Clear your head, empty your mind???

[Pats]

My daughter in law came downstairs last night and she was saying how she really wished my son could just stop and rest and empty his mind for a while. I'm sure I gave her a confused look then she continued. "He's always working, planning or doing something. He even comes to bed with his notebook making plans for work projects." By the way, he loves what he does and is really good at it - wood working/carpentry. She was saying she wished he could just relax and clear his head and think of absolutely nothing. I said, that's impossible. She said, no, she does it all the time.

HOW??? I can't not be doing something. I can't sit and watch tv and not be doing something else. And I definitely can't stop the thinking or turn it off. It's a continuous cycle, never ending, never slowing down. Are some people really capable of turning off their thoughts, clearing their heads, emptying their minds? And I always went to bed with a notepad and pen, too. Thinking and planning what next project I want to start on. It's even harder on my mind when I slow down. It's like if I'm busy, my mind is working at a slower pace because I'm having to keep part of it on what I'm doing. When I'm not doing something my mind is absolutely going crazy - shifting thoughts so fast it's hard to keep up with them. In a 30 second time span my mind will go to memories that make me feel guilty or sad, to wants, to plans, to possibilities and probably 50 other subjects. So I guess you can say, at rest my mind is going about 60 subjects a minute, when at work it's only going 30 subjects a minute because between each subject it has to revert back to what I'm doing.

This is one of those things I wish I knew what it was like to be neurotypical. Not saying I want to be that - just give me a day to feel what it's like.

 

[Judge]

Yeah. Empty your mind. Sure...................no problema!

Just waking up in the morning whether it's time for me to do so or not, my brain is like a hard drive booting up. And once I'm awake, my mind is flooded with all the major things on my mind from the past 24 hours.

Agreed, it's a foreign concept to me as well. Must be a Neurotypical thang.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Meditation is like letting your thoughts run off and play with themselves.

You could try some apps, see where you get.

Headspace is one of the more popular ones.

You won't notice a change at the start but it can give you something.

 

[Isadoorian]

yeah, it can be quite the concept to try and grasp for sure... I find it helps me when I sleep, so I can just let my whole body relax, my legs especially, love how my legs will feel heavy after some time just laying there

 

[Progster]

I don't know how one would empty their mind... even the very thought that my mind is empty is a thought. It's impossible to stop thoughts. Unless asleep, I'm always aware of something, and if I'm aware of something, I have thoughts about it.

 

[Tom]

I think its a gift, a special talent. Like charisma either you got it or you don't.

 

[Jojo_LB]

Impossible. lol

Although, I no longer get racing thoughts at night when I'm trying to fall asleep. My head is strangely quiet. Only a few fleeting thoughts here and there. I credit my stimulants for that. Before I started those meds, it used to take me at least 1-2 hours to fall asleep. I would wake up about 4-6 times in the middle of the night.

Thank goodness for those miracle pills.

 

[Iamnotarabot]

Thank goodness for those miracle pills.

I have adhd aswell, what do you take to be calmer?

she really wished my son could just stop and rest and empty his mind for a while. I'm sure I gave her a confused look then she continued. "He's always working, planning or doing something.

My father is exactly like that, but sometimes he collapses ( not a lot) , always doing or planning something and talking in his bed, he is like "blablablablabla" at night ,then he crashes and sleeps all of a sudden xD

If I even tell him something like that he would just say that he is not a lazy person thats all !

I dont know if its exactly like your case, but IMO my father has almost no internal process or thinking, I mean, everythings he thinks he says it and the few times he bloks it he just walk in circle lol. I dont know if its the same for you , it is for me sometimes but I manage.

The very thought of calming myself down and doing nothing is a strange thing for me aswell, I doesnt make me productive at all thought.

 

[Jojo_LB]

I have adhd aswell, what do you take to be calmer?

Vyvanse. Current dose is 50 mg once a day. It is doing wonders. But I think I need a small booster (maybe immediate-release adderall or dextroamphetamine) at around this time, because I need to remain functional most days until around 6, 7 PM.

 

[tlc]

Yes I am the same way. My brain never shuts off. And it runs faster than my fingers when I type.

I also remember most things from when I was very little, but as I get older, not much of anything really has significance and I don't remember it well if at all. I've often said that I need to be knocked out so I forget everything and can start over, as my brain feels like it is full. Like a room that is almost full of stored boxes, there is barely room enough to even get boxes down, open then, and move them around, let alone find room for more.

For mechanical thinkers like me, the movie "Inside Out" was a very good analogy of the workings of the brain.

 

[Kyou Nukui]

For mechanical thinkers like me, the movie "Inside Out" was a very good analogy of the workings of the brain

I watched that movie. I thought it was about multiple personality disorder.

 

[Fino]

Every night before I sleep, I listen to calming music, watch the weird moving shapes I see when I close my eyes, and let whatever thoughts come and go, and I would think of that as "clearing my mind" if the phrase came up although I don't generally use it myself because it feels sort of like I'm "using" the thought then "disposing" of it, giving myself time to go through some of the thoughts my mind feels the need to go through.

Maybe it's just "processing" time and I'm dealing with back-up from another day's overload.

Is this what they mean? Is this what everyone doesn't understand?
Or do I not understand them and I'm agreeing with everyone here?

 

[Gracey]

Is it not getting involved with the thoughts or drama?

I think Fridge mentioned something like 'letting thoughts wander off to play amongst themselves'

The thoughts are there but we don't do anything about them. Don't get involved. Don't attach any feeling or action to them?


I have an idea of the theory but haven't practiced this enough to switch it on at will.

 

[Gracey]

watch the weird moving shapes I see when I close my eyes, :

I've not long started to notice these.
But my 'weird moving shapes' will be something like momentary flashes of images I don't remember thinking about.
Wholly unconnected to my conscious thoughts. Not neat and linear but random and nonsense.

Can't help but think, Ooo that's new, and wait for more to appear.
They never do.

Anyway, just saying

 

[Gracey]

watch the weird moving shapes I see when I close my eyes, :

I've not long started to notice these.
But my 'weird moving shapes' will be something like momentary flashes of images I don't remember thinking about.
Wholly unconnected to my conscious thoughts. Not neat and linear but random and nonsense.

Can't help but think, Ooo that's new, and wait for more to appear.
They never do.

Anyway, just saying

 

[Gracey]

OMG!
The hell did I press?

 

[Garry jackson]

What about a project with great depth, pour your heart and soul into it ? Doesn't matter what it is, as long as you get some value from it. I question why people would want to switch this thing off, unless it was causing incredible distress, it is a thing of beauty. Yes I get so tired sometimes, and I do wear down others, but at this initial stage, I do want personally to see a life that harnesses this capability rather than suppresses it. The world needs people like us. Yes, agree, a day where it is like a neurotypical, well I get the odd foggy day and that's probably what that is, although it feels more painful to me and I can't currently cope with it, but if that's what its like I'd rather stay in the current clarity - I am not sure I would ever take something to 'cure' this, rather just treat some of the symptoms and thats it..

 

[Ylva]

Well, you can listen to silence or contemplate the concept of "nothing". That won't turn your brain off, just focus your attention on one thing. I don't know how NTs do it, but one way for me to do it is to listen to new (to me) music. It's hard to not pay attention to. When I've heard it to the point of memorizing it I tend to tune it out.

 

[LadyBird84]

Nope, can't do it either.
I tried meditating for a while and it did help a little.
Things like yoga work too but haven't done that in a while either..

 

[Major Tom]

Yea, I can't shut off my mind either.. I surely wish I could though. Even in my sleep my mind is going.