How to tame that runaway train of a mind!

Jan Normanton • December 3, 2024

There are lots of tools and techniques that can help us tame this runaway train. Willpower and determination only take us so far, which is where embodiment comes in. 

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If you are stressed, consider somatic massage or somatic coaching and know that your body has a whole set of inbuilt ways to help you manage your inner states.

The mind can feel like a runaway train at times.


We can feel quite out of control, unable to switch off our minds, projecting into the future and catastrophising, ruminating about the past, procrastinating in the present.


It can be difficult to shut down our minds. And there are lots of tools and techniques that can help us tame this runaway train. Willpower and determination only take us so far, which is where embodiment comes in.



Story follows state. The state of our nervous systems is key to what is going on in our minds at any given time. So, if our nervous system is regulated and we feel calm, soothed, relaxed - the thoughts that ensue from this state will be benign thoughts, kind thoughts, thoughts of self-compassion, creative thoughts. Being in a state of ease results in a calm, cool, collected mind.


Being a state of nervous system dysregulation where we are stressed, where our internal state is stressed - the ensuing thoughts will be stressful.


So when we’re thinking about how to tame and how to rein in that runaway train, think about what state you are in. How is your body. How are you feeling internally at that moment in time.


This is where we have agency. This is where we have the locus of control.


If we can soothe our nervous systems with simple embodied techniques, we can tame our minds and we can curtail that runaway train.

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