Hello there!
HOW DO I CALM AND QUIET MY MIND?
Do you want to know how?
Do you struggle with a HYPERACTIVE OR CHAOTIC MIND that never shuts off?
If yes, welcome to the club.
This is because many of us are too busy. With multiple roles and responsibilities in life, Multitasking has been the daily rule.
Thus, we end up having way too many things to do and way too many things to think about.
Did you know that our brain can produce from 12,000-50,000 thoughts per day?
THAT’S A LOT! Imagine flying from one thought to the other in seconds? What chaos it will be.
The problem with having a CHAOTIC MIND is that the thoughts can end up becoming noises, internal chatterboxes that don’t shut up.
MIND NOISE leads to OVERWHELM, and then to GETTING STUCK or PARALYZED into INACTION.
Our MIND can be separated into 3 metaphorical sections:
- Lizard mind – fueled by basic instincts
- Monkey mind – fueled by basic responses to fear and desire; ruled by emotions; most connected to the ego; also the one that gets distracted easily
- Human mind – fueled by logic or emotionless thought.
When there are so many things going on at one time, such as when we are multitasking, it is the MONKEY MIND that dominates. The monkey mind loves to give us endless loops of fears, frustrations, anxieties, feelings of inadequacy and other negative thoughts. The monkey mind is our inner critic and it can be very ruthless.
Our minds are not really designed to work full speed all the time.
It is not designed to handle the massive OVERLOAD we give it daily.
Though it is great to be able to think about so many things, the problem is, that
majority of our thoughts aren’t all that great and positive. When there is just too much, we need to reset…to restart to achieve calm and peace.
Achieving a sense of Calm and peace does not come naturally.
You must do it, create it.
It’s not something that just flows out of you instantly.
How?
TO CALM AND QUIET OUR MIND, WE MUST TAME OUR MONKEY MIND.
Taming our Mind monkeys leads to calm, peacefulness, creativity, and productiveness.
I Learned 5 excellent tips to help us do this. It’s from the Podcast of JIM KWIK and I’m sharing them with you today.
BUT WAIT…before we begin…
Is your mind chaotic right now?
If yes, you must calm your mind a bit to get the most of what you are about to read.
STOP ANY OTHER THING YOU ARE DOING (No multitasking please)
CLOSE YOUR EYES,
BRING AWARENESS TO YOUR BREATHING.
THEN TAKE 10 DEEP BREATHS.
INHALE AND EXHALE…
Be mindful to take longer exhalations.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10…
There you go, that wasn’t so difficult, right?
Is your mind a little less chaotic now?
If YES, Time to Read on:
HERE ARE 5 QUICK WAYS TO CALM AND QUIET YOUR MIND
By Jim Kwik.
Use the Pnemonics: Q-U-I-E-T
Q – “Questions are the answers!”
Ask better questions and you will get better answers. Throw away the nonsensical chatter of the monkey mind by focusing on these questions:
Who are you right now? In one word?
What do you live for?
What do you need the most right now?
What are you grateful for?
Who are you most grateful for?
What made you very happy today? Or yesterday?
Who made you happy today? Or yesterday?
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the answers to these questions right now.
What matters is, when you ask yourself questions, it redirects the focus of your brain, and your concentration to better and more positive things.
U – “Unplug and disconnect!”
Our minds are always busy dealing with calls, messages, alerts and notifications, endless meetings, bright lights, car horns, etc. We are always on heightened alert.
One of the fastest ways to calm your mind is the turn off as many sources of distractions as possible.
And…remember to take relaxing breaks within your busy day.
Take walk breaks…Better still, walk outside…get out to nature.
I – “Integrate with your Senses!”
We have the following senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch plus inputs from 2 additional senses:
Vestibular for movement and balance, and position.
Proprioception: body awareness, how much force to apply to our daily activities.
What do you see, hear, smell, taste? How is your balance? Keep changing your position, and see how you feel.
When we focus on what we see, hear, smell, taste, feel, our balance, movement, position, we redirect our mind from a multitude of thoughts to how our body feels and reacts to sensory stimulation.
Some examples on how we can integrate with our senses are: dimming the lights, relaxing in bed, listening to nature sounds, lighting a scent candle, doing balance exercises such as balancing on one leg.
E – “Exercise your body. “
Following Exercise particularly aerobic exercises, the brain cortex works harder to resist distraction. Not only does this help keep your mind focused, it also allows you to utilize circulating stress hormones in a more positive and productive way.
Exercise also triggers release of endorphins that help you feel good and give a feeling of accomplishment that quiets down the monkey brain.
Numerous observational studies have shown that aerobic exercise is related to improved cognitive ability overall.
T – “Transcendental meditation.”
What is Transcendental meditation? It is a practice that uses silent, mantra meditation for avoiding distracting thoughts and promoting a state of relaxed awareness.
Meditating is the most effective technique you can use to calm your mind. By meditating you’ll be training your mind to be still, and you can regain power and control over your thoughts.
Actually, it’s not only transcendental meditation but any other type of meditation or mindfulness practice. These can help train the monkey mind to be still and calm.
By simply slowing down your breathing and focusing on how it feels to breathe in and out, the chaos in your mind will already be markedly reduced.
If you have difficulty starting a meditation practice, go for guided meditations which you can easily download from the internet or get a meditation app.
To calm and quiet the mind is really to calm and quiet the monkey mind.
It will take some practice but it can be done. Amidst any chaos around you or in your mind, it is highly possible to find PEACE wherever you are.
Let me end this post with a quote from unknown author:
I have been applying 4/5 of these tips and I must say, they have done wonders to calm and quiet my monkey mind.
Do try these tips and let me know how it goes for you.
Do you have your own Mind Calming Hacks? Do share them with us on the comment section below.
Be Safe and Well,
P.S.
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