How To Balance An Overactive Mind
‘A quiet mind is more important than a positive mind,’ says famed Indian-American author and alternative healing expert, Deepak Chopra.
Indeed an ‘overactive’ mind can be best defined as experiencing thoughts about past, present, future all at once: a racing mind is permanently bouncing topics around in your head and struggling to concentrate what is happening in the current moment.
Whilst ‘overactive’ minds have long been associated with creative, ambitious types or those that have experienced trauma in childhood, the current ‘age of anxiety’ with the rise of social media, screen time, long working hours and ultimately stress and depression is fuelling the ‘overactive’ mind issue. Other causes include panic disorders, OCD, bipolar disorder, caffeine consumption, and OCD.
Overactive mind easily spirals into ‘Generalised Anxiety Disorder’ (GAD) in adults: GAD is a long term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of issues and situations, rather than one specific event. People who suffer GAD feel anxious most days and often struggle to remember the last time they felt relaxed.
Dandy has some 101 items to calm an overactive mind and achieve mind and body equilibrium.
Journaling:
Penning your thoughts down can help calm the spiralling effects of the overactive mind – writing down worries, future meetings, deadlines, bills to pay and even to do lists can release some of the anxiety around the subject and clear some of the ‘illusionary’ fear the mind subconsciously creates.
We recommend: Five Minute Journal by Intelligent Change
Meditation with a mantra:
Create a short mantra that you can repeat over and over in your mind to anchor yourself and calm down a racing mind. Repetition is an effective way to soothe and reassure yourself; close your eyes and breathe.
Looking at positive affirmation cards are a quick way to change your mindset too:
We recommend: Mindful Affirmation cards by Intelligent Change
Focus on Breathwork:
Our breathing and nervous system often mirrors our state of mind so take a moment to check your breathing. Find a quiet space and breathe in for eight and out for eight. There’s an ancient Hawaiian breathing technique called Piko Piko that brings oxygen into your cells and releases stress from your body – as you breathe focus on an area of the body one by one.
Spend time in nature: From a brisk walk to a few hours spent forest bathing – listen to a walking meditation as you take in all sights and sounds.
The new phenomenon forest bathing actually originated in Japan in the 1980’s as an eco- antidote to the tech boom – but has never been more relevant in today’s hyper-digital era. Simply soaking in the natural world and consciously connecting to what is around you is an effective mindfulness practice.
