Strategies to Calm Your Mind
As Turbo Thinkers, our minds tend to race like the wind, like Category 5 hurricane winds. How can we put our brains in the eye of the storm, where peace, calm and quiet reside? How can we let the storm pass, taking all of the debris with it and leaving us with our most important thoughts intact?
Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention to the present moment with kindness and curiosity. It involves pressing the pause button to thoughts racing into the past or into the future. It puts our brains in alignment with our bodies. What strategies can you use to press that pause button?
Meditation:
Our mind wanders and we bring it back. It wanders again. And we bring it back again. And this happens a lot with Turbo Thinking brains. But that’s ok. Meditation is simply Pause Practice. It can be a walking meditation, a guided meditation, meditation with music or any way that works for you.
Sports and Exercise:
When you are focused on a ball, other players, or your movement, your brain is focused on the present moment. You really can’t think of anything else when you have to focus on coordination, conditioning and strength.
Yoga and Balance:
Have you ever tried to angrily yell at someone while standing on your head? Focusing on your balance and your breath activates your cerebellum and calms your racing mind.
Nature:
Immersing yourself outdoors in nature fosters a connection with the outside world and helps get you outside of your own head. Leave the phone at home and engage with the living organisms and scenery around you.
Check in with five senses:
What do you see? Smell? Hear? Taste? Feel? For example, what is the farthest sound you hear? What is the closest? Can you hear your own breath or your heartbeat? By checking in with your senses, you put your brain in alignment with your body.
Connection:
A good genuine hug works magic for getting out of your own head. Petting a purring cat or a dog giving kisses also does the trick. Connect for an instant calm.
Have fun playing with all of these strategies. Explore which ones work best for you. Even though hurricane season is here, it doesn’t need to exist in your own head.