5 Effective Ways To Help You Calm Your Mind

Indulging in a hobby can be a great way to calm an overactive mind. It helps you take a break from your busy, stressful life and clear your mental plate.Hobbies induce relaxation and help you enter flow states similar to meditation so that you can shut out everything other than your engagement in your hobby.Simply put, a flow state is a mental state characterized by complete absorption and enjoyment in the process of an activity, especially an activity that involves creative abilities.

* Music

Music is perhaps the most common medium of art and healing. Both listening and composing music help relieve stress and calm your mind. Studies have found that music therapy reduces anxiety, improves cognitive health, decreases pain and promotes feelings of power.

Researchers at Stanford University also indicate that rhythmic music may have a therapeutic effect for treating a range of neurological conditions as it stimulates the brain and may even change brain function.

* Gardening

Gardening is a rewarding hobby and a great stress reliever. Simply being out in nature is an enjoyable experience that soothes your soul. The sounds, the smell, the breeze and the sunlight—all of these help calm your mind and improve your mood. Plus, the repetitive nature of gardening tasks soothe your mind.

* Painting

As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe puts it, “There is no better deliverance from the world than through art; and a man can form no surer bond with it than through art.”

Painting can be a beautiful and soothing way to calm your mind. The different colors have different energy levels and can significantly impact your mood. Blue, for instance, is associated with tranquility, purple with creativity and meditation, green with freshness, yellow with optimism, orange with vitality, red with passion, and so on.

* Crafting

Working on craft projects, such as sewing, knitting, scrapbooking and a wide range of DIY projects, is another interesting hobby that keeps you occupied and puts your mind at ease. It allows you to focus on a particular item or pattern and thus forget the things that stress your mind. It also works as a creative outlet to release pent-up energy and frustration.

* Photography

Photography is another creative and fun hobby that can also prove to be productive. Seeing the world through a photographer’s lens can be a deeply contemplative practice as you begin to see things differently.