Have you ever felt stressed and overwhelmed by the events that happen in your life?
Most of us do face this feeling once in a while!
Stress is a normal part of our life. Infect, it is actually a survival mechanism to protect us against different conditions.
But when we don’t know how to relieve it and the stress continues, the problem arises!
16 Simple Exercises And Instructions To Calm Your Mind In Times Of Stress
Feeling stressed can take away our positive energy… It is not a pleasant state of mind, and most of us don’t enjoy feeling stressed.
We sometimes pause, and think ‘why we are feeling so much stressed?’ And ‘what can we do about it?’
Here, you can learn to relax your mind in a simple way. And you will find that a calm mind is possible for you too, no matter how stressed you are!
Advantages Of A Calm Mind
The main benefit of calming your mind is that it relieves stress.
By calming your mind, you’ll feel less suppressed by the emotions that make you feel like you’re losing control. By calming your mind, avoid many of the disease-causing effects of stress, such as high blood pressure, depression, and fatigue. A calm mind improves your mood by reducing anger and frustration and also strengthens your confidence in dealing with life’s problems. In general, you will feel better physically, mentally and emotionally.
Why do we have problems in creating peace of mind?
I often hear people say, “I can’t take my mind off, I’m busy!” They are usually busy people whose lives are full of commitments and activities. They have difficult jobs and families to take care of. Sometimes, they are young people with goals and ambitions. And there is no problem in these scenarios.
The challenge is to find a ‘balance’ between your obligations to others, and your personal needs, and one of these needs is to be in peace.
A busy life tends to overstimulate our minds. Basically, anything related to each of our five senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell) creates a chain of thoughts. Therefore, all the activities we do constantly, will eventually stimulate our mind. And if we are really busy, then we can have too much in our mind, which causes a sense of mental busyness and stress.
Re-Applying Our Perspective On Stress:
Another reason why we have trouble calming our minds is our un-conscious views on relaxation. Ask any person their opinion about relaxation, and they will probably tell you that it is a good thing and that people should have enough time to rest. (You can read this article to learn to rest usefully.)
Then ask that person if they really did this. It is possible that they did not. This is very similar to what people think about sports. They know that exercise is useful for them, but they hardly find time to exercise. The reason for this is that our subconscious mind tells us different things like the following:
- I don’t have time to rest
- I have more important things to do
- I must be efficient
- I don’t know how to calm my mind
- I am the type of person who cannot sit still.
These unconscious beliefs are very strong and dictate our actions. Therefore, if we intend to change these beliefs, we must reprogram the subconscious mind. It may seem difficult, but it is not. You can easily do this with a technique called “writing meditation”. With this writing technique, you can simply write a series of affirmations by hand in a notebook for 5 minutes a day. You can do this anytime and anywhere. You don’t even need a quiet place to do this! All you need is just few minutes time for yourself!
After a few days, you will notice a change in your own behavior. And then, it will be easier for you to allocate time to relax the mind.
Relaxing Writing Technique
I realized that I deserve a calm mind.
I know that with a calm mind, I will be happier, more efficient and make better choices in life. I hope to live in a way that does not overstimulate my mind. I hope I can reduce the unnecessary background of sounds around me. I hope that I can spend time every day to calm down and solve problems. I hope that I will have the strength to use other calm methods to calm my mind more. I commit to quieting my mind, so I realize true happiness and the fulfillment of personal goals.
To get the most benefits from this exercise, you also can use, meditation and use the healing power of the nature with it. I suggest doing any of these techniques 3-4 days a month. (Or however long it takes for you to make calmness and relaxation a priority in your life.)
How To Calm The Mind?
It is relatively easy to calm your mind.
The following 16 suggestions, will help you do two things:
In the first stage, they prevent your mind from getting tired.
The second stage allows your mind to solve problems naturally…
16 Simple Exercises On How To Calm The Mind:
1. Listen To Relaxing Music
Relaxing music can be a long-term way to calm the mind. The slow tempo of the music forces your mind to slow down. There are different types of relaxing music on YouTube. Find a music with the sound of nature and something like a dreamscape.
2. Take A Walk
Walking can help us clear our minds from clutter.
