Do you Have a Busy Mind? Sounds Exhausting.

Rachel Sykes

| I Work with Stressed Out Professional Women |

| Licensed in Massachusetts |

Rachel C. Sykes, LMHC, LLC
Rachel@rachelcsykes.com

What’s going on?

A lot of people have a lot going on.  In this post, I am referring specifically to what is going on in our own heads: one’s inner monologue or inner voice.  I perceive my own inner voice as a background voice that comments on what I am doing, how I am feeling, memories and thoughts about the future that rise in and out of my awareness. It’s like a narrator from a play.  Who sometimes sings (yes, that’s true). Sometimes this voice is helpful, in that it might be calling my attention back to a task or reminding me that I need to call my mother.  Sometimes, that voice is less helpful.  For example, I could be thinking of an unpleasant experience from recent or not-so-recent history, where I am incredibly embarrassed (or some other really deep and painful emotion).  The voice might be accompanied by an image or video of that embarrassing experience. You know what? Thinking about an unresolved experience with powerful negative emotions can by just as unpleasant as when you experienced it the first time.

Your inner voice: Helping or hindering?

How much thinking is too much?  Clearly, thinking things through or planning can be a useful exercise and may result in making better choices. However, I get concerned when our thinking takes a turn for the worse and we simply suffer with nothing (or very little) gained.  For example, you may be worried about your relationship with your partner and struggle to think about anything else, to the extent that you are having trouble concentrating at work and difficulty sleeping.  You are not learning anything from the experience, and it seems like your mind is stuck on repeat and you are increasingly distressed.  This sounds problematic. 

Sometimes, your inner voice gets stuck in a groove, where you are focused very narrowly on one idea for long periods of time and may result in distorted thoughts.  Often, these thoughts are really just fearful thoughts not based in fact that result in high levels of distress. Said another way, the amount of time spent thinking, combined with the content of your thoughts, have made things worse. 

An inner critic

In my work with clients, I have observed how critical people can be of themselves.  In many cases, I would even say cruel. I sometimes observe that such a client would never be so unkind as to speak of others in such a critical way, and they typically agree with my assessment.  Sometimes, people report that this unkind inner critic strongly resembles the voice of a harsh parent, and that the client has internalized it, probably beginning in childhood.  Other times, it is simply a reflection of the client’s own true opinion of themselves, and it is way harsh.  During the course of therapy, it may be beneficial to address this harsh inner critic to understand its function, assess the accuracy of the criticisms, and balance the criticisms with more accurate messages.

Chitta vritti nirodha: The monkey mind

I actually first heard about the concept of an inner voice in my study of yoga that began over twenty years ago.  Many yoga classes are taught using the Sanskrit names of the asanas (or poses) and concepts and I first heard it referred to as chitta vritti nirodha, or “The Monkey Mind”, referring to the excessive busyness of the mind that results in unnecessary stress or turmoil. The idea is to recognize your thoughts and attempt to quiet them during your yoga practice, especially the unhelpful, critical, fearful ones. You can always pick them back up after you finish but I have typically found that, after my practice is over, I can much more easily turn off that critical voice, or monkey mind.

chitta ==> consciousness

vritti ==> fluctuations

nirodha ==> suppression

One of the many reasons I value my yoga practice is how it helps me quiet my mind and gain valuable perspective about my role in my own distress. While some folks think this sounds like blaming the victim, I actually find it empowering because it actually means that you have within you the ability to make things better. Pretty cool.

No inner voice at all?

I have only recently learned that some people report to having no inner monologue.  When they are not consciously thinking through something specific, there is nothing else auditorily going on.  Crickets.  While that is hard for me to relate to, I certainly don’t presume to question someone else’s internal experience.  According to some online sources, approximately 30-50% of people report no inner monologue. That’s a lot. This phenomenon has a name: anaduralia, the absence of auditory imagery, or one’s inner voice. I have read anecdotal reports citing some such individuals as having a generally restful mental state but also that, at times, they require more time to formulate their thoughts into words.  I interpret this to mean that the inner monologue may help people’s overall cognitive function, such as processing their experiences and facilitating a more timely and effective response.

So…

Maybe having an inner monologue is a helpful cognitive function but, like many things, it can be taken to extremes. Perhaps our overall state of mind can benefit when we learn to harness our thoughts to be motivational yet kind. It’s possible.

Questions?

Check out my website, request an appointment, or call/email to ask for a free 15-minute consultation.

email: Rachel@rachelcsykes.com
phone: 617.804.6471

References

Emily Alexandra, 8/8/2023. Only 30–50% of People Have an Internal Monologue. Is It Really Possible for People to Not Have an Internal Monologue? Medium.  https://eccentricemmie.medium.com/only-30-50-of-people-have-an-internal-monologue-b75125ca5694

Hinwar RP, Lambert AJ. Anauralia: The Silent Mind and Its Association With Aphantasia. Front Psychol. 2021 Oct 14;12:744213. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.744213. PMID: 34721222; PMCID: PMC8551557. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8551557/

Patañjali, (1912). The Yoga sutras of Patanjali, "The book of the spiritual man"; an interpretation .

Yogapedia, 12/21/23.  What Does Chitta-Vritti-Nirodha Mean? https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/10990/chitta-vritti-nirodha