Meditative Techniques To Quiet The Busy Mind
Having a busy mind can sometimes be exciting. It’s similar to being at a crowded party– people talking over each other, someone absentmindedly spilling their Coca-Cola on the floor, and a fun song playing. A lot is happening. You might even be experiencing a roller coaster of emotions, but it’s exciting to be in the midst of the chaos, wondering when the next unexpected turn will happen.
Having a busy mind can sometimes be hard. Now imagine you’re at that same party, but you have an important work deadline due in two days. You’re sitting in the corner of the room, desperately trying and failing to tune out your surroundings so you can concentrate. The music is interfering with your ability to read, the spilled Coca-Cola is slowly spreading towards you, and you can’t help but listen to the fascinating conversation about a new smoothie store that just opened up (three blocks away from your house!).
We all know the busy-mind experience. We’ve all had times when our minds were too loud in a moment when we needed quiet. It could be concerns keeping us up until the AM hours, replaying old memories while we’re trying to make new ones, or trying to concentrate on that work deadline but instead unintentionally thinking about all the cool vacation spots we haven’t tried yet.
Some people’s minds are busier than others – there’s a wide spectrum. On one end, we have those people who are naturally relaxed. Things come, things go, and they live with peaceful acceptance of their lives. On the other end, we have those real busy-minds. Constantly analyzing, assessing, thoughts coming and going in rapid succession as if they don’t want to stick around for long. Many people fall somewhere in between, with their minds having a mixture of busy and quiet moments.
I recently read a line that said something like, “meditative techniques can bring you moments of stillness that can quiet a busy mind.” This intrigued me. Can these moments of stillness, brought about through meditation, truly quiet the busy mind? If so, what are some good ways to start meditating?
A quick Google search showed that there’s significant scientific evidence that meditation has mental and physical benefits. Much research suggests that meditation can truly quiet the busy mind. It can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, improve brain function, increase focus, and improve sleep. This is exactly the kind of improvement many of us would like to see in our lives.
There are three basic types of meditation. The first is focused attention, which is holding your attention to a thought or bodily process (like breathing). The second is open monitoring, which is noticing your thoughts and feelings without reacting to them. The third is automatic self-transcending, which is thinking a sound or mantra effortlessly, just as you would think any other thought.
You can look up an article on the type of meditation that interests you, find a YouTube video, or even ask ChatGPT for methods. However, starting a new thing can be daunting. Even taking on a task like meditating for five minutes a day can feel like too much of a commitment. Ironically, the busy-minded people who could benefit most from meditation are the ones with the least time to do it. So I’m not going to ask you to do five minutes a day. I’m just going to ask you to try meditating today. Add five minutes of meditation into your schedule—no commitment there; just five minutes. Then assess whether those five minutes affected your busy mind.
