Omega – Without conversing with you it is difficult to be sure, but I wonder whether you have read
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/example-15-life-changes/ Also I am not sure if this helps, but people tend to live in and through their thoughts, and I wonder if that is what you do. They take their thinking so seriously, yet thoughts and words are never the things they indicate. They are like photo copies of real thing, false copies of reality. Although language is wonderful and if we are raised in a language it seems a natural flowing thing – but it is only our associations that we are dealing with.
This came home to me strongly when I had a very serious stroke that paralysed my right side, knocked out my ability to speak, and I lost control of my bladder – in fact lost control. I describe what happened when I began to be conscious again -
From that point on I feel I was aware of what was happening around me, and what was said even though I couldn’t respond verbally. But an extraordinary and unexpected thing had occurred; I was in a state of wonderful and deeply felt peace. Gradually I realised what had happened and described it as existing under a ceiling of words and speech, a ceiling that cut out awareness of words, and so freed me of all the conflicts, decision making, and social mannerisms that arose from being lost in words and the thoughts that arise from them. I experienced it almost as a visual thing, this great ceiling above which was the complicated world of speech, and under which was great peace. It was literally peace that passeth understanding – for understanding comes from words – whereas this was beyond it, a direct experience of being.
Of course, from their point of view I probably looked a mess, as due to the stroke the right side of my face, so I have been told, was still sagging. But I wasn’t aware of that – just peace and calm love.
I am not sure about how to teach a person how to stop thinking because people have different responses to things. Some years ago while using slow breathing I suddenly broke through to life without thoughts/words. It was an amazing experience, for I saw how limited the thinking mind is, and what vast stretches of experience lay beyond. See
http://dreamhawk.com/body-and-mind/the-slow-breath/ Another way is to learn relaxation of our muscular system, and when learnt apply it to put self awareness by relaxing/dropping activity within you. See
http://dreamhawk.com/health-and-healing/lessons-in-relaxation-part-3/Tony