In your stressful, busy life, it’s crucial to know techniques to calm the mind and how to use them so you can stop catastrophizing and start taking events in stride.
Psychologists at the University of Michigan say understanding how to slow down your mind and using relaxation strategies like breathing exercises every day can help as a preventative measure for severe and constant worrying. The benefits increase when you keep up with these techniques on a regular basis—just like taking your supplements to support your overall wellness or exercising to prevent heart issues.
Try these 10 techniques to learn how to calm your mind. Then, find your favorites and try to make them part of your daily routine!
1. Do Light Aerobic Exercise
Exercise has tremendous benefits for us mentally as well as physically. When aerobic exercise gets your heart rate pumping, it helps your body regulate blood pressure, blood sugar, sleep, weight, mood, and overall health. All of these factors play a major part in how your brain processes tension.
2. Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing
This is a fantastic technique to calm the mind because focusing on your breath can interrupt negative thoughts, calm your heart rate, and manage your mental health. You may also see this technique labeled as deep, abdominal, yogic, or belly breathing. There are hundreds of YouTube videos on how to breathe this way—search for one, follow along, and feel how it helps to calm your mind.
3. Use Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
Physical discomfort can seriously affect your mental health, especially when it’s constant. Progressive muscle relaxation helps you learn how to slow down your mind and focus on individual areas of your body, one at a time. PMR helps you realize which muscles are tense and constricted so you can address physical concerns that may be compounding your restless mind.
4. Get Out into Nature
Nature is intensely therapeutic. Feeling the sun and wind on your face helps you feel alive and more in touch with the physical world.
5. Try Meditation
Meditation is a great way to gain perspective on your thoughts to process them rationally and logically. It’s a key method that many people swear by and recommend when learning how to calm your mind.
Meditation can be hard to get into when you’re not used to the stillness and silence. You might even fall asleep or get frustrated. It’s important to break through those barriers and remember why you want to still your mind, why you need to relax, and why mindfulness is important.
6. Talk to a Loved One
Never underestimate the benefits of venting! Speaking your worries out loud to a loved one and forming a regular support system is a technique to calm the mind. Humans need connection and understanding to stay healthy.
7. Journal
Seeing your thoughts written out in front of you can be remarkably helpful. Sometimes, you don’t know everything that’s swimming around in your brain until you see it on paper.
Diaries are not just for teenage girls to confess their crushes, they can also be about expressing yourself and finding the words for your worries. No one else has to see it, so you can write it wherever and however you want. Type it on your phone, or even write in secret code. This is one method for how to slow down your mind that can also help you meet your goals and better process your emotions.
8. Try a Sauna or Steam Room
Saunas aren’t just great for your skin: they’re also a valid way to learn how to calm your mind. A regular sauna visit has numerous health benefits, including managing a busy mind and stress. Saunas and steam rooms can help induce relaxation and reduce cortisol levels.
9. Take Hot Baths
Similar to a sauna, a regular hot bath is a great technique to calm the mind. It can reduce muscular tension, promote better sleep, reduce stress hormone levels, and help calm your heart rate. Add your favorite essential oil or Epsom salts for increased wellness benefits.
10. Use CBD Supplements
Cannabidiol, or CBD, has proven health benefits: it can help support your immune system, calm your mind, reduce aches and discomfort, and promote better sleep. Many people are turning to safe, hemp-derived CBD to stay calm and practice learning how to slow down their mind. We can’t recommend it enough.
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