The human brain processes thousands of thoughts per day. Understandably, this can become overwhelming at times, particularly if you feel as though persistent negative thoughts are taking over your daily life. The feeling of being unable to âswitch offâ is not uncommon; however, it can have far-reaching effects. Cognitive theories suggest that our thoughts can influence our mental health and impact our ability to take action.
It may seem like the best way to deal with an overly busy brain is to push difficult thoughts to the back of your mind. Unfortunately, this just causes them to resurface at a later date.To combat the vicious cycle of overthinking, there are a number of steps you can take to calm your mind and feel more relaxed.Â
The mindfulness approach
When it comes to calming a busy brain, one of the best remedies is a simple meditation session. Adopting the mindful methods and breathing exercises can be a lifesaver for some, but others struggle more with the idea of calming the mind. A lot of people have had difficult personal experiences of meditation; so if youâve felt frustrated about your ability to quieten your thoughts when attempting meditation, you are certainly not alone.
Fortunately, there are alternatives to the traditional practice of meditation. The mindfulness approach to a more relaxed mind uses a form of mindful meditation to help your thoughts become more manageable. This technique trains the mind to pay attention to the present moment so that we become more aware of our thoughts and feelings as they happen, and grow more in tune with the world around us. Mindfulness can help us better appreciate the world around us and form a deeper understanding and acceptance of ourselves.
Time away from screens
We can all be guilty of this at some point – spending too much time on our phones and technology, scrolling and swiping. Maybe in the evening you find yourself watching tv and scrolling at the same time.
If you are someone who is struggling to switch your mind off, it may be because you are keeping your mind busy with technology, as you are absorbing too much information.
Start to try and reduce how often you are spending either multi tasking but also on your phone. Focus on one activity at a time and try and reduce the amount of time you are on you tech. This is particularly important before bed as the blue lights emitted from technology can effect melatonin levels which are the sleep hormones.
Positive vs. Negative
If you are someone who often finds themselves constantly thinking or finding it difficult to switch off their mind, I want you to take a minute or two and thinkâŠ.. Are your thoughts more often positive or negative?
It is quite common to focus on the negative. It may feel difficult but most of the time we can find a positive in any situation. It might be something small like the dog was happy to see me or I smiled today etcâŠ
If we can start to focus on the positive our minds feel less threatened and stressed and we start to calm the inner chatter a little.
Also if you spend 5 minutes at the start and end of your day thinking about 3 things that went well, are new or good today you will start to see the positivity more and more. Want to do one even better, get it out of your head and down on paper.
Try to let go of thoughts
This is something people initially find really difficult. If your mind is used to being busy most of the time it can also feel very strange not having your mind whirring all the time and thoughts ruminating or spiralling in your mind. So we have to get used to the novelty of having a calm, slower thoughts and letting them pass.
Embrace Stillness
We all lead busy, sometime hectic and stressful lives.
Sometimes people just want to pause and enjoy the stillness. This can feel very challenging if we arenât used to it, so start small. Just pause and enjoy the stillness as you drink your cuppa. Pause and enjoy the birds singing while you are outside. Stop on a walk and sit on the bench you would normally walk past and just absorb what is around you.
Thinking about what you can see, hear, feel and smell can often help people absorb the stillness and quieten their mind so they can enjoy the moment.
You may find this challenging and thoughts might crop in about what you need to do later, things you havenât done etc. If that is the case just start to practice having the thoughts and letting them go. Think of thoughts as being like clouds in the sky. Rather than letting them stay over you and create darkness and shadows, allow them to drift on past so you can enjoy the light and blue sky. The more you practice this the easier it becomes.
Quiet
Some people are often worried about silence and how to be alone with their thoughts.
One way to get used to inner quiet is to start to introduce it to parts of your day and allowing contemplation where thoughts come in and drift off. For example you might try turning the radio off in the car sometimes.
Becoming comfortable with silence and your mind is really powerful and a great skill to learn. It might not feel easy but much better than ignoring or shutting out thoughts in your mind. If you struggle with lots of thoughts you might find journaling writing them down helps to get them out of your head.
