Bringing peace to your mind and body during moments of anxiety can help dampen its effects and help us move toward feeling relaxed quicker than if we left our anxiety to its own devices. In this post, I am going to tell you about three different methods which I used to work through the anxious moments and have helped me to find a sense of peace during waves of heightened anxiety.
Peace in Meditation
Meditation is a wonderful way to take as little as 10 minutes for yourself. It helps you focus on your mind, body, and breath. Meditation gives you the power to clear your mind and be one with your body on a deeper level. Meditation works well in my experience by focusing solely on the breath, as it is the single task you have to focus on. This focus point then lets the number of other thoughts and pressures float past and move through your mind. This fluidity helps alleviate that constant anxious pressure from the problems you need to solve, decisions you need to make, or even that neverending to-do list so that you can live in the moment and feel centered and calm.
I’m only at the beginning of my meditation journey, but my experience so far has been a positive one. If you are a beginner, like me, I highly suggest using guided meditation. I find that the guided meditations help to keep you focused. It kind of feels like I’m in a yoga class with an instructor, their soothing voices bring a calming energy to the practice. I feel that these guided meditations can also help you to learn and understand the process of meditation and the different techniques involved that are available to use during your meditation practices.
Taking even a minimum of 10 minutes out of your day to meditate and be one with your mind and body can help soothe away anxious feelings, leaving a renewed focus and energy.
Peace in Journaling
Journaling, or a daily devotion, is another wonderful way to bring peacefulness to your mind when you are feeling anxious. If you are a person who has a hard time speaking their truth out loud or has a busy mind, it may be easier to put pen to paper and write out your thoughts.
There are so many methods of journaling, from morning pages to making lists to writing letters. Find a method that suits you and run with it. A couple years ago; I channeled my struggles into writing right before bed by writing a prayer to God in a journal. It was a nice way to wind down and release my thoughts on the day and ask for help if I needed it.
Even though I wasn’t very consistent in my journaling, the evenings that I did journal helped me release all negative thoughts that had plagued my mind. I was able to let my thoughts out onto the page. It was soothing to know that all my personal troubles and ideas were written down so that if I ever wanted to revisit or work through those problems or struggles, I could look back and see exactly where I was in my thoughts and feelings.
If you choose to try journaling, pick a time that works well for your lifestyle. For example, if you are a morning person, try journaling as you drink your morning coffee. Work with what you know by adding your time for journaling into your everyday routine. This will help you remember to take the time to write and if kept up will help this exercise become a habit.
Peace in the Outside
Nature is beautiful and I think that we sometimes take for granted the beauty that our world has to offer. We stay stuck to our desks, our minds buzzing with to-do lists, dinners, work and family related engagements, that we forget to stop and take in the world around us. The bright sunlight, lakes, and flowers are just waiting to brighten up your day. So, my final suggestion for calming your anxious mind is to go outside.
If you have a local park or lake, go take a walk and breath in the fresh air. One of my favorite things to do is either make a coffee or tea and sit on the dock of the lake near where I live. Looking out over the still water and breathing in the air, brings a feeling of peace that comforts the body and helps to relax the mind if only for a moment. Sometimes you just need the beauty of nature to calm your mind.
You can even take activities you would normally do inside and take them outside. Read your book out on your porch instead of the couch or sit outside at Starbucks on a nice day instead of your normal indoor table. Tweak your daily routine to include some time outside and enjoy the natural beauty of our world and the brightness it can add to your darker days.
Peace in the Moment
Meditation, journaling, and going outside all have benefits that can help bring peace to the anxiousness we feel every day, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are simple moments of time that we are giving ourselves to catch our breath. No matter what you are going through taking a moment, no matter how small, to check in with your body and mind is important.
So, right now, if you are feeling nervous, anxious, worried, or any overpowering emotion, stop and take a moment. You read that right. This very minute, I want you to stop reading, close your eyes and take a few deep breathes in through your nose and out through your mouth. This simple moment is for you.
I hope this post help to bring some peace and calm to your anxious mind. I would love to hear about the ways you bring a sense of peace to your mind at moments of anxiety or high emotion. Leave me a comment so that I and fellow readers can find growth and peace through our shared experiences.
Live Yourself happy!
Kimberly Lorraine
I love how you ended this. I wish everyone who is anxious could read this and put it to practice.
I pray