Calming a Restless Mind

Our physical health is directly linked to our mental health and our mental health is directly linked to our spiritual health. It’s no secret that happy and content people are healthier, disease-free, and have more energy than others.

Restlessness is the inability to sit still, rest, or unwind. It can cause a person to feel exhausted, unable to concentrate, or as if their mind is “going blank.” It frequently manifests as tension or agitation. Anxiousness can interfere with a person’s ability to sleep, function effectively at work and/or school, and diminish their overall health.

As a result of today’s hectic and stressful lifestyles, spending 8 to 10 hours in front of various screens and displays, and the unhealthy composition and adulteration of food, a large number of people suffer from lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and anxiety and require regular medication.

According to a recent study, one in five Indians suffers from these lifestyle-related diseases, whereas one in three adults in the United States are affected. A few decades ago, these diseases were unheard of, but their prevalence has increased at an alarming rate in recent years. In addition, these diseases can potentially affect future generations by altering the genetic makeup.

Holistic Healing through spiritual practices is one of the best methods to improve your quality of life. The first step to achieve spiritual upliftment is to tame one’s mind. A calm and peaceful mind is at the center of one’s well-being. A person aware and in control of his mind and his thoughts is a spiritually-aware person. There is no wealth greater than health and a spiritually awakened person is also a healthy person as he attains peace of mind and better understating of things which leads to less stress and better prioritization.

A fickle mind is difficult to tame and train but there are few simple activities which one can use to embark on the journey of calming one’s restless mind and reach a state of good health and holistic healing. Let us see at these in incremental stages:

Take Action (Any Action) – Taking even the smallest step forward can sometimes be enough to quiet our thoughts, worries, and anxieties if we recognize that we have a tendency to live in our heads. Remaining in the rumination zone can result in procrastination, perfectionism, guilt, or the belief that we are incapable of doing anything. However, taking action typically leads us out of this comfort zone.

In many ways, action is the antidote to a cluttered mind. People who engage in sports on a daily basis, even if it’s just going for a walk every morning, gradually gain mental clarity and reduce the anxiety of a restless mind and wavering thoughts, while enhancing focus.

Revisit your Restlessness – Could your inner restiveness be trying to convey a message? Your worries and thoughts follow a pattern? Consider inviting them in gently for a change. Particularly helpful for rewinding the mind is learning to ponder your thoughts and reconnect with your intuition; therefore, it is essential to accept and recognize when something feels right or wrong in order to revert subconscious patterns of the mind, and create space for revitalizing old patterns in which we may be emotionally stuck.

Music and Reading – Listening to your favorite devotional music or mantra, or even reading devotional texts, can also serve as a stress reliever and assist you in achieving mental peace.

Puja Paath – A simple 10 minutes Puja routine of worshipping your favorite Deity or Ishta Devta not only provide peace of mind and relief from stress but also it can go a long way of attracting positivity and providing mental calm and inner peace.

Ayurveda – All things provided by nature are useful, use ancient Vedic wisdom to use natural vegetation and products. This helps you to achieve good health and relief from various diseases and ailments.

Parad – Use of energy products such as Parad have numerous health benefits and they also help relieve stress, anxiety and provide protection against all sought of negativities including radio waves from various electronic gadgets as well.

Rudraksha – Modern science has shown that the electromagnetic nature of rudraksha beads affect our neurophysiology in such a manner that stress levels, restless thinking and neurological disorders are profoundly alleviated if not cured, by regular wearing of rudraksha beads. They restore energetic balance to the body and calm the wandering mind. They eventually lead to a more sattvic style of life, making yoga, breathing techniques, meditation, and spiritual sadhana easier to practice for personal growth and a calmer mind. According to the Vedic wisdom of ancient texts such as the Shiv Puran, those with a restless mind (who cannot meditate) should wear rudraksha beads.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation – Since muscle tension is a bodily response to stress, progressive muscle relaxations are believed to help with anxiety and restlessness. Although there are a variety of progressive muscle relaxation techniques, they all aim to teach a person to systematically relax their muscles (one muscle group at a time) which results in a calmer mind able to concentrate on what is necessary.

Yoga – Incorporate yoga asanas to your morning routine in case you struggle with all the above mentioned techniques. Consciously and consistently beginning with the body, increasing focus on body postures helps develop the ability to concentrate on the breath while calming the mind at the same time. It will eventually lead to increased focus and the ability to meditate, while in the meantime it will help you release anger, anxiety, and other negative emotions, as well as strengthen your body.

Pranayama – Practicing different breathing exercises rapidly calms the agitated mind. People need to take a deep breath to naturally relieve themselves of fear or extreme stress, as this has been observed many times. The different breathing patterns of this practice are conducive to a variety of calming mental states, and it is useful when one still cannot focus neither on mantra japa nor meditation.

Mantra Japa – Mantra Japa can help increase focus and concentration on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. It helps a person attain peace of mind and clarity in thoughts and it increases devotion, especially when practiced with malas of rudraksha beads. This method is useful when one cannot focus during meditation but needs to stay calm and remain focused and happy, rather than tormented by a torrent of thoughts.

Meditation – Adding a few minutes of meditation (focusing on one’s breath only to start with) to one’s daily routine can have a significant effect on calming the mind. Once meditation becomes habitual and incremental in time, the brain undergoes permanent rewiring and structural changes. This is the most effective and life-altering method for achieving long lasting mental calmness and focus.

The consistent practice of meditation, eventually unlocks the Sahasrara or Crown chakra, allowing you to be connected to the entire experience and universe through divine mental guidance. Meditation is the ultimate cure and solution for calming a restless mind.