5 Tips To Quiet Your Mind

There’s no doubt about it: We are living in stressful times. 

I cannot get through a day without talking to a client about everything that is going on in our world. Topics like Russia invading Ukraine, living though a pandemic, last year’s insurrection,  mass murders and shootings, racial and gender inequality, and terrorist attacks seem to be daily headlines. And that’s on top of important ongoing movements, like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, which finally forced us to confront sexual assault against women and police brutality and racially motivated violence. These events and topics can trigger us, traumatize us, and even reopen deep wounds we thought had healed. This causes an unfathomable amount of stress. Our minds race and do not quiet. We lose sleep and live in a constant state of anxiety, sometimes without even realizing it.

It is during times like these that we need to practice self-care. It’s not optional—it’s self-preservation. We need to turn inward and organize our own thoughts to be able to deal with the madness of the outside world.   

Do you ever have those moments when you find yourself begging your mind to be quiet? Do you wish there was a temporary “off switch” so that you could get a few moments peace from the constant barrage of negative news? Observing the atrocities going on around us is already difficult enough…we owe it to ourselves to calm the voice in our heads. The simple fact is that despite us wishing it would be silent, the mind often has a mind of its own.

I have different techniques I use to help quiet my mind. Maybe not silence it completely, but make the volume of the thoughts less noticeable. The goal is to be less distracted, more focused, and better able to relax.

Here are my top 5 tips for calming your mind and centering your thoughts.

1. Meditation

Meditation is a fantastic tool for calming and unwinding both your body and mind. One of the problems that people often face is an anxiety that they are not meditating properly, which doesn’t help calm the mind at all. My advice? Relax into it! There is no right or wrong way when it comes to closing the eyes and preparing to meditate. If you are new to meditation, or if you have struggled with meditating in the past, try following a guided relaxation or mindfulness meditation. 

You can find these for free online and there are thousands to choose from—I love the Ten Percent Happier App. If you find that the first few aren’t right for you don’t give up! Meditations come in all different styles and types, and it is important to find one that is guided by a voice that relaxes you. 

2. Deep breathing 

Breathing plays a surprisingly big role in how we feel on an emotional and mental level. By calming the flow of your breath and implementing slow, relaxed nostril breathing, you can calm your feelings and thoughts. 

Next time you need to calm your mind, turn to your breath. To redirect the pattern of your thoughts, you can mentally follow each breath by silently repeating ‘breathing in - breathing out’ with each inhalation and each exhalation.

3. Going for a walk or run by yourself

Sometimes the chattering of the mind happens because there are things that you really need to think through before you can let them go. When this is the case for me, I like to go out for a run on my own and let the thinking process take its course. 

For others walking helps (the Spring Walking Challenge is right around the corner…it’s never too early to start your walking routine). Befriend your thoughts and let them play through your mind—you may find that they work themselves out.

4. Write it down

Keeping a journal is a great way to focus your thoughts and calm your mind. You may wish to write poetry, jot down thoughts and ideas, recall what has happened in your day, or simply doodle or sketch. 

The act of recording your thoughts and ideas is a great way of focusing your mind and working through specific problems. The other advantage is that you get to keep a record of this part of yourself to look back over in the future.

5. Get outside and connect with nature

There is something incredibly calming about nature. Getting out and about in the fresh air always helps calm my mind. When I get a chance, I walk along the beach smelling the salty air, listening to the waves breaking on the shore and the feeling of sand between my toes. I also like to go to parks and take my shoes off and walk in the grass. Try getting out and connecting with nature, even if it is just admiring a beautiful sunset or watching storm clouds building up on the horizon, nature has an amazing way of calming the mind.

The first step to quiet your mind is to pay attention to your stress and anxiety levels. Your body has an amazing feedback system. Stress is there to let you know that things are out of balance, and when you feel it, that’s your cue to take a mental break. Even a few minutes can make a difference, so don’t let a packed schedule keep you from finding a bit of calm on a busy day. 

If you found this blog post helpful, make sure to join our Private Pure Joy Wellness Facebook Group and follow us on Instagram @purejoywellness! 

Xo, 

Renata