Stopping internal dialogue: theory and practice

24.09.2019

Internal dialogue is a continuous process occurring in the mind of every person. It represents communication with oneself. We are accustomed to not noticing how thoughts rush around in our heads, combining into logical chains, building a series of associations with certain words or events. At first glance, there is nothing wrong with this, but do you know how to stop the internal dialogue at the right moment? Such a “brake pedal” for thoughts is simply necessary in situations where you need to concentrate and direct the energy of the upper chakras in the right direction, namely to strengthen creativity and activation of conscious thinking.

Alone with thoughts: why do you need to stop the internal dialogue?

Learning to stop internal dialogue is necessary, first of all, for developing creative abilities, focusing on what is truly important, and limiting the amount of energy wasted by the brain. In addition, internal dialogue is the main obstacle to relaxation and complete isolation from the bustle of the world. It is very difficult to get rid of stress and put aside worries when you are constantly thinking and debating about something inside yourself.

Many people find it very difficult not to think about anything at all for at least 20 seconds. As soon as we try not to think about anything, the thought “Don’t think about anything!” is visualized in our heads. As a result, a person thinks how not to think about anything, that is, the internal dialogue continues.

How to stop internal dialogue - learning to control your mind

The first step, as with all meditative practices, is to limit your exposure to external stimuli as much as possible. Secondly, comfort is very important: take a relaxing position and tune in to the process of controlling thoughts. As practice shows, it is best to do this after waking up or before going to bed.

To stop the internal dialogue, it is also important to learn to take the position of an observer and try to trace the process of thoughts arising, as well as the stages of their transition into new thoughts. In the future, this will help you stop the internal dialogue.

There are four main methods for stopping internal dialogue:

  • for the smart ones;
  • for the cunning;
  • for the strong;
  • for those who are patient.

How to stop internal dialogue: the “for the smart” method

Go into the position of an observer, watch your consciousness in a detached manner and try to determine the point of origin of the thought. Gently push away spontaneous thoughts without saying within yourself the phrase “Now I will stop this thought,” because This kind of thinking is also an internal dialogue that you learn to stop.

To achieve success and learn to stop internal dialogue, you will need a lot of effort. An important condition is complete silence for 3-5 minutes. Over time, you will be able to maintain inner silence without much effort.

To consolidate the result, as soon as you reach a state of silence, come up with a code word for it, or better yet, a phrase to build an association with such a state - this will make it easier to stop the internal dialogue.

How to stop internal dialogue: the “for the cunning” method

This method is based on a maneuver that distracts consciousness. So, you have to concentrate your consciousness on mental work of a monotonous nature, which at the same time should completely capture your attention.

For example, imagine some geometric figure(red pyramid, green cube, pink ball, etc.) or any object. Your task is to imagine the selected object rotating slowly. You must fully concentrate on imagining the shape, size, color, speed of rotation of the object, without being distracted by other thoughts.

How to stop internal dialogue: the “for the strong” method

Only a person with enough confidence can stop the internal dialogue using this method. developed strength will (which, by the way, also doesn’t hurt to work on). At first glance, this method is extremely simple: you simply order your thoughts to leave your head. However, in practice, this is not at all easy to achieve: few people have such willpower that can simply force the internal dialogue to stop. Perhaps, as you improve your thought management skills, you will master this method of stopping internal dialogue.

How to stop internal dialogue: a method “for the patient”

This method helps to stop the internal dialogue, as does the method with visualization of the object, since your only thought should be counting. Breathe and count from one to one hundred. If an extraneous thought creeps into your head, stop counting and start again. Count until you can fully concentrate on the numbers. If you wish or if you succeed, you can increase the count to any number if you have time for such practice: 200, 300 and even 1000. It will be easier to achieve a state of silence in your head.

