If you’re one of those people who has a busy mind and is always thinking, you’ll know that achieving inner peace is extremely difficult. If someone offered you a magic wand so that you could stop the constant parade of thoughts going through your mind and prevent you from worrying about anything and everything, no doubt, you would snatch their hand off. A busy mind can be exhausting and emotionally draining. This article aims to give you some tips to help you slow your thoughts down.
You may think that constantly thinking and worrying is something that most of us do all the time. It may seem perfectly normal to you that your inner voice is constantly loud and proud and making demands of you. This is not necessarily true for everyone however.
Your busy mind can easily take over your life and have a detrimental effect on how you choose to love. If you don’t give yourself calm time, with a little distance, then you are effectively blocking out the parts of your life that you should be enjoying and should be at peace with. In other words, when you think, you are filtering life’s experiences, meaning you’re not living in the now. This can never bring you true happiness.
What do you think about? If you are judging, weighing, measuring, criticising etc., do you see how you are filtering your joy? You could be enjoying the simple sights, sounds, pleasures, smells and tastes, but instead you are comparing and valuing, and this takes so much away from your pleasure.
The knock-on effect of a busy mind can be a busy life. You cannot sit still or relax. You may struggle to sleep. You suffer with anxiety and depression, stress or panic attacks. You may be overly excitable, easily angered or frustrated. You may suffer with compulsion, or you may cry a great deal.
What is the answer then? How can you tame your busy mind? The answer is to find ways of putting the joy back in your life. You can do this through finding quiet times, meditating, or going on retreats. Five minutes a day is a start – and you can build on that. Practise finding the positive in all you see, feel and experience. Learn to forgive and learn to be grateful. Express your love of things and people. Be open, generous and free-spirited.
Andy Puddicombe, a Buddhist monk and mindfulness expert who co-founded Headspace, recommends taking just ten minutes per day to calm your mind. He tells us that practicing mindfulness can help you to regain focus and clarity in your life, so find a place to relax and allow your thoughts and emotions to come and go. He says we should step back from ourselves, try to maintain a little objectivity. Another way to do this is to imagine that you are blue sky, and your thoughts are the clouds that float by. Some are black and threatening and others are white and fluffy and virtually non-existent. Watch them all float past you and disappear.
Another technique worth considering is mentally telling yourself to ‘press pause’. When you find your thoughts are spiralling out of control and whirring around in your mind, take a moment and mentally instruct yourself to press pause. Focus on something in your vicinity. This could be the sky, flowers, a tree, a pencil pot, an apple, a child, or a dog. Place value on what you see. Take a moment to appreciate the beauty there, take a deep breath and re-energise yourself. When you go back to your world, you’ll be calmer and more appreciative.
Finally, you could also try creating a ‘contemplative practice’. This can be through art – perhaps drawing, doodling, painting – or through recording words in a journal. Simply unload your thoughts whichever way is practicable to you. You could do this through yoga or gardening too. It is something you have to do consistently, every day, preferably at the same time. If you don’t set up a regular time-slot to do this, your busy mind will take over and you won’t do it.
And that is the key. Your busy mind will not be tamed unless you take it in hand and deny it its power. Promising to spend time with yourself, in quiet and contemplation, away from your gadgets and other people, honouring your own need on a daily basis, is the best way to move forward.
Created by Tom Vermeersch
Tom Vermeersch is a certified Psychologist and Bach flower expert with more than 30 years of experience.
You see the word "toxic" everywhere these days, but what does it really mean? You've almost certainly come across someone who fits the description. Dealing with difficult personalities can be challenging and emotionally exhausting, to say the least.
Nowadays, it can sometimes seem almost everyone has a mental health issue or learning disorder. But, are we too quick to label people, or is it that we are more aware of the problems? This article looks at some of the issues surrounding these sensitive questions.
Six things we think will make us happy, but don't!
When you think about things that will make you happy, what are the images that come to mind? Wealth, beauty, a dream house, long holidays, a top of the range car? Happiness is not a constant and how happy we feel depends on the way we choose to live our lives.
What are your aims in life? Do you plan to be rich, to be a top footballer, to be a good parent, or to become Prime Minister? However efficiently you plan your life, sooner or later you are going to come up against obstacles to achieving your goals.
What can you do if your kid doesn't want to go back to school?
What can you do if your kid doesn't want to go back to school? Here are our hints and tips to help if your child is expressing a refusal to go to school.
What makes it so hard to go back to work?
Millions of people furloughed for months are now being recalled to work. Others, who have been working from home throughout the lockdown, are returning to the office. And some jobs have simply disappeared: many people are facing redundancy and will soon have to cope with job hunting. Going back to work after an unprecedented length of time at home is quite a challenge.
Do you suffer from a disorder known as "musturbation"? This term was first coined in the 1950s by psychotherapist Albert Ellis and described the way a negative inner voice rules our minds and bludgeons us with words such as "must", "should", and "ought".
Letting go of the past: 5 tips
Lynn Anderson told it very nicely in her song “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden”. Life isn’t all roses and everybody experiences something they would rather not once in their life.
Let's make 2021 better than 2020
For many people, 2020 has been one of the worst years they can remember. The COVID -19 pandemic and social unrest have changed our lives in ways we would not have believed possible a year ago. And when January 2021 comes around, we're still likely to be facing many challenges. Can 2021 be a better year?
