Hi, Jacob,
It may be that you aren't doing anything wrong. Meditation tends to make us more aware of what's going on in our mind. It may be that your meditation practice has just made you more aware of overthinking that has been there all along but that you've been less aware of. You wrote:
My mind runs on very high gear and I'm getting entangled into wild thoughts, then I stay with them to observe them - vicious cycle...
Can you observe the thoughts without getting involved with them? Can you watch them float through the mind like clouds drifting across the sky? Without grabbing on and believing this thought so it leads to another thought and another and another?
It sounds like maybe something is happening for you that also happens for me, especially with thoughts that have a strong emotional charge. I'll try to observe them without involvement, but when an especially juicy one comes up, it's hard to sit back and let it pass. And then I'm back involved and feeding the cycle with my emotional reactions again.
In my experience, when I can observe thoughts without pulling (believing and clinging) or pushing (believing and pushing away or disbelieving and pushing away) on them, that is without reacting to them, they tend to quieten down if given time. When I notice my thoughts becoming more numerous, more overwhelming, it usually means that I'm getting hooked into involvement, that I'm believing the thoughts and feeding their energy with emotional reaction.
So it sounds to me like what you're experiencing is fairly normal and a natural step in the process. I think your response of backing off on the insight and shifting to a more concentration-centered practice is spot on. Has that been helpful or is it too early to tell?
Best wishes,
Tom