Learn to stop the internal dialogue at will - and you will see how easily you can distance yourself from bustle and problems, deal with stress and other disturbing thoughts. Moreover, you will become more creative, since the energy of your consciousness will not be wasted on unnecessary thoughts that will not bring any benefit. It is worth noting that there are other ways to stop internal dialogue, but they are more complex - you can move on to them after improving the above methods of detaching yourself from thoughts!

Inner dialogue is mental noise that is very disruptive when concentrating on breathing during meditation. These are thoughts like electric trains, because of which our attention is carried away after them. Calming the mind is a difficult task.

Let's start with the fact that HP is a very energy-intensive process. It’s one thing when we think about or look for a solution to a situation, it’s another thing when we chew over yesterday, old grievances, anxieties, think up conversations, scold ourselves, prove something to others, etc. We spend energy on moving, breathing, digesting food, communicating, sex, etc., that is, on obvious natural processes, unconsciously. We also spend energy on unconscious processes, let’s call them of a more subtle order. Constantly chatting inside ourselves, we build a picture of the world and rigidly fix it. We explain to ourselves why the world is such and such, we add new impressions, sensations, and build schemes. VD is a consequence of a clearly formed human perception system. What has grown has grown. But it is also important to know that VD is a constant drain of our energy.

Stopping the internal dialogue serves not only for the successful completion of any magical practice. The consequence of the ability to stop it will be improvement interpersonal relationships and strengthening of creative abilities, due to the weakening of the existing Treaty and the increased energy of the upper chakras.

What does internal dialogue look like? A spontaneous movement of thoughts, the so-called “mental noise,” constantly occurs in your mind. Even with a quick glance at any object, associative chains are activated and the process of thinking about nothing begins. A person thinks, goes through some options for something, reasons, drives situations away. But the output is completely zero. Even the reason for the activity is lost in a second and the thought goes nowhere. All this resembles aimless chatter in a large unfamiliar company.

Try not to think about anything for at least twenty seconds. Without preparation and without stressing about the thought “you don’t have to think.” After twenty seconds you will discover that the thought process has not gone away and has continued throughout the entire time you were “not thinking.” On top of that, in most cases the work of internal dialogue is duplicated by articulation. You can pay attention to the involuntary pronunciation of your thoughts, accompanied by corresponding micromovements of the tongue and lips.

Conditions for stopping internal dialogue

First, you need to step back a little from your consciousness and, from the position of an outside observer, try to catch the moments when new thoughts arise. It is also advisable to catch the points of transition of one thought to another. Almost all techniques for stopping it are based on a good understanding of the functioning of internal dialogue and the ability to monitor the occurrence of unwanted thoughts.

Also important for practice external factors. It is desirable to have a separate room with a minimum of extraneous stimuli, such as light, noise, voices, etc. In addition to the fact that you will not be distracted, the spontaneous work of internal dialogue is more noticeable in the absence of obvious reasons for thoughts to arise.

It is advisable to take a horizontal position. Next, you need to relax, using the relaxation techniques available to you and give yourself the mindset to complete the practice. It is easiest to practice stopping internal dialogue in the morning, immediately after waking up, but the most effective practice is before bed.

First method (for the smart ones)

We move into the “observer” state and perceive our consciousness detachedly, monitoring the occurrence of spontaneous thoughts. When they appear, you need to extinguish these thoughts with a gentle push of consciousness, under no circumstances turning the process of detection or extinguishing into an independent mental one. Thoughts such as “some thought has appeared - now I’ll stop it” are also internal dialogue. Intention and pre-set must work. It is advisable to learn to remain in this state of inner silence for at least three to four minutes. Further, a transition to a state of altered consciousness (SIS) is possible, and internal silence will be maintained independently.

After repeatedly successfully achieving SIS with complete internal silence, it makes sense to tune into this state, like a beacon, and develop a code phrase or mudra that will be associated with this state. When using it, achieving a state of inner silence will occur noticeably faster.

