Patanjali's yoga sutras

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नोऽभ्यास
tatra sthitau yatno-‘bhyāsaḥ

tatra तत्र – there
sthitau स्थितौ (singular locative form of स्थिति (sthiti) – in the position 
yatno यत्नोऽ (vocative singular of yat यत्) – try
‘bhyāsaḥ यास – practice

There, in that position, make an effort to practice detaching your identity from your mental vortexes.

Sit and be present to whatever arises. Observe it all with loving awareness, but know that you are not your mental vortexes. You don’t have to get so caught up in them.

Meditation is one of the best ways to step away from your mental vortexes and get some space from your ego.

Set a timer for 5 to 30 minutes. Sit comfortably or lie down. Close your eyes. Count your breaths. When you lose track, start again.

How many breaths can you count before you’re lost in thought? What kinds of thoughts come up? Knowledge, misconceptions, imagination, dreams, memories? Without judging or dwelling on them, quickly label your thoughts, then let them go, and return to the breath.

You can do this practice throughout your day. Give your attention to whatever you happen to be doing. Notice when thoughts take you away from the present moment. How quickly can you categorize and release your thoughts?

You’ll notice, as Patanjali mentioned in sutra 1.5, that your ego experiences your thoughts as either problematic or unproblematic. Problematic thoughts are a little harder to move on from, but giving them a neutral label may make it easier not to judge, or dwell on, them.