Danny Davis
Stress, tension, anxiety – these are all factors that can create a state of unrest. However, when you have ways to calm your mind, you will find that you not only feel better, but that you are healthier and able to enjoy life in a new, deeper and more meaningful way.
50 Ways To Calm Your Mind
Here are 50 ways to calm your overactive mind and live a happier, healthier and more at peace life.
1| Eliminate Clutter
One of the easiest ways to calm your mind is to eliminate unnecessary clutter. What themes are overactive in your thoughts? Your job? Money? Find ways to make your life more joyful. This may mean changing careers, or simply going camping on the weekends. Eliminate the things that clutter your thoughts and cause stress.
2| Stop Watching TV
According to some, TV is a method of mind control that plays a part in how you think and perceive life. It impacts your entire thought process of who you actually are, what clothes you should wear, what to drink and eat, etc. If you eliminate TV, you can eliminate all this outside pressure that makes your mind go into overdrive.
3| Meditate
It is proven that meditation, practiced on a regular basis, can help you reach inner peace. There are several meditation styles so take some time to experiment with different options and find one that works for you. Meditation is one of the most effective ways to clear and calm your mind. You can practice this virtually anywhere when you have a few spare moments.
4| Eliminate Your Ego
The best way to effectively eliminate your ego is to practice empathy and try to envision how other people see life and feel. This will help to keep you grounded and realize that we are all in this together. If one person is suffering, then everyone suffers. When you are able to realize this, you will be able to see why you don’t have it so bad, eliminating some of the negative thoughts you may have.
5| Eliminate Bad Foods from Your Diet
Diets that contain a large amount of caffeine and sugar can affect your thought processes. In addition, GMOs can cause tumors and fluoridated water can calcify the pineal gland. Be conscious of what you eat and drink and listen to what your body is telling you. Eating right can help you calm your mind and help you think more clearly.
6| Exercise
Having a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. This means including physical activity in your daily routine is necessary. You can participate in intense activity, such as running or swimming, or something more relaxing, such as Pilates or Yoga. Both of these will help you relax and focus on yourself, calming your mind for a while.
7| Escape from Time
When you are off work, learn how to properly escape from time. Time will keep you locked into the constructs of your “work week” so when you are off, don’t watch TV or use your cell phone. Instead, just try to “wing it” in regards to what you do, don’t impose constraints on your activities.
8| Have some Fun
Begin to do things that you really enjoy. Focus on having fun, rather than trivial items that you have no control over. Laughter is the best medicine. While this is an old adage, it is one that is still true today. Take some time to enjoy life and have fun, doing so will help ensure you get the most out of life.
9| Don’t Try to Control Everything
Many people who have an overactive mind want to try to control everything in their life. It is difficult to relinquish this control, but doing so can help you relax and rest your mind. When you accept the fact that you are unable to control everything, you will be able to enjoy life more and relax your mind.
10| Create a Dream Diary or Journal
A great way to release your thoughts and calm your mind is to begin a dream diary or journal. By putting things in writing, you will have an outlet to eliminate the clutter in your mind. Writing down things that happen or negative thoughts you have will help you release them, rather than dwelling on them for days, weeks or more, which can lead to stress and anxiety.
11| Live for the Moment
When you have an overactive, you are likely thinking about the future or past constantly. Release what you cannot control. Focus on the here and now and you will be able to enjoy life more. Don’t try to make things happen that you don’t have to control over. This is one of the fastest ways to drive yourself crazy. Live for the moment and you will find your mind is not constantly going at 100 miles per hour.
12| Get in Tune with Nature
Take a long walk in the woods or on the beach. You can find inner peace and immerse yourself in nature. Nature has a calming element that will help you relax and let go of your worries and stress. This will help you relax, and let go of things you have been dwelling on.
13| Only Tackle One Task at a Time
It can be tempting to try and multi-task throughout the day, but your brain is not built to do this. Try to focus on one task, finish it, and move on. When you focus on a single task, you will also be able to complete it with a much higher level of proficiency and ensure that it is done to the best of your ability, since you will not be focused on more than one thing at a time.
14| Learn How Sort Information
If you have too much information coming at you, it can become overwhelming. Try to create a system that will help you sort through the information as it comes your way. Too many extraneous details will bog down your mind.