Second method (for the cunning)

It is necessary to concentrate your consciousness on performing monotonous mental work that occupies the entire sphere of attention. We create the thought form of a blue cube. The cube rotates slowly. The main thing is not to let it out of your sphere of attention for a moment and not to lose your attunement to all aspects of the thought form - color, size, shape, smoothness of rotation. In this way you can also achieve the desired state.

Third method (for the strong)

The simplest and most complex at the same time. Stopping internal dialogue occurs through willpower. We simply silence our inner voice. With developed willpower it can work out.

The fourth method (for the patient)

In time with our breathing, we begin to count to ourselves from 1 to 100. If during the counting process at least one extraneous thought comes, we begin the countdown again. And so on until the result is achieved. Then you can increase the score to 200 and so on. The result should be the achievement of a state of silence that does not require effort to maintain it.

Fifth method (for the wise)

You can use the Zen practice of illogical and paradoxical images - koan. A large number of them can be found on the Internet. By focusing our mind on the koan, we drive it into a state of stupor. With sufficient concentration, there should be no extraneous thoughts.

Stopping internal dialogue without special conditions

All previous techniques required specific conditions for their implementation: silence, solitude, etc. How to stop the internal dialogue during an eventful day?

The fact is that a person performs almost all his actions automatically, without using the area of ​​conscious thinking. Repeated day after day, these actions form everyday rituals, the implementation of which is the responsibility of the subconscious. The released energy of consciousness requires an outlet. It is the internal dialogue, in addition to fixing us in the existing Treaty, that is engaged in its “recycling”. Otherwise, unrealized energy can provoke nervous disorders and contribute to the destruction of the usual picture of the world.

A natural solution to this problem would be to exclude, if possible, everyday rituals from your life. It is necessary to change the existing routine and way of doing things. Try changing the most automatic ones first. Tie your shoelaces with a different knot, brush your teeth with a different hand and in a different way, arrange things differently on your desktop, find new way get to work. In principle, if the hands or feet strive to perform some action on their own, this is a household ritual that can be changed. Busy with work consciousness will leave the internal dialogue without nourishment. The habit of having a constant mental background in your head will gradually go away. The main thing in this practice: when getting rid of some household rituals, do not create others.

There is another option. You don’t have to get rid of your usual pattern of behavior, but, being in the state of an “observer,” detachedly control the process of performing everyday rituals. This technique for stopping internal dialogue is quite complex and requires good concentration skills.

Why stop the internal dialogue? Find out how a restless mind prevents us from living and developing fully.

What is internal dialogue?

Internal dialogue¹ is not just a verbal form of dialogue occurring in the mind, it is the totality of all thought processes, including imaginative thinking, mood, any form of movement and redirection of attention.

Tracking only speech form internal dialogue, a person loses attention to all other processes of his perception.

Internal dialogue plays a very big role important role in our lives, since external behavior reflects only a small part of our true “I”.

In most cases, self-talk is negative, it reinforces any negative attitude and behavior. Only a few people have having enough faith in yourself and your abilities to lead a positive internal dialogue.

How to stop internal dialogue?

Stopping the internal dialogue is the task of every self-respecting yogi, even if he has not read the yoga sutras² of Patanjali³, where the first thing it says is that “yoga is the essence of stopping the bustle of the mind,” which is extremely important for self-development and spiritual improvement.

In fact, stopping this dialogue is very simple. Eat simple technique, which will help with this.

Technique

1. First you need to imagine a watch with a running and clicking second hand. Tick-tock - two seconds. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock - already six seconds. And tick-tock, tick-tock - it’s already all ten seconds!

2. While the arrow was clicking in my head, there was no internal dialogue.

3. By continuing to practice the exercise, you can eventually stop the internal dialogue for a minute or more.

To do this, you need to imagine in your head an arrow that has run for ten seconds, then repeat everything stated above, imagine an arrow that has already run for twenty seconds, and again for half a minute. And repeat it all over again (the arrow will run through the other half of the mental dial).

