How to get out of your head and calm your thoughts

I used to be a massive over-thinker. I would have a thought and then I would find myself going down a rabbit hole with one thought leading to another, then to another and so on. Usually my thoughts were of catastrophic nature. They were hardly pleasant thoughts. Sometimes my head would hurt from the constant overthinking.

For a few years now, I’ve really focused on calming my thoughts down using a few strategies that I will explain below and it has really made a difference. It’s not like I have an empty space in my head all the time, but I have learnt how to calm my mind so that my thoughts don’t control my headspace all the time.

It truly is a nicer, calmer way to live. But let me say this from the outset; just like anything else, if you want to make something better, you need to put in some work. Are you ready to create some calm in the crazy? Keep on reading!

Did you know that our thoughts create our reality and how we perceive the world around us. There’s loads of books on this very topic. But here’s a quick overview. Our thoughts create our beliefs & they also determine our emotions, our words, our behaviour, our actions and our overall wellbeing.

Our thoughts therefore have a massive impact on our mental health, our emotional health and subsequently, our lives. It’s so easy to allow ourselves to get carried away repeating the same negative loops. I read somewhere that the average adult has anywhere between 6,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day (depending on the research). Out of that, around 80% are negative! 🙄 No wonder so many people have so much noise in their heads and are so stressed!

When you become aware the power our thoughts have on our lives, then you can start to be more mindful of our internal dialogue and start focusing on how you truly want your life to be. I know it’s not easy to change this but it can be done.

Some things you can do to get out of the loop from negative to positive (or neutral) thoughts:
✨Every time you catch yourself having a thought that doesn’t help you, change it. Give it a different ending. Do you find that when you have a thought, it goes from one thought to another and that it is quite a negative thought? This is where you have the power to change the ending. If it’s a fictitious “story” in your head, then change it when you catch yourself having the thought. And repeat.

✨When you catch a negative thought, say “stop!” out loud to stop you going down that negative spiral. Sometimes saying it out loud might not be appropriate e.g if you’re in a busy environment, so even saying it in your head will still have the same impact.

✨Allow the thought to come in and remember that it’s a thought. It’s not real in this present moment and you don’t have to act on it. If you are ruminating, reminiscing or creating a moment in your head via a thought, then bring your attention to the fact that it is not happening in real time AND you have the ability to change it.

✨Meditate. I could say so much about this one but I will keep it short. One of the most effective ways to train your mind to calm down is to meditate. There’s so many different ways you can do this but if you haven’t meditated before, start with guided meditations. There’s loads of free apps and Youtube clips you can use to help. I’m so passionate about this that I created some guided meditations on Youtube.

✨Exercising is a great way to get out of your head and in to the present moment. Try any exercise that you resonate with and just do the exercise. You will find that when your body is doing the exercise, that your mind will quieten down naturally.

✨Grounding is a wonderful way to get out of your head. The quickest and easiest way to ground is to get out in to nature. It can be as simple as walking in to your backyard if you have one, and listening to the birds. Feel the wind on your face. Take a walk down to your local park. If you can, connect your feet with the Earth: think grass, water, sand, etc then even better. It has been said that the Earth’s frequency is 7.83hz. If you don’t know, that’s really slow. Nature has a powerful stillness that helps your body and mind slow down to match when you are absorbed in nature. So get out there and connect with her.

✨Create your own positive affirmations that make you feel good. What do you want to bring more of in to your life? Write those down and create some personal affirmations? Eg. if you want to feel more peaceful, your affirmation can be “I feel peace in this moment”. Make it in to a screensaver on your phone, write it down and have the affirmation in your journal, bag, fridge or desk, etc. Find ways where you get to see your personal affirmations regularly.

✨Have a Reiki or Sound session. Energy modalilities are a wonderful way to slow down the constant barrage in your head. They work by re-calibrating your energy so that you can come back to the stillness within you. If you’re looking for a wonderful Reiki or Sound session, consider coming to a session with me.

✨Put your phone down. Our phones are wonderful sources or information and connectivity but they are also sources of anxiety. Energetically, we are so tied in to the constant notifications, it can be difficult to not feel on edge. Try to create some boundaries with your phone so that you have some time where your thoughts can be clear and not anxiety inducing. I wrote a blog about this very topic recently. It is well worth a read.

✨Be present in whatever your doing. There’s a great method called the 5-4-3-2-1 method. If you catch yourself endlessly looping thoughts, bring your mind to this method. Find 5 things in your environment that you see and name them, find 4 things you can hear and name them, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste. In this manner, you are using your senses to come back in to your present state.

Some last words:

Every time you catch yourself in a thought spiral, don’t get upset with yourself. Just try again. It’s not easy to rewire your brain, it takes practice and time but you CAN give yourself a better headspace.

Remember, it will take time to change the negative thought patterns but you can do it. You CAN change your thoughts, and a better reality for yourself! 💓

I hope you enjoyed this blog. If you feel like a friend might benefit from it, please feel free to share!