They say if you can learn the art of silencing your mind, you can gain clarity and peace in this loud world. Knowing how to quiet your mind can even help you with anxiety and stress in the most effective way. Biologically speaking, when your mind-body is calm and serene, it functions optimally.
However, learning the art of achieving it in today's day and age seems to be challenging. Especially in this connected world, we are living in, being constantly bombarded with incoming messages, news, flashes, social media updates, etc., our mind is used or rather adapted to being agitated and distracted all the time.
Here are 5 methods life coaching experts believe can turn down the volume of the endless chatter in your mind so you hear only what matters to you the most.
Breathwork
Yes, this may sound like something you do all the time, but with a little more care and consciousness in observing and reflecting on how you breathe, you can find stillness. Try to slow the rate of your breathing towards deeper ones.
Pay close attention to the rhythm. Put your hands on your belly, and watch how it rises and expands as you draw air in and fall as you breathe out. It is recommended to complete at least six slow and deep breaths a minute to achieve solitude in mind.
Exercise
Enough has been said and proven over the years about the amazing benefits of an active lifestyle. Surprisingly enough, it is beneficial to silence your mind as well. Just 5 minutes of aerobic exercises or even a walk along the shore should start to calm your mind.
It helps release endorphins, the happy hormones that improve mood, focus, and sleep. Exercises like High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can give you a big dose of them quickly. The goal here is to keep you focused on the workout and thereby distract and pause your thoughts in the process.
Listen To Music
You probably would have heard a life coach or sleep expert say the benefits of listening to calm and soothing music. To keep your mind quiet, music helps to calm the activity in your brain and reduces the neurons fire in your amygdala, the part of your brain that responds to fear.
This, in turn, reduces the signals sent to other parts of your brain, and as a result, you can feel your mind achieving a state of solitude. Try to listen closely to the music, not just the background. The more you listen closely, the less you wander in your thoughts.
Help Someone
Doing something nice to someone lights up the parts of your brain that make you happy and connected. It lowers stress and detaches you from the feeling of loneliness that pumps your mind with never-ending thoughts.
Helping someone can even boost your heart health and immune response. Now, this doesn't have to be something big - it can be as little as helping someone cross the road, giving directions, helping your elderly neighbors to carry the groceries, or even giving your seat to an older person on the bus.
Write It All Out
Writing all your thoughts on paper can let them escape, freeing up your space in the brain. You can even practice them as part of a journaling practice to help you focus on your vision. Writing your mind releases you from the burden of bottling up your feelings and thoughts in a more controlled environment, which can lead to relief.
In other words, writing your mind gets you out of your negative emotional attachments to a great extent. This is why writing letters to people you hate (and not sending them) is a proven psychological technique to help you cope with depression.
If you constantly have thoughts disturbing your mind or keeping your focus distracted to the point it affects your work, school, or family life, then it's best to find a life coach for guidance. They use tried-and-tested methods to assist people through life, especially during challenging and trying times.