4 Techniques to Cultivate a Calm Mind
A quiet mind. Stillness. These qualities feel elusive during tumultuous times in our lives. So often we live with the weight of anxiety, constantly calculating the possibilities of what’s next. We create crashing waves with our thoughts and tempests with our fears. With every clap of their thunderous voices, stillness drifts further away. The more we focus on the noise, the less joy we’re able to experience in everyday life. It’s in this space we miss what’s in front of us – the opportunity to experience a limitless life overflowing with hope.
I’m here to remind you there is so much more than what anxiety, stress, doubt, and fear have to offer. It takes practice but there are ways to calm your mind and experience a life rooted in peace. What practices are effective for you will entirely depend on your personal preferences. Below, I’ve listed four mindful techniques I’ve found useful on my own journey. They’re a good place to begin if you’re not sure what will be most beneficial for you.
If you feel trapped and defeated by antagonizing thoughts right now, I promise there is light on the other side. The waves will subside and rays of light will burst through the clouds. Like most great things, consistency will be key in maintaining a sense of stillness. Yes, things will break through the floodgates but having a routine that re-centers you will help you find your way back.
Meditation
Meditation is a powerful tool for cultivating stillness mentally and physically. It’s an opportunity to carve out quiet time without distraction to breathe and create a new relationship with your thoughts. If you’ve never meditated, it can feel uncomfortable or ineffective at first. However, the longer you stick with it, the easier the practice becomes and the more you’ll experience its benefits. The beauty of meditation is the variety of techniques available suited for different purposes, such as methods to ease stress, cultivate gratitude, even to create a more loving view of yourself and the world around you.
Here are some excellent resources that have helped me in my meditation practice.
Headspace Guide to Meditation on Netflix (I would start with this as it also breaks down some of the benefits of meditation in a highly digestible and peaceful way.)
Journaling
As a lover of words, journaling is a practice that has long held a place in my life. If you’re like me, you tend to let thoughts swirl around in your mind until they can no longer be ignored. Journaling is a technique that allows those thoughts to spill onto paper. Often, as you write, revelations about what you’re experiencing will come to the surface. In this way, journaling can be used as an outlet for loud thoughts and as a tool to process the root cause(s) in a tangible way.
Like any technique, journaling will get easier the more it’s done. It’s important to release any sense of perfectionism with this mindful technique. You don’t have to write an award-winning essay to reach deeply meaningful revelations. If you’re particularly overwhelmed with thoughts or struggling with perfectionism, try freewriting. This is a method of writing without stopping, correcting, or overthinking. Simply write the first thing that comes to mind and keep writing. You’ll be surprised where you end up.
If you find it’s hard to get the words flowing, use these prompts for guidance and inspiration.
What do you think the version of yourself five years from now would say to you? Write a letter addressed to you from your future self.
Take 2-3 minutes to imagine the perfect day. How does that scene make you feel? Is there something simple you can do to infuse more of that positivity into your everyday life?
Kindness is something you should extend to yourself. Write at least 5 encouraging and kind statements about who you are and where you are. Was it easy to be kind to yourself? Why or why not?
Reflection
A common culprit of a racing mind is the space of waiting; waiting for the miracle, waiting for the news, waiting for the next step to reveal itself. You hear the phrase, “Everything will work out,” all the time and, deep down, you know it’s true. But, that doesn’t always stop fear and doubt from showing up. In these moments, use what I like to call a Miracle Reflection Exercise. Think back to at least three moments in your life that felt hopeless at the time. How did those situations work out? Was the end result as terrible as fear, doubt, or anxiety convinced you it would be?
The present can be difficult to grapple with if it doesn’t align with your perfect vision of how things should be. It’s especially easy to feel like you’ll never arrive when you can’t see the way there or even the next step. It’s true that you can’t look at the present and connect the dots moving forward (though I’m sure we all wish we could.) But, you can look back and connect the dots from where you’ve been to where you are now. My guess is you’ve experienced some incredible miracles and divine interventions in many moments of your life. Taking the time to reflect on your Miracle Moments can not only provide a sense of peace about your current circumstances, but it’s also a great way to cultivate gratitude.
Reframing
When the mind is in turmoil, it can be difficult to see rays of hope on the horizon. Your fears and doubts can twist truths into distorted versions of reality until you truly don’t see many or any promising opportunities in your life. Or, worse yet, anything beautiful and valuable in yourself. Use the Thought-full Reframing technique to transform deceptive feelings into sincere positivity and honest evaluation.
I recommend spending two or three minutes focusing on deep breaths prior to the Reframing exercise. This will slow a racing mind and center you before you begin. Using pen and paper or a Google doc, whatever method you feel most comfortable with, create two columns.
In the first column, make a list of what you’re worried about or struggling with. Use the format, “I’m really struggling with…”. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed during this part of Reframing, especially if you’ve created a long list. Try not to focus too heavily on the feelings that arise, simply note they’re there and continue with the exercise.
In the second column, rewrite the worry and fear-filled thoughts that made up the first list. Instead of lacing it with the concerns you have, infuse it with hope, love, and grace. Begin your sentence with the words, “Right now, I’m learning to…”.
This technique can help you reframe the story a loud mind is trying to write. There is always hope where you are, a valuable experience waiting to lovingly guide you, and a vibrant future waiting for you.
These are just a few practices that have helped me and I hope help you on your journey to a calm and quiet mind. I want to leave you with a reminder to extend ample grace to yourself. You may be facing a difficult moment and bearing the weight of a mind that is busy, but this too shall pass. Carve out quiet time for you to test these mindful techniques or incorporate others into your routine. There is more beyond the storm you may be facing and it’s my greatest hope you’ll be able to embrace a spirit of faith that your path is unfolding exactly as it’s meant to.