In your mind, picture a particularly relaxing moment. Choose any scene you want, such as a quiet afternoon walk on a beach. During this imagined trip, think of as many sensations as possible—feel the soft sand between your toes, smell the salty air, hear the surf, enjoy the warmth of the sun on your face. When you begin to breathe in and out, fully expand and contract your lungs: inhale slowly for six seconds, hold the air for three seconds and exhale for six seconds.
To help control your breathing, imagine there is a candle in front of you; you are not trying to blow it out but simply to make the flame flicker. Do this exercise a second time and take note of the letting go you begin to feel.
If you can repeat this cycle numerous times, your epinephrine levels will subside and feelings of stress and anxiety should taper off. Then you can really enjoy your mental vacation, whether you are at the beach or on a mountaintop. When you want to end the exercise, be sure to return to your surroundings as gently as possible.
Try mildly contracting all your body muscles while slowly opening your eyes. Younger children may find such guided relaxation too restrictive.
Be completely quiet. Don't move. Hear the silence and listen to your body. If a child has great difficulty keeping still and silent, calm background music can provide an ideal bridge. Rumination has been found to affect rest. With less time to rejuvenate and more time feeling unpleasant, those who ruminate get a double-dose of stress with limited ability to recover. By managing rumination better, you might be able to spend more time both awake and asleep in a more restful state.
Chronic stress, which can be exacerbated by rumination, is thought to contribute to illness because it causes over-activation of stress-responsive biological systems. Cortisol is a hormone that is released by the adrenal glands. It's commonly known as the "stress hormone. For example, it can help to control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism, reduce inflammation, and assist with memory formulation. However, prolonged high levels of cortisol are associated with negative health outcomes. One study found that people who engaged in rumination had higher levels of cortisol in their systems by the end of the day, but not higher levels at the beginning.
These findings pointed to the likelihood that the cortisol was linked to their way of handling the day's stresses. Rumination can dampen your creativity. One study found that people who ruminated about problems at work were less creative on the job, while those who engaged in problem-solving thinking showed quicker recovery off the job. In short, ruminating more often probably means that you "take your work home with you.
Research has also linked rumination with a decreased ability to see solutions to problems, which can potentially lead to more stress. Clearing your mind can help combat rumination and may lead to better sleep, more effective downtime after work, greater focus, and increased creativity. The practice may even be good for your relationships.
So investing some time in mind-clearing strategies is well worth it. That said, letting go of negative emotions is easier said than done. There are a few techniques to quiet your thoughts that you can try. Meditation provides many other benefits, as well. To start a meditation practice, simply find a place where you can sit and relax.
Then observe your thoughts without becoming attached to them. Mindfulness is the practice of becoming fully immersed in an activity, rather than in your thoughts about other things.
Completing one activity with mindfulness can be a restorative way to clear your mind and get things done. Try cleaning a room, clearing out a closet, or cooking a healthy meal. If your mind is filled with stressful feelings, it may be helpful to give in to the thoughts and express them through writing. Journaling allows you to delve deeper into the topics that plague your thoughts. Fully experiencing and examining your emotions can help you brainstorm solutions and give you different ways of looking at your problems a technique known as cognitive restructuring.
Try to find a space that is well-lit and not too hot or too cold. It's hard to think clearly when you are uncomfortable and distracted. If you live or work around other people, let them know that you need undisturbed time to concentrate. If you're unable to get away from noise, try getting some noise-canceling headphones and listening to quiet music. Keeping your workspace neat and organized can also help you feel more focused and less distracted.
Take minute breaks from work every 1. Avoid spending too much time on a task at once, or you will soon find your mind wandering and your thoughts going in circles. To keep your thinking sharp and clear, take brief breaks every couple of hours to let your mind and body recuperate. Use active relaxation techniques.
When you take a break from working or thinking about the task at hand, try visualizing a calming scene. You might picture yourself lying on the beach or sitting in a boat in the middle of a peaceful lake.
Imagine the sights, sounds, sensations, and smells you might experience during your imaginary vacation, like the feeling of a cool breeze on your skin or the scent of autumn leaves in the air. When you return from your mental break, you may find it easier to think clearly and concentrate on what you are doing.
Method 4. Practice expressing your thoughts clearly and concisely. You can train your brain to process information more clearly and efficiently by mentally editing the things you say, write, and think. Cut out filler, repetition, and vague words and phrases, and try to rephrase your thoughts as clearly and concretely as possible.
For example, if you read a wordy passage in a book, take a few moments to try to mentally edit it down to 1 or 2 sentences that express the key point s of the passage. Observe an object for 5 minutes, then write down your thoughts about it.
Pick any object and examine it closely for a few minutes. Then, spend about 10 minutes writing down every observation you can think of. Doing this kind of exercise will not only help you become more observant, but will also get you into the habit of clearly expressing—and thinking about—the things you observe.
For example, how big is the object? What color is it? What kind of texture s does it have? Next, start writing down things that the object suggests to you.
Does it remind you of anything? Does it evoke a feeling? What uses can you think of for it? Question your own beliefs and assumptions. Take time to consider they way you think, feel, and react to things. Do I have any evidence to support it? Is it something somebody told you once?
Is it based on an experience you had trying to play a sport earlier in your life? Has anything changed about you or your situation since then? Examine information from others critically. In addition to questioning your own beliefs and assumptions, it's important to look at information you get from outside sources with a critical eye.
Before you accept something you read, see in the news or online, or hear from another person—even if they seem like an authoritative source—consider: [18] X Research source Does this information make sense? Does your source provide any evidence to support this information? Are you able to find other credible sources that support this information? Is the source obviously biased in any way? Challenge yourself by learning new things.
Trying new things—especially if they are a bit challenging for you—is a great way to keep your brain sharp and build new mental connections. For example, you might: Take a class in a subject you've never studied before.
Try a new creative hobby, like painting, sculpting, or writing. Challenge yourself with a DIY building or home improvement project. Study a foreign language. Learn a new game or sport.
His most recent book is How to Think He lives in Kent, UK. Edited by Nigel Warburton. For example, here is my attempt at explaining the purpose of this Guide to a notional nine-year-old:. As the parent of two young children, I often get to skip the pretending part of this exercise. It can be both challenging and powerful to talk someone else through an idea, step by step, in terms that take as little as possible for granted.
Question: how can archaeologists translate ancient scriptures or languages? All of this emphasises a fundamental point about clarifying your thinking. It asks you to admit your thoughts are unclear to begin with — and thus, that certain elements within them need to be rethought , or placed upon more secure foundations.
Why should anyone care about any of this? To idealise, it entails the mutual and respectful pursuit of knowledge. Aspiring towards clarity is also inexorably iterative. In this Guide, I want to help you think about what this process looks like for you. The first stage entails reflecting on why you believe something to be true or important.
The second entails teasing out the assumptions this reasoning relies upon. Draw a breath. Slow yourself down. What are you thinking and feeling? What most deserves your attention? Inviting people to pause is among the easiest advice in the world to give, and the hardest to take. Without pauses, there can be no second thoughts and no self-interrogations. There is no process until you take the time to embark upon it. You might think that this point is too obvious to be worth making.
We all carry around countless unclear, confused, contradictory thoughts and feelings. And precisely because we have neither the time nor the tools to sort them out, they mostly stay this way. You make yourself comfortable, relax, then try to notice the flow of your thoughts and feelings in a nonjudgmental way: the flickers of anxiety, anticipation, regret; the memories and ideas bubbling into consciousness.
These are the raw materials that any process of clarification must work with.
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