So, you were able to stop the dialogue for a minute. In order to stop it for 2 or more minutes, you should add a minute hand to your imagination, which will move 1 minute after 60 seconds have passed.

With practice, the need for counting will disappear and the hand will move along the dial itself.

This technique is simple to the point of disgrace, but effective to perfection. You can combine the ticking of an arrow and breathing or heartbeat (if you can hear it). If you combine your breathing with ticking, then this technique can be adjusted to.

What mission and fate are in store for you personally? Are you aware of your innate gift? Are you using all your abilities to get 100% out of life and reap the rewards of wealth and success? Find out about this from your personal diagnosis. To do this, follow the link and fill out the form >>>

Notes and feature articles for deeper understanding of the material

¹ Internal dialogue is a concept in psychology, the process of continuous internal communication of a person with himself, within personal autocommunication (Wikipedia).

² Yoga Sutras are the basic text of the Indian philosophical school of yoga, which has had, often indirectly, a huge influence on the perception of yoga in India and the rest of the world (Wikipedia).

³ Patanjali is the founder of Yoga, a philosophical and religious school (darshan) in India in the 2nd century. BC e. (

You can communicate not only with strangers, but also with yourself. Often such communication manifests itself in the state. However, this often becomes mental disorder, which is not even hidden. What is this - internal dialogue?

Internal dialogue refers to auto-communication of a continuous nature. All people periodically communicate with themselves. This helps to solve problems that arise, calm yourself down, and put yourself in the right frame of mind. However, a condition becomes pathological when communication within a person’s personality becomes constant.

Internal dialogue is based on one’s own experiences (emotions) and the experiences that a person experiences. One individual seems to contain several personalities. This can be clearly imagined in the form of an angel and a demon sitting on the shoulders of a person and communicating with each other, directing their orders to the owner. This is how an internal dialogue occurs, where a person can be an outside observer of his many thoughts or participate in a discussion of a specific topic.

What will be discussed in the internal dialogue largely depends on the person’s state, current events, recent incidents and problems.

You should not regard internal dialogue as an exclusively negative phenomenon. All people can lead it periodically. This allows you to think about problems, find the right way out of the situation, consider current events, calm yourself down or set yourself in the right mood. This is often a consequence of living alone or not having friends you can trust. Since a person experiences an urgent need for communication, he at least begins to communicate with himself.

Pathological this state becomes when a person completely isolates himself from conversations with other people, immerses himself in inner world, hears voices and even enters into dialogue with them. Constant internal dialogue is psychiatric.

What is internal dialogue?

Psychology is actively considering the question: what is internal dialogue? It is usually understood as active communicative activity, when dialogue occurs within one person. Dialogue is often conducted between opposing beliefs or principles. It does not always involve conflict. Sometimes dialogue is conducted in order to implant a certain emotional state in the consciousness of an individual.

Internal dialogue becomes a consequence of emergence in the external world problematic situation. To perceive it normally and maintain emotional balance, a person begins to have discussions with himself in search of the right way out.

For those who have little interest in psychology, only one question is of interest: is the phenomenon of internal dialogue normal? The answer is yes. Absolutely all people sometimes conduct internal communication when they begin to decide in their own heads important issues. Often, this type of dialogue is resorted to by closed introverts who do not want to let others into their world. Although extroverts can conduct a similar dialogue.

When a certain event occurs, a person has many thoughts. Some are conscious and dictated by the rules of society. Others are instinctive, unconscious. Still others may be responsible for achieving goals or desires. The diversity and sometimes contradiction of thoughts forces a person to think, weigh the pros and cons, which is part of the internal dialogue.

When a person wakes up, the dialogue begins and ends when the person falls asleep. It doesn’t matter what a person does, he constantly records something, tells himself, confirms his own thoughts, etc. According to the opinion of K. Castaneda, internal dialogue is a way of shaping the world around us. While a person tells himself something and communicates inside, he interprets the world in one way or another. However, when the dialogue stops, the world begins to be seen as it really is.