Top 5 nonsensical reasons to have doubts about yourself
It happens to everyone at times: we start doubting ourselves. We worry about the decisions and whether we can face future challenges that life has in store. And sometimes we feel that we just aren't good enough.
If you’re one of those people who has a busy mind and is always thinking, you’ll know that achieving inner peace is extremely difficult. If someone offered you a magic wand so that you could stop the constant parade of thoughts going through your mind and prevent you from worrying about anything and everything, no doubt, you would snatch their hand off. A busy mind can be exhausting and emotionally draining. This article aims to give you some tips to help you slow your thoughts down.
You may think that constantly thinking and worrying is something that most of us do all the time. It may seem perfectly normal to you that your inner voice is constantly loud and proud and making demands of you. This is not necessarily true for everyone however.
Your busy mind can easily take over your life and have a detrimental effect on how you choose to love. If you don’t give yourself calm time, with a little distance, then you are effectively blocking out the parts of your life that you should be enjoying and should be at peace with. In other words, when you think, you are filtering life’s experiences, meaning you’re not living in the now. This can never bring you true happiness.
What do you think about? If you are judging, weighing, measuring, criticising etc., do you see how you are filtering your joy? You could be enjoying the simple sights, sounds, pleasures, smells and tastes, but instead you are comparing and valuing, and this takes so much away from your pleasure.
The knock-on effect of a busy mind can be a busy life. You cannot sit still or relax. You may struggle to sleep. You suffer with anxiety and depression, stress or panic attacks. You may be overly excitable, easily angered or frustrated. You may suffer with compulsion, or you may cry a great deal.
What is the answer then? How can you tame your busy mind? The answer is to find ways of putting the joy back in your life. You can do this through finding quiet times, meditating, or going on retreats. Five minutes a day is a start – and you can build on that. Practise finding the positive in all you see, feel and experience. Learn to forgive and learn to be grateful. Express your love of things and people. Be open, generous and free-spirited.
Andy Puddicombe, a Buddhist monk and mindfulness expert who co-founded Headspace, recommends taking just ten minutes per day to calm your mind. He tells us that practicing mindfulness can help you to regain focus and clarity in your life, so find a place to relax and allow your thoughts and emotions to come and go. He says we should step back from ourselves, try to maintain a little objectivity. Another way to do this is to imagine that you are blue sky, and your thoughts are the clouds that float by. Some are black and threatening and others are white and fluffy and virtually non-existent. Watch them all float past you and disappear.
Another technique worth considering is mentally telling yourself to ‘press pause’. When you find your thoughts are spiralling out of control and whirring around in your mind, take a moment and mentally instruct yourself to press pause. Focus on something in your vicinity. This could be the sky, flowers, a tree, a pencil pot, an apple, a child, or a dog. Place value on what you see. Take a moment to appreciate the beauty there, take a deep breath and re-energise yourself. When you go back to your world, you’ll be calmer and more appreciative.
Finally, you could also try creating a ‘contemplative practice’. This can be through art – perhaps drawing, doodling, painting – or through recording words in a journal. Simply unload your thoughts whichever way is practicable to you. You could do this through yoga or gardening too. It is something you have to do consistently, every day, preferably at the same time. If you don’t set up a regular time-slot to do this, your busy mind will take over and you won’t do it.
And that is the key. Your busy mind will not be tamed unless you take it in hand and deny it its power. Promising to spend time with yourself, in quiet and contemplation, away from your gadgets and other people, honouring your own need on a daily basis, is the best way to move forward.
You see the word "toxic" everywhere these days, but what does it really mean? You've almost certainly come across someone who fits the description. Dealing with difficult personalities can be challenging and emotionally exhausting, to say the least.
Nowadays, it can sometimes seem almost everyone has a mental health issue or learning disorder. But, are we too quick to label people, or is it that we are more aware of the problems? This article looks at some of the issues surrounding these sensitive questions.
When you think about things that will make you happy, what are the images that come to mind? Wealth, beauty, a dream house, long holidays, a top of the range car? Happiness is not a constant and how happy we feel depends on the way we choose to live our lives.
What are your aims in life? Do you plan to be rich, to be a top footballer, to be a good parent, or to become Prime Minister? However efficiently you plan your life, sooner or later you are going to come up against obstacles to achieving your goals.
What can you do if your kid doesn't want to go back to school? Here are our hints and tips to help if your child is expressing a refusal to go to school.
Millions of people furloughed for months are now being recalled to work. Others, who have been working from home throughout the lockdown, are returning to the office. And some jobs have simply disappeared: many people are facing redundancy and will soon have to cope with job hunting. Going back to work after an unprecedented length of time at home is quite a challenge.
Do you suffer from a disorder known as "musturbation"? This term was first coined in the 1950s by psychotherapist Albert Ellis and described the way a negative inner voice rules our minds and bludgeons us with words such as "must", "should", and "ought".
Lynn Anderson told it very nicely in her song “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden”. Life isn’t all roses and everybody experiences something they would rather not once in their life.
Read the complete article
For many people, 2020 has been one of the worst years they can remember. The COVID -19 pandemic and social unrest have changed our lives in ways we would not have believed possible a year ago. And when January 2021 comes around, we're still likely to be facing many challenges. Can 2021 be a better year?
Read the complete article
It happens to everyone at times: we start doubting ourselves. We worry about the decisions and whether we can face future challenges that life has in store. And sometimes we feel that we just aren't good enough.
Bach Flowers are not medicinal but harmless plant extracts which are used to support health.
© 2026 Mariepure - Webdesign Publi4u
