Does it seem like you are often struggling against a nervous negative mind? Would you like to slow down and relax your body and your mind?
Many of my clients complain that even when they take time to slow down and be quietly with themselves (as I often suggest), they have a nervous mind that’s jumping from thought to thought. On top of that they notice they are often thinking negatively about themselves and their life. If this sounds familiar, the best way to calm the mind is get out of your head and into your body!
In yoga and meditation we often talk about the ‘monkey mind.’ This is the natural tendency of the mind to jump around from thought to thought and not be still just like a monkey.
Even when we try to relax in the evening, before going to bed, on the the weekend or on vacation, we find that our mind is still running around. This is simply because our mind is not ‘trained’ or not ‘use to’ slowing down.
It takes practice to slow down our mind and practice to get it to focus on the positive instead of the negative. I call it retraining your brain.
To retrain your brain get your mind to focus on your body or something physical. Once you get your mind to slow down and refocus, you can then learn to refocus your mind on the positive (future posts will cover this).
To stop your negative nervous mind practice these tips:
(Be gentle with yourself and know the monkey mind will return after a few moments. Keep practicing.)
- Go on a walk; stretch; exercise. (Simplest way to get into your body.)
- Spend time in nature using your senses: listen, look, smell, touch.
- Count your breaths. Inhale =1, exhale =2, inhale =3, etc.
- Breathe into your belly. Fill on the inhale, empty on exhale.
- Focus on your exhales.
- Do something sensual. ; )
- Listen to a guided meditation to guide your mind into your body.
Get out of your head and into your body with this 12 minute guided meditation on special for $8.95 (usually $11.95):
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To truly slow down and learn more about calming your mind and body attend the Self Nurture Day => http://www.stretchbeyondstuck.com/events.html
What’s your favorite way to get into your body and out of your busy, monkey mind? Please share a comment!
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When I’m at work, the monkey mind is typically over-active as my job has it’s very stressful moments. One thing I’ve learned to do is to take a “mini-break” when I go to the bathroom. All I do is close my eyes and take 3-5 deep belly breaths. It’s amazing how that can calm my spirit even when my circumstances remain the same. Another thing that helps right in the moment, is when I’m at a desk, I’ll stand and stretch really tall and then sit back down. Even that little movement can refresh my mind & spirit.
Oh Kristin, this is brilliant! Thank you for sharing your ‘mini-break’ for the work day. Often by focusing on our breath we can renew our spirit. In yoga breath is deeply connected with spirit: Prana with a capital P for life-force or spirit, and prana for breath. I often suggest that Shifting your body and can shift your mind and spirit as you do with a stretch. Thanks again for sharing your lovely wisdom.
This post is just what I needed to hear! My mind has been going in a hundred directions today. But I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling a little stressed out. Now I know I need to calm my mind by relaxing my body. Yoga sounds like the perfect thing right now! Thanks for the reminder!
Renee, thank you so much for sharing this. I know we can all relate … when our “mind is going in a hundred directions” it does make us feel stressed out! I find it is a constant practice for me. And, it’s great to have these tools to get myself into my body and teach my mind to be more calm.