Accordingly, internal dialogue can be called a way of calming oneself and explaining to oneself what is happening in the outside world.

Castaneda identifies such negative consequences internal dialogue, which, in his opinion, should be stopped:

  • Inability to concentrate.
  • Insomnia.
  • Constant reflection.
  • One-sided perception of existence.
  • Duality of consciousness.
  • Mental background in the head.
  • Increased sleepiness.
  • Inability to make decisions.
  • Feelings of guilt, aggressiveness.
  • Increased suggestibility, suspiciousness.
  • Narrowness of thinking.
  • Inability to control your own thoughts.

How to turn off internal dialogue?

Psychologists say that it is normal to communicate with yourself. However, constant internal dialogue should be turned off. There are many techniques on how to do this. Why stop communicating with yourself?

  1. How more people communicates with himself, the more he immerses himself in own world. He gets hung up on own feelings, what he could say, why the interlocutor acted this way, what did not suit him, etc.
  2. The more internal communication is conducted, the more a person does not notice what is happening in the outside world. Self-absorption causes the eyes not to see, even if they are open.
  3. The more a person communicates with himself, the less communication he needs with other people. This makes his opinion narrow and limited.

It is impossible to turn off the internal dialogue with one wave of the hand. Therefore, it will take time to go through three stages of turning off such communication:

  1. Follow the flow of thought. Since thoughts never turn off and it is impossible to stop them, it is better to learn to track and notice them, as if observing their presence from the outside.
  2. Realize the meaning of the thoughts that are constantly spinning in your head. You should understand what they mean, because, as you know, thoughts provoke a person to then feel certain emotions and take specific actions. It becomes important here to track thoughts that are introduced to a person from the outside. The world around us in the form of people tries to manipulate a person with various dogmas, rules and beliefs. They do not harm the person himself as long as they do not force him to perform actions and experience certain emotions. You should get rid of such “foreign” ideas if they are not the result of your own judgments.
  3. Discard unfinished thoughts and leave those that do not require additional thought. There are many thoughts in a person’s head that are incomprehensible and incomplete. You should get rid of them. Leave only those ideas that help you in life and in solving problems.

Thoughts that arise in response to what is happening cause specific emotions and desires to take certain actions. If a person does not keep track of what thoughts he obeys, then he commits actions for which he later regrets, and is very worried, worsening his emotional state.

Stopping internal dialogue - techniques

Using techniques to stop internal dialogue allows a person to become more balanced, balanced in their approach, calm and relaxed. While a person does not control his own thoughts, they control him. The flow of thoughts always exists. If a person gets involved in it, allowing ideas to tell him how to feel, what to do, how to react, he becomes a puppet in their hands.

The internal flow of thoughts distracts a person from understanding the world around him. While he is in the flow, he is focused on his own experiences. Everything that happens around is not noticed or is partially interpreted through one’s own emotions, views, and beliefs. At the same time, the person is focused on himself, and not on the essence of what is happening. He cannot find an adequate solution that will really help him, because he does not notice anything around him except his emotions.

The technique for turning off internal dialogue is to try not to think anything. You can’t even utter the thought “don’t think.” Any thought is already an internal dialogue. You should try to completely turn off the occurrence of any thought for 20-30 seconds.

It is better to perform this technique in the morning or just before bed. Take a horizontal position. At the same time, you should isolate yourself from the noise of the surrounding world. Nothing should distract from the process, since any extraneous sound will trigger thoughts.

