How to deal with intrusive thoughts?

It's a bit difficult to explain, but some time ago I could perfectly control these thoughts along with my anxiety (feeling physical stress, not just mental)
Basically a year ago I was out walking with my dog in this beautiful field during the winter. I was feeling a sense of calmness I haven't felt in a long time. I was walking and a sense of anxiety and intrusive thoughts came to me, maybe basically I realise how calm I was. So I somehow cleared my head. I literally just stopped thinking about it and focused on where am I and the very moment I'm in. And so after that experience I could do it freely and had a really great sense of control.
Before that experience I watched some videos of a guy on YouTube named John Butler (not the musician), he has stuff on mediation and life in general and I was practicing that for a while before the experience.

 

Thoughts come and go. If you get intrusive thoughts and you try to push them away hard, chances are high that they come back even harder.

Ive learned to manage them this way:

1. I'm not my intrusive thoughts, I can judge them and I can choose whetever I like my thoughts or not.

2. If I get dirty sexual thoughts, I can just be like "wow, okey, these again" and I know I dont need to worry about those, because its just my porn addiction trying to speak or ocd or just random thoughts. Those thoughts are NOT who I am.

3. Dont try to push them away too hard, thoughts come and go. They will go away by their own.

If find yourself fantasizing (fantasizing and intrusive thoughts are completely different things, you choose to fantasize, but intrusive thoughts just come and you cant help it) a lot and you want to stop it, you can also try this:

1. What would be the cost in real life, if my fantasy happened right now ?
Maybe someone would get hurt ? Maybe I would get hurt ? Maybe I would have to go to the jail ? Maybe I would have to break up with my girlfriend ?

2. Allways when you find yourself fantasizing think about the cost and if it REALLY happened, and eventually that will start happening automatically, and you will start to feel like you dont want that fantasy/ those fantasies anymore.

Good luck !

 

@PM recovery guy that’s some great advice. I really the “oh those PMO thoughts again.” Like, take away their power. Make fun of them. Love it.