A Practical Guide to Mindfulness (Tessa Watt) / quote 4 of 9
Stepping back from ruminating thoughts
If you’re prone to depression, you probably have a tendency to ‘ruminate’ – to get caught up in spirals of obsessive thoughts which are hard to distinguish from facts. Through mindfulness you can learn to stay grounded in the body and to be less caught up in the mind. You can start to see that your thoughts are not reality, and take a step back from them. You can learn to see the early warning signs that a spiral of low mood is starting, and so have a chance of taking a different direction. The best time to take up mindfulness is not when you are already in the midst of severe depression, but when things are on a somewhat more even keel, when you have the patience and stability to build up skills for your long-term mental health.