This takes our mind away from things that cause anxiety and makes us look at things with a clearer vision.
3. Preparation Of A Gratitude List
We often tend to focus on the things we don’t have in life. This can be discouraging, and prevents us from working on things we believe we are lacking.
What good things are in there? What are you thankful about?
When you think with a calm mind, you can see that even th thing or the person that you think did not have any particular good in them, actually has some good things or lessons for you if you learn to face your own fear, anger or learn forgiveness. These can help you become more calm and then you will have the ability to see more and be more thankful. As gratitude will bring us the positive energy that will help to uplift our emotions and overall wellbeing…
If you find it difficult to be thankful about the things that you have -or the problems that you don’t have- in your life. Try to write down what you are thankful about, even if you can count the healthiness of a part of your body, like your eyesight or your ability to listen, read, walk, eat…or having a person in your life how really cares for you… and so many things that just because you have them right now, they feel natural to you, but they may be the wish of a person, who is not blessed with them at their current stage of life…
Take about 5 minutes to write down the things you are grateful for. This will help reprogram your subconscious mind and make you more comfortable.
4. Find Some Time To Be Alone
It is important to dedicate some quality time to yourself (please make sure you are not taking too much alone time or avoiding social extractions out of your comfort zone all at once, or you are not facing depression.)
But if you are feeling stressed. Taking some time to get away from it all and spending some quality ME-time with yourself with something that you enjoy, like reading a good book, making your favorite dish, watching your favorite show, or going for some makeover at your favorite saloon, can help you get that good quality alone time which will boost you energy and et your mind away from the anxiety.
5. Hugging Lovely Animals
Most of us do have a good feeling near animals. Perhaps because our ancestors lived with them!
(No matter how high class you are at your life, you have to accept that your ancestors DID live in the wild, weather you like it or not!) 😀
But animals usually make us feel good! Maybe it is because they are so pure and real, and maybe it is because they are usually predictable.
Or maybe, they are just those little cute kittens and puppies, that make our hearts melt for them when we see them!
Studies have shown that some animals can have a good relaxing effect on us.
They help to transform the mind into a place of simplicity and unconditional love.
So spending some time with them would be really good.
6. Turn Off Your Phone
Our mobile phones are a good source of our mental anxiety, and we don’t want to accept it!
We have all sorts of reason for all the time being on our phones, so it became a habit if not an addiction for many of us…. But is it really necessary to communicate with other people all the time? If not, just give yourself an hour. Turn off your cell phone for a while, maybe you can inform your loved ones about it and do it for a longer time if you need to have some time away from everything and just become distanced and relaxed. Most of the people in our lives can go on without talking to us constantly, specially if we inform them in advance!
The following are very simple things that you can do at any time, without dedicating a lot of time from your busy schedule. These things are meant to end the anxiety in your mind. These actions can also bring you back to the present moment, which is the essence of mindfulness:
7. Close Your Eyes
Close your eyes for just a few seconds.
If you want, you can focus on your ego and let it melt away in your heart. This work helps to reduce some mental stimulations. You also can just close your eyes and start counting your blessings in life, it is hard in the beginning but you can give yourself more time every-time. It will help you take your mind in control and be present in your own mind as it can help you with being mindful about your own thoughts and emotions.
8. Laugh!
I personally enjoy funny people, of the people who take time to create funny social media posts or comedy scenes.
Being around people who enjoy having fun or ‘get the jokes’ is fun, you can also bring more fun to your life by deciding to do so… you can start with reading jokes, going to comedy clubs or finding similar minded people who don’t shut any fun thing out because they insist on having their own serious mindset of don’t want to learn about the fun part of the life.
Laughing is considered a short-term break from serious issues, and it can definitely boost you energy.
Don’t take life too seriously, it will pass-by anyways… Just bring a little humor to you life. Sometimes if you feel stressed, try to lough at your fun times or memories or even at yourself. Many of the things in life are not as serious as we think and for many things there is not much that we can do about them….. So, Just Lough It Off!
9. Smell The Flowers
Flowers are natural works of art. They are the reminder of innocent beauty, some little colorful gifts of the universe to our eyes.
They come in all shapes, sizes and smells and almost everyone has their favorite flower!
