1. Try Meditation.
Research shows that meditation can be helpful in facilitating forgiveness and letting go of rumination and negative emotions. Meditation carries many other benefits to it as well, so it’s definitely worth trying. One simple way to meditate is to find a place where you can sit and relax. Then simply "observe" your thoughts without becoming attached to them. Once you’ve noticed them, let them go and bring your focus back to the present moment.
2. Cultivate Mindfulness.
Related to meditation, mindfulness is a way of becoming fully immersed in an activity, rather than in your thoughts about other things. Mindfulness is a great meditative option for busy people. While it involves slowing down and focusing on one thing, it doesn’t involve stopping all activity the way traditional meditation does. (And, if you lead a busy lifestyle or have a Type A personality, it’s sometimes difficult to stop all activity without thoughts of all the things that you need to get done bombarding you, making it more difficult to clear your mind.) Completing one activity, such as cleaning a room, with mindfulness can be a restorative way to clear your mind and get things done too
3. Try Expressive Writing.
If your mind is filled with stressful thoughts, it may be helpful to give in to the thoughts. Through journaling, you can delve deeper into the topics that plague your mind (fully experiencing and examining your emotions), brainstorming solutions and examining different ways of looking at your problems (a helpful technique known as cognitive restructuring), which can help you it let it go. You may need to set yourself a time limit, though, so you don’t get stuck in rumination.
4. Distract Yourself.
Sometimes the best thing you can do to clear your mind is to change your focus. Get out and exercise with a friend. Get involved with a project or hobby. Lose yourself in a good book for a few minutes. (I personally find that activities such as tai chi and karate can clear my mind like nothing else.) This is an excellent way to bring positive activities into your life and take a break from stress and worry.
(article source: about.com - image sources: flickr & embaralhada.tumblr)
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