Don’t you love the small things in life that really help you?
Those things that you look back on that seem so obvious now and, yet, were overlooked for so long. The way to calm your mind is a perfect example. By refreshing your thinking patterns, you can achieve a lot of peace of mind without much effort. All it takes is your attention and patience.
So how do these things get overlooked?
Familiarity.
Have you ever run this strategy?
You encounter a challenging situation and make your mind spin which is extremely stressful. You think about it non-stop and spend countless hours worrying about it. And all along, the problem at hand wasn’t clear. Actually, there were always two problems. The inner problem of your uneasy feelings and the outer problem of the external situation.
I admit. I never thought about the inner problem which I could actually control. The truth is I didn’t know how. This led to a lot of unresolved feelings to be sorted out.
My focus was entirely on the outer problem. Sometimes things worked out ok. Yet, the reality is that resolving the outer problems never solved my inner problems. So, if you’re up for inner solutions, keep reading along.
3 Overlooked Things that Calm Your Mind
1. Notice When Your Mind Isn’t Calm
You probably know at some level when your mind is not calm. Yet, maybe you’ve never called it out. Maybe you’ve not seen it as you would a burning rash across your body. And, it’s way more serious. An unpeaceful mind affects every experience you encounter and leaves an energy trail wherever you go.
So, this step is really easy. All you do is notice you’re not calm. You identify it like you would a medical condition like if you broke your arm. Simply start saying to yourself in these situations – My mind is not peaceful right now.
2. Be Kind to Yourself
Take a moment and reflect on the last challenging situation you came across. Remember the types of things you were saying to yourself and your tone. Were they kind, encouraging words? Do you hear compassion in your voice – like a mother for her child? Or do you hear critical words in a harsh tone, maybe even fearful or angry?
This is another great place to focus your attention. Check – what are you saying to yourself? Are you ok with that? If you’re not ok with what’s being said, start considering how you’d love to talk to yourself. You can even practice in advance. (Tip: practicing self-forgiveness is super helpful).
3. Reduce the Agitation
Yes, this seems super obvious. It’s not though when you don’t focus on your inner problem. Whatever uneasy feeling you have – whether it’s anxiety, fear, sadness, depression – it’s critical to resolve it. And, I’m definitely not talking about something that comes over the counter at the drugstore.
There are many things you can do to gain the familiarity you need to go back to a calm mind. You can do meditation on positive minds, observe and study people that have calm minds, get coaching, see another helping professional, create a new mental strategy, google it.
The key thing is to try something no matter how small it may seem. It will move you forward.
In Summary
If you’re willing to focus on your inner problems, be patient, and forgive yourself, you’re all set to move along to a calmer mind. These overlooked things will become crystal clear to you – noticing uneasy feelings, being kind to yourself, and taking action to resolve your uneasy feelings. And, you’ll benefit by gaining familiarity so it’s easier and easier to go back to your calm mind.
To make this super do-able, I encourage you to make a date with yourself. The next time a challenging situation arises take the first two steps – notice the uneasy feelings and your self-talk.
Please share in the comments how it felt to work on solving an inner vs. outer problem.
If you know anyone persistently suffering from negative minds like anger, anxiety, depression, fear, please pass this along to them. Everyone deserves to know how to find their way back to their calm mind.
Peace.
Jennifer