Don’t forget to see them when they are on your way!
Stop at a nearby park once in a while to appreciate their beauty and allow yourself to smell their fragrance.
Do not neglect small things. Allow yourself to enjoy small gifts of the nature when they appear on your way! They have extraordinary beauty.
Sometimes, you can buy yourself some flowers and enjoy their presence in your daily life.
And sometimes give a plant to a dear person, let the beauty of the plant boost their good vibe and energy. We all need that positive vibe that seeing a little plant on a table can give us that good vibe, from time to time!
(And if you live in a place where no flower is around you, look again, and look deeper this time! And you will realize that maybe ‘you’ are that beautiful flower, and that is what the universe wants you to understand at this point of your life: ‘Being that positive vibe’!)
10. Go To The Nature And Get Some Sunlight!
You have to really re-connect to the nature, no matter how busy you are, or how far you are from the nearby park!
The sun can have a wonderful relaxing effect. Go outside for a few minutes during your break. Sit on a bench, do some grounding techniques, close your eyes and enjoy the warmth of the sun on your skin and count your blessings as you open your eyes and watch the sunset… (Read this article to know more about reconnecting to the nature.)
11. Look Out The Window
If you are unable to go outside, it can be good to look out the window for a few minutes during the day. Look at the trees, birds and other creatures you recognize, or even just lye down in your balcony or near the windows and look at the clouds if it makes you feel good…
And don’t just look at an area that immediately take away your look from the outside, look at the distance, look with putting your attention to the details as well.
If you are serious about how to calm your mind, the following methods will help you achieve a deeper state of relaxation.
12. Reduce Noise And Activity
If you have a super busy life, there is probably a lot of noise and activity around you. When you are not fully engaged with them, turn down some background noise, such as the TV and radio.
Human mind can only tolerate a certain amount of constant unwanted noise, specially if it is repeating over a long period of time.
Reducing the unwanted noise(as much as possible) can really help you to concentrate on the important things in your life, and also too much noise or too much unwanted noise, can take away you calmness, so you have to make sure you live in a calm place in order to keep your own calmness.
13. Be Physically Calm
Physical relaxation calms your mind. That is the reason many people take the meditation and mindfulness techniques so seriously nowadays. (You can learn about these techniques in the website.)
There are different ways to relax physically, such as stretching, Tai-chi or Yoga, or a taking a clod shower.
14. Talk To A Friend
When we are anxious, we may catch ourselves completely lost about a subject or an area of our life…
When we are in this stage, often things happen in our mind or we tend to make things more complicated than necessary, which we are not able to fully understand at the moment…
If you have a wise and trusted person of friend in you life who can be there for you to talk, of give you advise without taking sides, then you are a lucky person, because sometimes, just talking to someone else helps us sort them out.
If you feel that you are struggling more than you should or of you find it difficult to come up with solutions, you always can find a ‘good’ therapist, who can help you to get out of that stage of your mindset.
15. Practice Mindfulness
This is a powerful and varied exercise that can calm your mind significantly.
In addition to practicing meditation, you can also try mindful breathing, mindful walking, and controlled imagery mindfulness exercises.
16. Sports And Activities
Physical exercise can help you take your mind ‘off’ problems and calm your body.
When you use your external power and exercise you body, to inject internal positive energy to yourself, you will balance your thoughts and feelings much more easily.
Also, by increasing the production of endorphins, which are neurotransmitters that make you feel good, you will feel better by doing physical exercises and activities.
You are free to choose any of the above. Your choice depends on how troubled your mind is. If your mind is too full of stress, I want you to start with some simple suggested actions like closing your eyes for a few seconds.
Then, as you calm down over time, you might want to try something for deeper relaxation, like meditation.
As you know now, calming the mind is very simple if you know the process.
This is mainly about reducing the things that are triggering your mind and taking some time to let it clear naturally.
Just imagine what your life would be like with a peaceful mind! Things will become much clearer and you will feel more in control of your emotions and life.
All this is available to you as soon as you make a decision to use them… All you have to do is follow some of the simple solutions that are mentioned above.
(Click here to know about ‘The Best Solutions To Have A Peaceful Mind.’)
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