What Helps You Quite Your Mind?

Sometimes we don’t need something that makes our mind a little quieter.

Photo by KC Shum on Unsplash

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Is there anything that helps you relax your mind when there are too many thoughts going on?

Something simple that doesn’t require much effort, but somehow makes you feel a little better?

For me, there are a few things.

One of them is sitting alone with a book and a cup of green tea.

There is something about what happened during the day.

I don’t have to plan what I am going to do next.

I just sit there.

Read.

Drink my tea.

And let my mind stay quiet for a while.

Sometimes I don’t even read that much.

I might read a few pages and then just sit there thinking about something completely unrelated to the book.

But somehow, that still feels relaxing.

Maybe it is not always about doing something productive.

Sometimes our mind just needs a little space.

Another thing that works for me is listening to folk songs.

Sometimes when I listen to songs from my region, I feel grounded again.

There is something different about hearing music that feels familiar.

It reminds me of where I come from.

The language, the rhythm, the sound, the feeling behind it.

For a few minutes, like right now, just thinking of it, I don’t feel like I have to keep up with everything happening around me.

I can just listen.

And somehow, that is enough.

Then there are my plants.

Yes, I talk to my plants sometimes.

Especially when I am watering them.

I know they can’t answer me.

I think that is the best part of it.

Maybe I am not actually talking to the plants.

Maybe I am just talking to myself.

There is something calming about taking care of something that doesn’t ask you for anything complicated.

You gave it water.

You remove a dry leaf.

You notice a new leaf growing.

And suddenly you realise that something has changed since the last time you looked.

I like those little moments.

They remind me that not everything needs to happen quickly.

Plants don’t rush.

They just keep growing.

And maybe we need that reminder sometimes.

Another thing I enjoy doing is walking alone.

But not always on the usual path.

Sometimes I deliberately walk in the opposite direction of the subway.

There is nothing there that I need.

No shop I have to visit.

No place I have to reach.

No train I have to catch.

I am just walking in a direction where nothing is waiting for me.

And maybe that is exactly why I enjoy it.

Most of our walking has a purpose.

We walk to work.

We walk to the station.

We walk because we have somewhere to be.

But sometimes I like walking where I don’t have to go anywhere.

There is something freeing about it.

I don’t have to check the time.

I don’t have to think about whether I am going the right way.

I can just keep walking until I feel like turning around.

Maybe that is what relaxing the mind means for me.

Not completely emptying my thoughts.

I don’t think that is possible.

There will always be something going on in our minds.

A conversation we had.

Something we are worried about.

Something we are looking forward to.

We cannot always control what comes into our minds.

But maybe we can create little moments where those thoughts don’t control us.

A book.

A cup of green tea.

An old folk song.

Watering plants.

A quiet walk in a direction where nothing is waiting.

None of these things solve my problems.

They don’t magically make difficult situations disappear.

But they give my mind a little room to breathe.

And sometimes, that is enough.

I think everyone has something like this.

Maybe for someone else it is cooking.

Maybe it is sitting near the sea.

Maybe it is going for a long drive.

Maybe it is painting.

Maybe it is talking to someone they trust.

Or maybe they haven’t discovered their thing yet.

So I am curious.

What is that thing for you?

What do you do when your mind feels too crowded?

Do you have a small ritual, a place, a song, a person, or even a completely random habit that somehow makes you feel like yourself again?

Or have you never really thought about it?

Maybe it is worth thinking about.

Because sometimes the things that calm us down are not the things we spend money on.

Sometimes they are already around us.

We just haven’t noticed them yet.