I have a terrible problem with obsessive and racing thoughts .

It has taken several months of hard work, and concentration, but I use the " Being Mindful " way of meditating .

Get yourself in a comfortable position , and turn and focus your thoughts on what is around you at the PRESENT time .

How does the A/C feel on your skin?
Feel how comfortable your bed /chair is.
How the pillow supports your head and neck so comfy.
I think of my little dog laying on the floor next to me .

The instant , I feel my brain wandering away, I refocus and redirect my thinking .

And then refocus and redirect, every time my mind wanders

I'm getting pretty good at it , and I find that it calms me, and if I'm trying to fall asleep, it does wonders !

what I do is put on my headphones and have my fave music blaring. .... songs that I know the lyrics to... and sing along... really does help with the ruminations and obsessions at times

I use the 5 senses type of meditation.

Sit in a comfortable position
Sight: Focus on something in your sights and try to find different colors in the object.
Sound: Listen to the sounds around you
Taste: Taste what is in your mouth, probably the last thing you ate/drank
Touch: Very lightly put your thumb and middle finger together so that you can feel your fingerprints
Smell: Smell the air around you, what does it smell like? I like to use natural products or nature in the raw.

There is no way your mind can be somewhere else while you are concentrating on the 5 senses.

Peace

I've never done well with meditation or hypnosis but there are a number of meds that are used for OCD. Talk to your doc.

yoga/CBT/meditation

however as Tommy says- certain meds can help &/or be necessary too x

thanks for all the tips, meditation is really hard for me,
but I guess I could practice more at it. I've tried listening
to music loud on the headphones and it sounds really
good but every song reminds me of things I don't want
to think about. I never thought of it as OCD but I guess
I could talk to my doc about it - I hate trying new meds tho
since I have a great mix of meds I'm taking right now.

This is my main use for foreign language studies. I translate my obsessive thoughts into other languages and suddenly the obsessive circles have a useful purpose. Practice. It helps me keep my obsessions simple and direct.

I have learned it takes high level language skills to talk like a fool.

Mandarin is the newest obsession breaker. Writing it absolutely appeals to my graphic thought process.

Both DD an Sword, gave great examples of meditation exercises, anything I would give would just be a variation off of them.

The best part of meditation, no side affects.

I do a similar approach , I TYPE the words out in my mind..I never learned how to type, so this has helped me a lot in being more facile on the key board...Meditation is hard for me too....it takes practice !

This is my main use for foreign language studies. I translate my obsessive thoughts into other languages and suddenly the obsessive circles have a useful purpose. Practice. It helps me keep my obsessions simple and direct.

I have learned it takes high level language skills to talk like a fool.

Mandarin is the newest obsession breaker. Writing it absolutely appeals to my graphic thought process.

I've had no luck with meditation, but I do like the idea of translating into a foreign language, Thanks!

Play a musical instrument