Home > Resources > Meditations > Coming Back to the Present When Your Thoughts Are Spiralling
A spiral usually starts with one real concern and then picks up speed, one thought pulling in the next, each one a little worse than the last, until you are three or four steps past anything that is actually happening right now. This meditation is built to interrupt that chain, not to solve the original concern.
A 2015 meta-analysis published in Clinical Psychology Review examined how mindfulness-based programmes improve mental health, and found consistent evidence that they work partly by reducing rumination and worry, the specific mental habit of circling the same thoughts repeatedly. Noticing that you have drifted into a spiral, and gently returning attention to the present, is the mechanism, not a side effect.
You may need to do this more than once in the same sitting. That is normal and not a sign the practice is not working, spiralling thoughts often need several gentle returns rather than one successful redirect. If sitting with your eyes closed feels impossible right now, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding does similar work with your eyes open.
Written by Storme Brand, HPCSA Registered Counsellor, Reg. PRC0023531, practising from Jeffreys Bay since 2012. Last reviewed 11 July 2026. This handout is general information and not a substitute for counselling.
If spiralling thoughts are a near-daily experience rather than an occasional one, that pattern is worth addressing properly rather than only interrupting in the moment. You can read more about anxiety counselling, or get in touch, there’s no obligation to book.
References
Gu, J., Strauss, C., Bond, R., & Cavanagh, K. (2015). How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 37, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006
