten the load and stop the mind-fatigue spend time with a Spiritual Coach, who will actively listen and help you explore new ways of processing so that you can gain new knowledge and understanding through your senses, experience and thought process.
