Racing thoughts or overflow of thoughts may be replays of past events which generated anxiety or sadness for you. They may also be worried about things that could happen in the future. They are strings of thoughts that are blown out of proportion, have a pattern, consume time, and often have no rational conclusion.
When random thoughts flood your mind, they drain your energy, stop you from living in the present moment, and can create a loop in your brain that feels difficult to escape. They can also make it harder to concentrate and accomplish daily tasks and impair your memory and sleep.
Having random thoughts is often disturbing and frightening because it creates a sense of being out of control. But having racing thoughts does not mean you're out of control or crazy. It does mean that you are anxious and that your stress level is higher than usual.
Our mind usually worries about things it is convinced are true but, most of the time is actually not true. You can balance your mind's tendency to predict the worst outcome by coming up with positive alternative scenarios.
A mantra is just a simple phrase or word that you repeat to calm your mind. Research has shown that repeating a mantra reduces activity in the part of your brain that is responsible for self-judgment and reflection. This is the part of the brain that spends so much time rehashing the past and worrying about the future. You can use any word, sound, or saying you want. You could try something like, "Om,".
This shifts the fight-or-flight response of your sympathetic nervous system to the relaxed response of the parasympathetic nervous system. Try counting to 3 as you breathe in and to 5 as you breathe out. Pay attention only to your breathing as you try to slow it down.
It takes time to develop new habits. Whichever of these tools you use, it will take regular practice over a long period of time to see results. Unfortunately, many people expect the effects to be immediate and abandon the practice too soon. Instead, be consistent and patient.
Thank you.