Techniques for stopping internal dialogue:

  • Close your eyes and imagine a white screen. Move your eyes from corner to corner, without thinking anything.
  • By force of will, force yourself not to think anything.
  • Close your eyes and mentally imagine a hot fireball at a distance of 20 cm. Gradually it should be reduced until it disappears completely. A vacuum of thoughts must be created.
  • With your eyes closed and in a horizontal position, count from 1 to 100. There should not be a single thought. If at least one thought appears, the countdown should be resumed from 1. As soon as the result is achieved (counting to 100, not a single thought has arisen), the countdown should be continued to 200.

Bottom line

Internal dialogue is not pathological until it takes on permanent forms. Every person periodically communicates with himself. However, often the internal dialogue occurs on its own, without the person’s conscious participation. If an individual does not control the course of his own thoughts, then they begin to control him, which leads to negative outcomes.

Firstly, a person is immersed in the world of his own emotions, which are completely subordinate to thoughts. A person does not control how he feels, since he himself obeys the thoughts that arise in his head. In the end the world around us It seems to be in some colors: sometimes black, sometimes white. Absent critical thinking, sober look to the situation. Everything that happens is perceived through emotions that make events pleasant or unpleasant.

Secondly, a person’s perception of the world is significantly narrowed. He perceives events not as they really are. He is guided solely by his own knowledge, which may be limited. He does not perceive what is not part of his own experience. As a result, a person does not understand what is happening, labeling it as “Everything is bad!”

Thirdly, there is no opportunity to make a decision. Hopeless situations does not exist. It’s just that a person focuses on his own thoughts, and not on what the situation is, what circumstances are developing, how they can be taken advantage of, what can be done, etc. Hesitations in decision making also indicate that the person is not noticing something or doesn't know. To fill in the gaps, you need to take a break from your internal dialogue.

Sometimes after a hectic day at work or bright events in life that require a lot of energy and emotions, when you go to bed in the evening, you return to the situations you experienced again and again. Every time you replay events in your head, you turn on your internal dialogue: argue, choose words that you could have said but didn’t, or simply relive the situation, the site agrees. This process does not allow you to switch off and relax. How I would like to fall asleep and not return to obsessive thoughts! Today we will teach you how to come into harmony with your own thoughts and feelings.

Why does the process of internal dialogue appear?

The thought process goes with us throughout life and never stops. Upbringing, social norms, religion and our self-image leave an indelible imprint on it.

But there comes a time when we start to think that something in life is not going the way we would like, and we try to change it. However, we do not always succeed. As a rule, the obstacles are the ingrained attitudes that this internal dialogue creates.

Often, a person’s internal communication with himself almost never stops, and is interrupted only by sleep. Even he himself is not aware that this happens all the time.

Mental techniques for achieving silence in thoughts

If you like to draw pictures in your mind and visualize everything, then the following techniques will suit you:

  • Imagine an object. Choose for yourself any object that you like (a ball, a car, a book), there is no difference. Now visualize this object down to the smallest detail. Relax before doing this exercise. The more real this item you can imagine, the better. Try not to be distracted by other thoughts.
  • Count. Take any large number(eg 1000) and start counting down. Think purely about numbers.
  • Willpower. If you can, try to tell yourself to just not think. Use willpower to silence the voice in your head.
  • Stalking. This method is based on monitoring your emotions and feelings during a dialogue, while managing your thoughts.
  • Contemplation. Draw in your imagination some fairy world and just start contemplating how it functions.

Physical techniques for getting rid of internal dialogue

IN this method not imaginary, but actually existing objects are used to achieve inner silence:

  • Observation. Make it a habit to observe objects that you like, allowing your thoughts to simply flow in the direction in which they go. Observe nature, animals, processes.
  • Physical labor. You can distract yourself by playing sports or doing housework. Then you will be busier with the question of how to relax than with your internal dialogue.
  • Meditative practices. This method is perfect for clearing your thoughts.
  • Sensory deprivation. You turn off one or more senses on your own (you can close your eyes and ears at the same time). But do not abuse this method, the effect will be the opposite.

How do you stop the flow of obsessive thoughts? Share your practice on the site.