Your brain is continuously processing information and we can easily feel overwhelmed by all the information being received and processed. This can lead to increased feelings of stress and anxiousness among other negative emotions. Being able to control your thoughts in a logical way can help you on your way to having a more productive and positive life. Meditation allows you to focus the direction of your thoughts, lower your stress and improve your focus.
Through meditation, you can train yourself to control your attention suitably away from the negative and towards more calm and positive thoughts. Different variations of meditations can help you focus on and control your mind. There are also small changes within your daily life such as taking time to observe your thought, having a healthy diet and staying hydrated that can contribute to improving the control over your mind.
Here, we outline different meditative techniques and ways to improve your daily life to help you on your way to controlling your thoughts effectively.
Breathing Meditation
This is a simple yet effective way of meditating to help focus your mind. Just find a quiet spot, sit comfortably and find your natural breathing rhythm. Now, focus your attention on your breathing to allow yourself to control where your thoughts go. This basic meditation helps clear your mind, leaving you more relaxed and able to focus on your thoughts.
Mantra Meditation
Mantra meditation introduces the addition of words into your meditation. This involves repeating a word or phrase throughout your meditation. Having one word you say as you inhale and another word you say when you exhale. Like breathing meditation, it allows you to clear your mind and focus on your breathing. While your head may be filled with overwhelming thoughts when you begin, by the end of your meditation you have discouraged these thoughts from interrupting your calmness. You will be able to control your mind when it wanders.
Guided Meditations
You may opt to have someone in person, an audio or video recording of an individual to guide your thoughts more closely. This may be guiding your thought a scenario or asking you to take the time to focus on different types of thoughts you may be having. While you are being instructed to attend to certain thoughts and feelings, you are ultimately in charge of controlling your own mind as you use the guide to shift your focus to the thoughts you wish to attend to and where you want your thoughts to end up.
Present Moment Meditations
The aim of present moment awareness meditation is to help your mind become more alert and clearer. This kind of meditation allows you to focus on the world around you as you sit calmly. You can shift your attention from your thoughts to your current sensations and use these sensations to guide your thought processes throughout this exercise. Focus on the sounds you hear, the sensations you feel as well as taking note of the thoughts that enter your mind.
Observe your thoughts
Instead of just attending to your thoughts as what they simply are seen as you should observe them more closely and investigate the characteristics they possess. Question how many times this type of thought pops into your head. Is there a reason you are thinking this way? Even with negative thoughts, do not dismiss them. It is beneficial to acknowledge and observe these more negative thoughts to help you control your mind.
Your Daily Life
Meditate Daily
Controlling your mind takes time but by making daily changes you can progress to becoming more aware of your thought and build a deeper understanding as to the meaning behind them as well as being able to selectively focus on your thoughts. Introducing meditation into your daily routine gives you the needed time to focus on controlling your thinking.
Stay Hydrated
Controlling your mind goes beyond just meditation. While this takes you a long way in helping focus your mind, lifestyle changes and healthy habits can influence your ability to control your mind and keep your thoughts productive.
While a daily necessity, staying hydrated can be something that slips our minds. Drinking water can allow you to improve your focus and concentration. Even if just a little hydrated, it can increase your levels of stress hormones and can subsequently lead to an inability to effectively focus your thoughts. Therefore, gymequipmentgb.co.uk recommend that you aim to drink approximately 2.4 litres every day to ensure you are well hydrated and you can also estimate what you should be drinking using their calculator. By having this optimal level of hydration, you are decreasing your risk of stress while promoting the meditative benefits of being able to control your mind.
Your Diet
You can also look at altering your diet to introduce and include more foods regarded as “brain foods”. Fish, leafy greens, blueberries and even a small amount of dark chocolate are all suggested to boost your ability to focus. Along with increasing your intake of water, these will help in promoting a healthy mind that you will be able to control more readily. It will encourage your thoughts to remain productive and positive.
Meditation is an effective way to help control your mind and can be utilised in a number of ways, working to promote a healthy and focussed mind. By incorporating meditation into your daily routine along with focussing on a diet that promotes brain function and drinking enough water to keep your body and mind hydrated, you will be well on your way to being able to effectively control your thoughts.
About the Author
Jessica Max is the community manager at hydration calculator. She is a fitness writer. She uses her training to help other women struggling to get fit in mid-life. When not working, Jessica enjoys cycling and swimming.
