How To Calm Your Mind Instantly: 6 Ways To Cope With Stress

Have you been feeling stressed, hyperactive, and out of breath?
Lately, do you lose control and panic a lot?
Have you ever wanted to learn how to calm your mind instantly?
If you suffer from bouts of frustration, stress, anxiety, and worry, you likely lack a sense of peace or relaxation in everyday life. Hyperventilating, being out of breath, and being panicked, stressed, or anxious are telltale signs of the same.
Don’t worry. You can regain your sense of peace and stability, but before doing that, it is essential to understand why you lost a sense of calm in the first place. Following are some reasons you may be distressed to help you better know what you’re going through. 

Reasons To Learn How To Calm Your Mind instantly

-Panic Attacks due to psychological and emotional trauma from the past or any other issue. It is important to note that you should visit a licensed professional immediately if you think the cause of distress is a panic attack. Panic attacks are different from anxiety attacks and can have many triggers like:-

  A. Sudden change in environment
  B. Stress on the body
  C. Prolonged stress on the mind.
  D. Recovery from a physical illness

-Anxiety may be the cause of your distress. It is an overwhelming sense of dread for a reason you can’t pin down. Anxiety makes you fearful of the future without any merits. There is a difference between stress and anxiety, but the terms are often used interchangeably.

-Significant events or life decisions can also leave you distressed, as they weigh on the mind heavily, and you can’t stop thinking about them.

-& many more. It’s not easy to identify the cause of your stress immediately, and that’s fine. What’s essential is calming down and focusing on what you can do to identify the reasons in the future. You can improve your self-awareness and learn more about what causes stress. Now that you’ve learned the possible causes of your condition, you must wonder, “How do I calm down immediately.” Don’t worry; below are some tips to help you do that.

How to calm down mind instantly?

1. Go outside

How to calm your mind instantly by going outside? Taking a walk is highly recommended if you’re feeling stressed. It offers a change of environment; you can also meet your friends and plan fun activities. Going somewhere with nature or good scenery may also help give you a sense of wonder and broaden your perspective about some of the problems you were worrying about.

2. Exercise  

It may surprise you, but exercising can help you relax. Firstly, it takes your mind off whatever is causing you stress and anxiety. Secondly, it produces endorphins and reduces the production of stress hormones, which make you feel good. Many studies have shown that exercise helps reduce the chances of and treat major mental health diseases like depression, anxiety, etc. So, how to instantly calm your mind? Focus your attention on the act of exercising and your physical sensations.

3. Practice stream-of-consciousness journaling techniques

This is an excellent way to deal with your stress. Journaling allows you to be creative, express your feelings, and record what you think so you can reference it later. You can also use an art journal for therapeutic purposes. This will help you identify negative thought patterns and how you feel when stressed about the future. It may also reduce your stress or make you more aware of your thoughts as you are involved in writing them. So, how to instantly relax your mind? Write down your thoughts in a journal to better understand your feelings.

4. Do mindful exercises

Any practice that makes you focus on your senses and internal and external processes is a type of mindfulness. There are many ways to increase your awareness. 

Deep breathing exercises are suitable for your physical and mental health. These exercises allow you to focus on your breath and calm down almost anytime. Hence, they are also helpful in intense or high-pressure situations. So, how to relax your mind instantly? Take deep breaths, inhale and exhale, and focus your attention on your breath, away from the source of stress.

Mindful eating exercises make your eating process more enjoyable and is a healthier practice than eating in “automatic mode.” You also feel more whole as you eliminate all distractions and focus only on what you’re eating. How to calm your mind instantly through mindful eating? You can take care to focus all of your attention on to the food you are consuming.

Aroma Therapy involves scents that engage your sense of smell, helping you relax and improving the ambiance in your environment. Many natural and synthetic products are available for aromatherapy, but herbal solutions are preferable. These mindful techniques ground you and show how to instantly relax your mind. 

Read More: 13 yoga poses for sleep.

5. Chill with some music

According to research by the University of Nevada, music can alter your mood and concentration and can even change your outlook into a positive one. It also grabs your attention more easily and faster than any other medium. So, how to relax your mind instantly with music? Focus your attention on the music and try to avoid the source of distress. Further, you can combine the tunes with other activities like exercise, art, and walking.

Now let us move on to techniques and things you can apply to prepare for any challenging situation that may come your way. These methods will help you stay calm and collected even in the toughest times and provide a basic framework for learning how to calm your mind instantly.

