Fatigue and irritation make you feel the need to disconnect from your stressful daily life. While it is impossible to “think of nothing,” physiologically speaking, you can break the pattern of thoughts that keeps you in circles and trapped in your problems. This post tells you how, with simple methods, you can empty your mind of its bad habits.
Focus on the activities of our unconscious mind
Our mind is divided between “conscious” and “unconscious”. Our conscious mind focuses on our current occupation to which we are attentive.
Our unconscious mind deals with the rest, our heartbeat, digestion, breathing (vital functions, innate reflexes), and familiar gestures that we have learned (driving, cooking…) and that we reproduce without thinking about it (automatisms, acquired reflexes).
Our unconscious also perceives thousands of information coming from the environment we are unaware of. For example, while conversing with a friend, our unconscious senses the temperature of the air, the color of the clothes of our interlocutor, his mimics, the landscape, the surrounding noises, etc.
Finally, we are unaware of all the positive or negative beliefs that animate us or their origin.
Our unconscious processes all this information without our knowledge. We only perceive our emotional state: we feel good in the presence of “good” information and stress when confronted with information that our unconscious considers “dangerous”.
We are not very aware of the activities of our unconscious, on which we have very little power to act. However, these unconscious beliefs and actions end up cluttering our minds, and we feel the need to clean up our minds.
Letting go to clear your mind
Letting go and being in the present moment are the keywords for clearing your mind.
Letting go and control
Without realizing it, we try to have control over our deep-seated fears, often created in our past, so that they don’t come back to haunt us. We think that, in this way, we eliminate the fear:
– judgment by others;
– of lacking something;
– of being wrong, of admitting to being wrong;
– of not pleasing others, of being rejected…
The more we try to control our fears, the less we let go. On the other hand, letting go is all the more difficult because, unaware of the suffering inside us, we believe that our malaise is due to external factors (overwork, cold snap…), which in reality play a minor role. We must occupy our minds with something neutral to escape these harmful beliefs.
Present moment
An excellent solution to clear your mind is to slow down and live in the “present moment” to relax by focusing on one thing, which will also sharpen your awareness.
For example, take time to enjoy your meal. Take time to chew to enjoy the smells and flavors of your food.
– Ask yourself if you really want to eat and if the food looks appetizing.
– Feel yourself salivating.
– Appreciate the look, the color, of the food.
– Take 10-20 seconds to chew and focus on the taste of your food.
– Smell the food in your nose.
– Smell the sweet, bitter, and sour flavors…
– Feel the texture of the food in your mouth: enjoy the act of chewing, take the time to let it melt, etc.
Count
You are angry or feel overwhelmed by information from all directions. Here’s an emergency trick to clear your mind/head:
– you are standing or sitting on a chair or the floor with your back straight;
– count slowly and steadily to at least 10 to disconnect your mind from the noise by focusing on this simple count.
Breathe to clear your head
Breathing is omnipresent. It is the most accessible tool to clear your mind. First, it accompanies our lives day and night, hour after hour, without us being aware. Bringing it to your consciousness and focusing on it alone allows you to evacuate stressful situations by focusing on the “present moment”.
The technique is simple, and you can practice it anywhere and in any circumstances.
– You are standing or sitting on a chair or the floor with your back straight.
– Breathe naturally and slowly for a few seconds to calm tension and stabilize your position.
– As you breathe, feel the fresh air enter your nostrils and flow into your lungs.
– Feel the air leave your lungs and exit your nostrils as you exhale.
– Breathe in slowly. Take time to enjoy these sensations.
– If your mind wanders to other thoughts, gently bring your attention back to the breath.
Relax to clear your mind
You can relax while offering your mind surprising things that attract its attention, distract it from its usual negative thoughts, and help clear your head.
According to the German physician Schultz (1884-1970), this relaxation consists of an intense concentration on the parts of your body until you feel tingling, a sign that you have succeeded in focusing your mind where you want it to be.
– You are lying on your back with your arms at your sides and your palms facing up.
– Bring your attention to your feet. Try to feel and relax each toe individually on the right foot and then on the left.
– Relax your feet (soles, heels…) all the way to your ankles.
– Relax your legs: shins, calves, knees, thighs…
– Relax your hips and pelvis, the pelvic region.
– Relax the buttocks, the lower back, and the belly: inhale while inflating the belly.
– Relax the back and the ribs: inhale while spreading the ribs.
– Relax the shoulder blades, the chest, the shoulders, and the collarbones: inhale while lifting the collarbones.
– Relax your arms: elbows, and forearms (be aware of the radius and ulna bones).
– Relax your wrists (all the small bones) and hands (palms). Try to feel and relax each finger of the right hand individually, then the left.
– Relax the neck, the whole neck, to dissipate any residual tension.
– Relax your head (back, top, sides) and your face: forehead, eyelids, nostrils, lips, chin… Observe if you still have tension in your face.
– Relax your tongue, and focus on your throat: swallow a little saliva to relax it.
– Relax the heart area and the lungs: breathe in and inflate your lungs.
– Your brain and your mind relax. Let your thoughts pass, do not dwell on them.
– Each exhalation is relaxation.
– Feel the weight of your body on the floor. Feel this feeling of calm and weight that takes over your body gradually.
– Stay in this calm state to observe how you feel, your progress, and the progress that remains to be made, without judgment, just the observation of a neutral observer.
Meditate to clear your mind
Meditation is currently referred to as a technique for “managing” stress. The expression is inappropriate because we desire to “manage” everything today. We will be happier if we have this or that, if those around us do what we want, etc. In reality, it is a matter of channeling our efforts not to exhaust ourselves unnecessarily and to focus on what is essential: we must learn to stop thinking that we decide everything.
An upright and tonic posture favors healthy reflection and flexibility, physical and psychological, and is an indication of open-mindedness.
The following exercise, which symbolizes this notion of straightness (candle) and flexibility (flame), is an excellent classic of concentration accessible to all. This exercise creates a feeling of lightness and a pleasant numbness that sharpens your awareness and helps to clear your head.
– You are sitting in a chair with your feet flat or on the floor with your legs crossed.
– Light your candle and place it about 20 centimeters from your eyes (on a small stool if you are sitting on the floor).
– Start breathing slowly and naturally for a few seconds to calm tension and stabilize your position.
– Focus on the candle’s flame, only on the flame, for a few seconds.
– Do not open your eyes. Stay relaxed and still, keeping your breathing slow and natural.
– Clear your mind: prevent your mind from wandering to associations that have nothing to do with what the flame evokes (warmth, clarity, etc.).
– Do not attach yourself to any extraneous ideas that may arise, even pleasant ones.
Tip: If you are sitting on the floor, remember to change the crossing of your legs as soon as you feel discomfort. Place a folded blanket under your buttocks to straighten your back.
Don’t overdo the exposure time in front of the flame, or your eyes may get hurt: look away or close your eyes as soon as you feel an unpleasant tingling sensation and then slowly return to the flame.