15| Create a Personal Mantra
This can be a simple three word phrase, or a single word that you use time and time again. You can use this mantra while meditating to have something to concentrate on. This can be used at any time you are feeling stressed or extreme anxiety. It will help you relax and enjoy life more without being hung up negative thoughts or feelings.
16| Focus on Your Breathing
A great way to get the most out of meditating is to focus on your breathing. Sit with your eyes closed and concentrate on the breaths you take. Count while you do this. When you concentrate on this, you will be able to relax and unwind.
17| Use Walking Meditation
This is similar to traditional meditation and will allow you to focus and clear your mind. While walking slow your pace and be aware of each step you take. When you walk, you can clear your mind, relax, and unwind.
18| Practice Yoga
Poses such as child’s pose will help you focus on your breathing and relax. The purpose of yoga is to stretch your body and focus on what you are doing, rather than the thoughts that are running through your head. Yoga is relaxing and allows you to clear your mind.
19| Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is much like meditation that you implement into your day-to-day life. Rather than focusing on breathing, you will focus on what has happened in the past, without judgement. This can be quite beneficial and reduce your desire to control everything or dwell on things you are unable to control.
20| Take a Self-Compassion Break
When in a stressful situation, take the time to take notice of it. You may want to say it aloud. You can connect the suffering you are experiencing to other people and place your hands on your chest to actually feel the weight there.
21| Consider Yourself a Friend
If you really think about it, you are usually easier on your friends than you are on yourself. In many cases, you are your own worse critic. Instead of being so hard on yourself, treat your issues and problems as you would your friends.
22| Think Through Causes of Anxiety
Rather than letting anxiety bog you down, let it guide your life. Think about what you can learn from the anxiety and what you can do to resolve the situation. This will reduce your over working mind and help you avoid similar situations in the future.
23| Practice Cognitive Distancing
In many situations, your mind works itself up over practically nothing. This includes predicting that bad things are going to occur. Rather than thinking up negative outcomes, think of positive ones that may occur.
24| Take a Bath or Shower to Calm Your Mind
In some cases, just getting in the shower or bath can help you calm your thoughts and mind. When you cleanse your body, you can also turn it into a ritual to cleanse your mind.
25| Practice Being Grateful
In some cases, the only way to refocus your overactive mind is to turn it into what is good, instead of focusing on what is bad. Each day write down a few things you are grateful for.
26| Don’t Jump to Conclusions
In many cases, your brain will automatically jump into what it thinks is a logical conclusion and in many cases, it is a bad one. This can cause your brain to move into overtime. Learn how to notice you are doing this and you will be able to calm your mind.
27| Get Out in the Sun
It is a good idea to get at least 20 minutes of sunshine each day by going outside. Absorbing Vitamin D will have a number of biological benefits and enhance your endorphins and serotonin.
28| Avoid All-or-Nothing Thinking
When you have all-or-nothing thinking, it will make you see everything as a failure. This goes along with a perfectionist mentality – if it’s not perfect – it’s a failure. This method of thinking will make your mind work hard and make you always try to find the next mistake. When you learn not to think like this, you can calm your mind.
29| Don’t Catastrophize
This is a cognitive distortion that makes you always believe the absolute worst is always going to happen. This also makes your brain keep going 24/7. Finding ways to turn off this type of thinking will help you calm your mind.
30| Use the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT
This is a psychology technique that is similar to acupuncture, minus the needles. You can use your fingers to tap on different areas on the body to collapse the response of your body to some type of threatening thought.
31| Create a Sleep Cycle
You should commit to go to bed and get up at the same time each day. This will help your mind calm down at these times because it will become a routine.
32| Let Yourself Fantasize
Let your mind wander and dream about what you really want or something that you consider your fantasy. You will find it can be relaxing to let your mind “do its own thing.” Make sure to stay away from negative images or thoughts, since these can cause your mind to begin to over work again.
33| Unplug for a While Each Day
In addition to turning off the television, it is also a good idea to unplug from all technology for a certain amount of time each day. You should turn your cell phone off, don’t check your email, and eliminate all tech interruptions. The best time to unplug is during the day, at lunchtime and about 20 to 30 minutes prior to going to bed each night.