Things to do to calm your mind

1. Focusing on what you can control

We all want things to go the way we want, but let’s face it, life isn’t that convenient. One way to remain mentally healthy is to avoid focusing on things beyond your control. Typically, this can contain thinking about what will happen in the distant future, some primary goals you may have, and anything you can’t predict. So, as a principle, you can focus only on the things you can control or do immediately; this will save you time and energy and reduce your stress in the long run.

One example of this is breaking down your tasks into mini-tasks called chunking. Realize that you don’t have to do it all at once and focus on the most effective thing you can do right now. This will boost your mental health and productivity.

So, how to calm your mind instantly? In a nutshell, see if your worries are about things you can’t control or something you can. In the former case, you will be well off discarding those thoughts and focusing on the things you can handle. And even if what you’re worrying about does happen, realize that it may not be such a bad thing.  

2. Changing your Mindset

Take another perspective on whatever’s troubling you ahead of time.

In the book Mindset: Changing the way you think, Carol S. Dweck emphasizes a fixed vs. growth mindset. A person with a growth mindset sees failure as a learning opportunity and is less likely to be afraid of failure, while a person with a fixed mindset doesn’t learn from their mistakes and is “stable” over time. Think of what’s troubling you; is it failure or setbacks? Try to see these potential downfalls as opportunities for growth.

This clearly shows us that safety, security, and comfort aren’t as attractive as they are often made out to be. Judging our stress to be negative and becoming more anxious only increases our stress, which may not always be the case. You can validate your feelings to be more in touch with them over time.

3. Visualizing a better situation

Wondering how to instantly calm your mind? Another tool that can help you change your mindset is creative visualization. Visualize calming down and relaxing as you drink tea or read a book. You can base your visualization on experiences you often have or ingrained in your mind to make the process more effective.

4. Be grateful for what you have

Another way to get your focus wrong is to focus on what you lack. The best way to counter this habit and one of the most effective things to do to calm your mind is gratitude. It is not an exaggeration to say that gratitude is a superpower. It makes you happier and more optimistic, thus increasing your quality of life across all areas. You value your work more and perform better. You value your relationships, friends, and loved ones and cherish them more in your day-to-day activities. You can also show those around you gratefulness by giving them gifts or spending quality time. Social media increases the tendency to focus on a lack of people, and you might need a detox if it’s too overwhelming for you. 

5. Practicing self-compassion by accepting your feelings

Toxic Positivity means having a fixed way you’re supposed to feel. The opposite of toxic positivity, an exercise through which you accept and acknowledge your emotions, is called self-validation. It involves self-validation and looking at them without judgment. Validating your feelings means admitting your worries may be tangible warning signs. That is, stress may be good for you, and it may be all right to panic sometimes.

6. Incorporating spiritual practices for better mental health

Yoga and Meditation, along with other spiritual practices, have proven benefits for physical and mental health, and they can also help you lead a calmer and richer inner life. Mayo clinic states that tai chi is a gentle way to fight stress, and the elegant postures with a rhythm make you in the present moment, thus relieving your worries.
Yoga poses can help blood circulation, make your muscles more flexible, and serve as an alternative to exercise. Yoga poses for sleep improve blood circulation, keep your immune system healthy, and have numerous health benefits.
Prayer can also set your mind at ease and is a way to remove your worries by concentrating only on what you’re praying to. 
Mindfulness is one way to practice meditation. However, there are numerous meditation techniques, some of which can be seen in Yoga and Zen Buddhism.

7. Using therapy for better recovery

The most prevalent forms of psychotherapy and talk therapy are CBT(Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and DBT(Dialectic Behavior Therapy). The latter is useful to people who experience emotions too intensely, while the former focuses on changing how you think and behave. You can also use mental health therapy goals to reap greater effects from therapy. Forms of therapy include:-

–Art Therapy activities aid sublimation, as we discussed above. It also helps you express and come to terms with your anxieties as they arise. It can also help you build a collection of original artworks you are proud of.

–Music Therapy is used to bring about positive feelings through music and help a person be more healthy.

-Therapy is increasing in scope, and new therapeutic practices are constantly emerging. Animal-assisted(such as Cow-Hugging therapy), Adlerian, attachment-based, and play therapy are some examples, among others. Support groups are an effective and valid form of treatment.

Forms of therapy have also become available through online therapy platforms, and working with a medical professional is always recommended if you are overwhelmed and want more support to overcome your situation. 

Conclusion

We have discussed how to calm your mind instantly and how to stay collected in stressful situations in the long run. These tips can help you navigate a period of stress, tension, and anxiety and provide a basic framework to guide your mental health condition. Now that you’ve learned how to instantly relax and calm your mind, you can also look at short-term mental health goals to improve your life.

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