Tools
Sometimes when we are trying to relax or feel calmer it helps if we use a tool to keep the mind focused, eg. counting, some love this and others donât, but I highly recommend you give it a go.
As you focus on your breathing you can count the breath in, pause if you wish and then count breathing out.
A couple of things to be aware of:
- You want the breath out to be longer than the breath in.
- If you add a pause donât force it – do it as long is comfortable for you and with practice you should then be able to lengthen the pause
For example you breath in 2,3,4 pause 2,3 breath out 2,3,4,5,6
Mindful Breathing
High levels of anxiety, stress and worry can affect our breathing, causing tightening in the chest and making you feel like you canât catch your breath. This reaction can only perpetuate the problem and cause anxious thoughts to spiral into overload.
A good place to start calming a busy mind is to focus on your breathing. Practise deep breathing and observe the rise and fall of your chest â this can be a great method of bringing calm to both body and mind. Try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth in slow rhythms, letting the breath flow effortlessly. As you calm your breathing, try to let go of your thoughts and imagine them leaving your body and mind. This is a technique you can practice anywhere and whenever you feel your thoughts are getting on top of you.
Connect with the present moment
A key area of mindfulness practice is becoming more in tune with your own thoughts and feelings. While it can be tempting to ignore negative thought patterns that persist in a busy mind, we can only reduce their intensity and impact by acknowledging them.
Naming your thoughts and feelings as you experience them (i.e. âangerâ, âanxietyâ, âworryingâ, âdaydreamingâ, etc.) can be helpful. At the same time as acknowledging your thoughts, tune into what you can see in front of you, listen out for the sounds around you, notice how your clothes feel against your skin, think about every flavour you are tasting and recognise the smell of the fresh air.
By tuning into our other senses, we can recognise that there is so much more present around us than the painful thoughts and feelings that are currently dominating our consciousness. Known as a âdropping anchor â technique, this method is not intended to distract us from negative thoughts; rather, it helps to shift our attention to the present moment and halt the âstormâ of the seemingly never-ending spiral of thoughts running around in our head.
Get Outside
The soothing power of nature is a great resource to draw upon when seeking to calm a busy mind. The power our thoughts have over our mental well-being can be overwhelming, and a step outside can be the tonic we need to redress the balance. Whether youâre in the office or at home, getting outdoors and into nature is a perfect way to practice mindfulness.
Take a moment to observe what you see around you. Observe the trees, the grass, the flowers and shrubs, appreciating different aspects of nature and naming them in your mind. Notice the small details of natureâs beauty â the colours, the shapes, the patterns. Take a deep breath and breathe in different natural scents and smells. Think about what you can feel around you, feeling the crisp grass under your shoes, the wind in your hair, the warm sunlight on your face. Take a moment to experience whatever you observe in the present moment, using all of your senses.
Release your thoughts
The age-old phrase âtalking is the best medicineâ is certainly a helpful tip when it comes to calming a busy mind. Sometimes our thoughts can get overwhelming because we are the only ones dealing with them. Itâs amazing how helpful releasing those thoughts can be.
Whether it be with a trusted friend, partner, or professional, unburdening your mind of persistent anxious thoughts can help to release you from the control they have over you. If youâre not ready to talk, then writing your thoughts down can also be a helpful means of halting the vicious cycle of negative thoughts. It can help to put things into perspective and trigger the process of finding solutions.
Try Sound Baths
Sound therapy is the use of sound to help calm the mind and body. It is particularly useful for people who have tried meditation but struggle to quieten the thoughts running through their minds.
Through listening to the sounds we are able to change the frequency of the brain waves our brain is functioning at.
Normally every day our brain is in a beta wave (12-30Hz) which means we are alert, normal level of consciousness you may be slightly stressed.
When we start to meditate our brain waves flip into an alpha state (8-12Hz) or brain wave. This occurs when we are relaxed, calm, lucid and not thinking.
Some people are even able to do deeper into a theta (deep relaxation) and delta (deep dreamless sleep)
The sounds of the singing bowls speed up the process of changing your brain waves as soon as we hear them. This help people to feel calmer, more relaxed and quieten the thoughts in the mind quicker but also more easily.
Reference:Â https://mindowl.
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