Education & Career Trends: June 14, 2023
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Excerpts are taken from an article published on berkeleywellbeing.com
Peace of mind is a mental state of calmness or tranquillity. It may also include freedom from worry and anxiety. It is a key aspect of well-being.
A lot of research has pointed to ways we can decrease stress and calm down an overactive mind. It’s fueled by our sympathetic nervous system activation, the release of cortisol, and the release of catecholamines.
So what are some of these science-supported ways to create a calm mind?
1. Try Visualisation
When our minds are full of stress and to-dos, sometimes it can be helpful to replace thoughts with something more soothing. One way to do this is with visualisation. For example, you can imagine yourself on a white sand beach, sitting in the sun, with a slight breeze carrying the scent of fruit.
The cool thing about visualisation is that when we imagine things, our brains react in very similar ways as they would if those things were happening in our real lives. So when we visualise something calming, some parts of our brains think it’s real. As a result, we can start to feel calmer, happy, peaceful, or whatever emotions the visualisation evokes. So if you want to have a calm mind, try to imagine a scenario that cultivates peace of mind.
2. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to turn down the speed of a racing mind, ease anxiety, and help us live in the moment. Many people engage in mindful meditation to calm stress and anxiety. Although mindful meditation doesn’t always work for everyone, it can indeed be a useful tool to try. Guided meditations, in particular, can help us stay with the meditation long enough to induce a sense of calm.
3. Listen to Binaural Beats
Previous research had shown that listening to calming music can reduce cortisol, one of the key stress hormones. In addition, research suggests that there are benefits to listening to music with binaural beats. Binaural beats are when two tones with slightly different frequencies are played to each ear. Listening to binaural beats before a task may help improve performance, perhaps by calming the mind.
4. Get Outdoors
Perhaps one of the best ways to calm the mind is to get outside. Getting out into the wilderness, a park, a local botanical garden, or even your front yard may be beneficial for your well-being. Whether it’s because of the fresh air, sunlight, or breathing in the scent of trees (all of which are good for our health), it doesn’t really matter. All we know is that being outdoors helps calm and soothe us.
5. Turn Down Negative Thoughts
An unpeaceful mind is usually a mind that is filled with negativity. It focuses on the wrong things rather than the good. It worries about worst-case scenarios instead of wishing for the best. It assumes the worst in others rather than the best.
We all have negative thoughts sometimes—the world can be a challenging place to live. But a peaceful mind isn’t cluttered with thoughts about all the bad stuff. So if that’s what we want, we need to learn how to better let go of the negative and embrace the positive. For example, we might try to find more purpose in our lives or purchase a gratitude journal to start recording what we’re grateful for. These strategies can help shift our mindsets to be focused more on the good and less on the bad.
6. Do the Things You Love
Sometimes we can get stuck feeling anxious when our lives are providing us with little inspiration, excitement, or joy. Luckily, we have a lot of power to change this aspect of our lives. We just need to do more of the things we love. Maybe we love painting, cooking, playing softball, playing with our dog, or watching old movies. Whatever it is, by doing things that make us feel good, we can dissolve some of the negative thoughts and emotions that clutter our minds.
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Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet?
Career Options in the Field of Psychology
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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