Settle Your Mind Without Meditating
Would you like to settle your mind?
Maybe you feel overwhelmed by a chaos of thoughts?
When you feel this way, how many times has someone suggested, “Have you tried meditating?”
Meditation is a great option for settling down your mind, but it’s not for everyone.
Maybe you’ve tried it, but it just didn’t do it for you.
That’s OK!
Meditation isn’t the only way to settle your mind!
I now regularly meditate, but it took me many years before I turned it into a daily practice.
Honestly, I just didn’t get what all the fuss was about when I first tried it!
It actually made me feel even more anxious and my mind actually felt less settled every time I tried it!
I kept trying to do it the exact way someone else told me to do it. Stuff like:
Let go of your thoughts.
Create space between your thoughts.
It’s OK to let your thoughts arise.
Focus on your breath.
Repeat a mantra.
Lay down.
Sit down.
Do yoga.
Listen to a guided meditation.
Observe the sounds around you.
I thought the goal of meditation was to get out of my head, but everyone’s advice made me get into my head even more!
Looking back, I recall the first time I was aware that my mind felt truly calm and settled.
It occurred when I went downhill skiing.
I’m not kidding!
Nothing else was on my mind except being in the flow of flying down the mountain.
I felt so calm and peaceful at the end of my run. I wanted to feel like that even more!
Instead of asking you if you’ve ever meditated, I think the more effective question is “What have you done in the past to get your mind off something?”
I believe the goal of meditation is to find inner peace within yourself.
What makes you feel calm?
The first step toward that goal is recognizing that your mind is overactive.
It’s constantly stimulated and processing all the information it receives from your senses. Scientists believe one of the roles of sleep is to help our brain process all of the information it consumes during each day.
While you’re awake, your brain might be consuming more than it’s able to process, making you feel unfocused and stressed out.
Sometimes your mind feels like it’s being pulled in all different directions, except for the one you want it to go!
The second step is doing something that gets your mind off the trigger, situation or thought loop that is making you feel distracted and anxious. Try activities like:
Going for a walk or run.
Losing yourself in your favorite hobby.
Indulging yourself with a nap.
Doing some chores.
Talking to a friend or family member about something of interest to them.
Doing a favor for someone.
The process of learning how to settle down your mind involves recognizing that you have the ability to do it in whatever way works for you.
As you get better at settling down your mind, you’ll become more curious about developing your own unique meditation practice that helps you cultivate and maintain your inner peace.
You might think sitting in silence is impossible right now, but as you learn to settle down your mind more and more, it will get easier.
There is no one right way to settle your mind, the only right way is the right way for YOU!
