How To Clear Your Mind? Things To Do To Clean Your Mind for Meditation
Last Update on August 18, 2020 : Published on June 16, 2020
While reading about mental wellness and positivity you might have come across one advice quite often and that is to meditate. Even during my days of clinical practice, I used to recommend meditation along with therapies and medication. The reason being it allows you to stay calm, be in the moment, and paves way for happiness. Above all meditation is not only good for our physical but also our mental well-being.
But, then there is a common problem that people face while practicing meditation is not having a clear mindset! Clearing the mind is important as it allows us to juice out all the benefits of meditation. So, my patients used to come up with this complain “how to clear my mind for meditation?” “Is it even achievable?” My answer used to be pretty consistent… Yes, you can clean your mind for meditation!
Taking inspiration from my personal life events I am going to share with you a list of the best thing to do to clear your mind. The best part is that the list is easy, practical, and applicable! Let us explore what it has to offer to you…
How to clear your mind?
Top 10 Things to Do to Clear Your Mind:
1. Work On Your To-do List
There might be having 100 things for you to do in the entire day that keeps not only you and your day but also your mind busy. And while you are constantly striking off your to-do list your mind is consumed there, making it difficult for focus while you meditate. So, not stuffing your plate more than you can consume is suggested.
Time Taken: 5 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Prepare a to-do list. Now, add the touch of prioritization to it and strike a minimum of 3 tasks out of it.
2. Journal
Another roadblock in meditating is your anticipatory or rumination thoughts. While your mind is busy wandering it loses its track and couldn’t really meditate. The best way to acknowledge these thoughts and regain your focus is to write them down in a journal. We are not suggesting you ignore these thoughts, we are recommending you to work with them healthily. You can start by writing your feelings, thoughts, and behavior that are there in your mind. Remember to set yourself on free writing mode!
Time Taken: 5 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Journal your thoughts freely 10-15 minutes prior you sit down to meditate.
3. Just Inhale and Exhale
Breathing is found to be an effective way to clear your mind and meditate. Focus on your breathing pattern at this very moment. Is it rapid, erratic, and shallow (till your chest)? Or is it slow, regular, and deep (till your diaphragm)? If you chose the former option then you might be stressed and need relaxation but, if you chose the latter one then you are relaxed. The reason why deep breathing is in this list of things to do is… it mimics relaxation. Thus, calming and cleaning all the chaos in our head.
Time Taken: 2-5 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Before start meditating does deep breathing.
4. Distance from Digital Land
The digital world is such a delight, it has made our lives easier then we thought of! But as the old saying goes… every coin has two sides! The same applies to the digital world. On the one hand, it is a great gift of technology and on the other hand, it is one of the biggest distractions that we have. So, taking a break from this digital land is definitely recommended.
Time Taken: 5-15 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Start slow! You may begin by keeping your digital screens aside first for 2 minutes and progress with each week. Also, don’t forget to put your phone on silent.
5. Live a Mindful Life
Often considered as a form of meditation, mindfulness is a power backed tool with loads of benefits to offer. But, why is it in the list of things to do to clear your mind when it is a meditation technique in itself! Well, it definitely is a meditation practice but that’s not it. Being mindful is a way to live. You can be mindful while eating, walking, bathing, and even while waiting. It helps our minds to be in the moment instead of running in different directions! Thus detoxing your mind effectively.
Time Taken: 5 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Make being mindful a part of your lifestyle by incorporating it into your daily life activities.
6. Play the Substitution Trick
This technique here focuses on your thoughts again! But, the focus here is on negative thoughts. All you have to do is let the negative thought come in (don’t escape from it) now replace it with a positive thought. It can be a little overwhelming at first but, as you progress with few such negative thoughts your mind will get clean and clear.
Time Taken: 5-10 Minutes.
Expert Advice: This technique can be overwhelming but at the same time it is important at its own place. So, to ease it for you, ending the substitution process with a personal mantra (positive affirmation) is recommended.
7. Sweat Out for a While
Exercise is a great way to sweat out our stress, anxiety, overwhelming feelings, and negative thoughts and regain your mental focus. It is also a healthy way to exhaust our brain over letting overthinking do it unhealthily! Along with this, it will stimulate the production of endorphins in our body (the natural painkillers and feel-good hormones).
Time Taken: 5 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Instead of sticking to one exercise and feeding your brain with monotony we would recommend you try new exercises.
8. Take A Dip in Nature
You might take a cold or hot shower each day but how about taking a bath in nature? No, we are not asking you to go in nature and take a bath in literal terms. We are suggesting you go and take a walk in nature. It will help you deal with cognitive fatigue and stress that is holding your mental clarity back. There is a lot of good that mother nature has to offer that will in clearing the mind for meditation.
Time Taken: 5 Minutes.
Expert Advice: If you can’t go out in green, you can also walk in the balcony with a little planter in the corner.
9. Feed on Healthiness
What you eat can either comfort or cause inflammation in your mind, body, and soul. If you eat what comforts you then kudos! But, if you eat inflammatory food then the chances of your mind being distracted all the time increases. You can help your mind be cool by savoring on herbal tea (chamomile, peppermint, hibiscus, and others), limit sugar and caffeine usage, avoid packed food items, and stay away from junk food.
Time Taken: 5-10 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Sip on a nice and warming herbal tea a few minutes prior you start your meditation to calm your mind.
10. Make your Environment Welcoming
Where do you usually practice meditation? Is that area welcoming enough? The reason why I am asking this is that your surroundings have a big impact on your mind. If it is cluttered then your mind gets distracted easily and the ability to focus vanishes. So, either create a cozy and aesthetic place to practice meditation or take a few minutes to clean up your meditation area before you practice it. It will help you in clearing the mind and your space.
Time Taken: 5-10 Minutes.
Expert Advice: Make use of aromatherapy or place planters to make your meditation zone aesthetic and welcoming. No clutter, no distraction!
These things have helped many to clear their mind for meditation. Now, it is time for you to try these things to do to clear your mind for meditation.
Do let us know which of these ways helped you clear your mind for meditation!
If there is any other technique that has proven to be beneficial for clearing the mind then do share it with us, we would love to hear from you.
More power and love to you…
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About The Author
Anjali Singh
Anjali Singh is a content curator in the field of Mental Health. She is currently done Ph.D. in Psychology. Her aim is to light up the world with positive vibes through her words, her idea of life is ‘Grow through what you go through’. Apart from this, she is a big-time pet lover.
Excellent articles about keeping yourself calmer and in a positive mental state , good knowledge about acheiving it too.
Each and every time negative thoughts coming I cant evan talking any single person's also family members like father mothers ' I cant hold 1 second eye contact to any body . My heart is very kindfull good behaviour also , but when its come talking any body I cant hold I contact if I hold eye contact it will be very doubting to others what can I do. How it will overcome please help me