34| Get Organized
There are quite a few situations where an overactive mind can be calmed just by getting organized. You need to focus on organizing your home life, as well as your work life. You will be able to easily calm your overactive mind where there are not piles of papers and other junk lying around.
35| Plan Some Time for You
Regardless of if you have a significant other, or not, you should plan some type of night out at least once a month. You can spend this night with friends, coworkers or even on your own if you prefer. The goal is to get out and enjoy yourself. Unplug and relax, you will find your mind is much easier to relax when you do this on a regular basis.
36| Choose a Hobby
Another effective way that you can calm a mind that is overactive is to begin a new hobby. Try to start doing something that will help you to focus on a creative and positive activity. You can begin doing yoga, crafting or even skiing. They key is to do something you enjoy and it will help give you a sense of accomplishment.
37| Get a Look at the Bigger Picture
You need to change your perspective so that you can see the bigger picture and realize that life is not just revolving around you. Try to help people in need or do something (without expecting credit or thanks) for someone else. When you are able to get your own self out of the way, you will find it is much easier to calm your overactive mind and relax.
38| Pay Attention to Your Thoughts
It can be easy to ignore your thoughts; however, they are occurring for a reason. Address the thoughts. If they are worth thinking about, do so, if not, write them down and forget about them. Hanging on to meaningless thoughts will only weigh you down and can make your mind work harder than it should.
39| Choose How You React
While you may not have control over every situation you find yourself in, you can choose how you react to the situation. Rather than focusing on what is bad, (even if it is a bad situation) try to find a way to be positive and learn from it. This will help reduce how much you dwell on the occurrence down the road.
40| Trust Life
Life is going to happen to you, not you to life. You may have created some plans and make your decisions, but life is uncertain. You don’t have to plan out everything – this is a surefire way to meet failure head on. Accept the fact that you cannot control everything in your life and be willing to go with the flow. You will find your mind is able to rest when you do this.
41| Accept What Happens
As mentioned before, you cannot control what is going to happen. If you dwell on it, your mind is going to be in a state of constant chaos. However, if you learn to accept what happens, learn from it and move on, you will find it is much easier to calm your mind and relax.
42| Be Willing to Forgive
No one is perfect. At times, you will hurt others and others will hurt you. You have to be willing to forgive those who do you wrong. When you learn to forgive people who have done you wrong, you will find that you don’t dwell on the pain and find that it is easier to relax and calm your thoughts.
43| Practice Gratitude
Your life has value. You have to learn to appreciate the things you have, rather than dwelling on what you don’t have. If you are constantly trying to figure out how to get more or acquire things that others have, your mind will be in a constant state of chaos. You can calm your mind by being thankful for what you have and embracing it.
46| Practice Humility
If you learn to humble yourself, you know that you are not beneath or above anyone else. You should be easy on yourself and understand that it is okay if you are not perfect. Learning humility can be trying, but it is something that can help you stop obsessing about being something you are not.
47| Practice Patience
As time passes, you will see that you are exactly who you are supposed to be. You cannot try to rush the future or make things happen. Even thinking about doing this will cause you quite a bit of stress and frustration. Don’t rush time and remember that life is a journey and it is going to be over quickly so you should enjoy every moment of it.
48| Enjoy Your Pets
There is nothing quite as nice as enjoying time with your pets. Focus on playing with them and spending time with them. Doing this means that you can forget your other troubles, at least for a while. This will help you calm your mind and enjoy the here and now instead of worrying about what comes next.
49| Indulge Yourself
If you are like most people, you likely spend a good amount of time thinking about the things you should not do, or should avoid. From time to time, it is okay to indulge. Have a big piece of cake, or skip your workout. They key is to be in the moment when you take on this indulgence. It will help you enjoy every second and not try to overthink what is going on or what you are doing.
50| Find Your Spirituality
This does not necessarily mean religion. Decide what you believe, or don’t believe in. This can help you enjoy life and focus on things that matter to you. When you know what you believe, you can avoid focusing on things that don’t matter or that may cause you worry or stress.
Calming your overactive mind is not difficult, but it will take effort. Using the tips here will help you be successful in this endeavor.
