Modern life is full of information, entertainment and endless noise, which stresses many people. New technologies can help us search for information at any time of day. Living everyday with a pile of digital devices and objects that are very attention-grabbing makes us forget how to relax and feel peaceful. Although distractions are always present, you can take action to restore your energy and control your thoughts and feelings.
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Method 1 of 5: Finding a Quiet Place
Step 1. Take twelve minutes each morning
In the morning, we are usually busy preparing for our daily activities and often don't have time to calm our minds for 12 minutes before we start our activities.
- Scientific research proves that high levels of the hormone cortisol (stress hormone) can be lowered by calming down for about 12 minutes in the morning. The hormone cortisol affects our body's ability to maintain a homeostatic state.
- Instead of turning on your computer or phone to check emails and texts after getting up in the morning, enjoy a hot cup of tea on the terrace while waiting for the sun to rise to calm your mind.
Step 2. Clear your mind by doing household chores
If you can spare thirty minutes, doing household chores can make you feel relaxed, such as washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, or preparing dinner. Work that you do on a regular basis that doesn't require intellectual thought will be a mind-soothing activity.
Have you ever wondered why the best ideas usually come up when you're in the shower or ironing a shirt? This is because routine, mindless activities let your intuition take over and give you the peace of mind to work things out
Step 3. Get used to walking in the open
The silence of nature is a quick way to feel peace. The sound of the wind, the chirping of birds, and the cellphone that has been turned off makes you more relaxed because it is free from the burden of thoughts.
- Turn off your cell phone or other device before walking in a quiet place. The device can beep at any time so that it disturbs the peace.
- If you live in a big city, walking in nature, cycling in the park, or enjoying the natural scenery shown on TV can help you feel the atmosphere of a peaceful environment.
Step 4. Start gardening
In addition to producing healthy food, gardening is a very useful activity to feel calm. Besides being able to do activities outside the home and be closer to nature, gardening is the most relaxing activity alone. Planting fruit and vegetable trees can relieve stress.
The fresh air and physical exercise that is part of gardening can reduce stress, be aggressive, lose weight, and make you feel proud as a result
Step 5. Drive the car in silence
While driving, don't play music so you can reflect on the activities you've been doing since the morning to relieve fatigue and give you peace of mind. Put your cell phones, video games, and other electronic devices away first when driving or getting home from work so that your life can be calm again.
- Instead of playing the radio, listen to relaxing music. Music helps drown out the noise during the trip, which can relieve stress and provide a sense of calm.
- Take advantage of the atmosphere in the vehicle as an opportunity to be aware of your thoughts and feelings without judging. This mindfulness exercise can help overcome negative emotions or the impatience of being stuck in a traffic jam.
- During the trip, do fun activities to pass the time. Use commute time each day to cool off before doing the next task. If you drive a car, listen to quiet music or classical music. If you take a comfortable public transportation, you can read a book or see the sights.
Method 2 of 5: Get Rid of Diversion
Step 1. Turn off your phone's notification ringtone
The sound of cell phones most often distracts in the life of modern society. Research shows that people check their phones an average of 150 times per day or every 6 minutes over a 16-hour period. Noise cannot create a calm atmosphere around you.
- Turn off all unnecessary notification ringtones, such as social media notifications, game updates, and emails.
- Make a schedule to check all notifications several times a day.
Step 2. Complete unfinished tasks
Develop your skills in time management. Don't let some housework or office work queue up to be completed, such as cleaning the house, replying to emails, doing the bookkeeping, feeding the pets, and a list of other tasks that seem endless. All of these jobs can be done quickly if they are completed immediately.
- Develop a “work in a minute” mentality for household tasks that can be completed in less than two minutes. By completing the task as quickly as possible, you will not have to deal with trivial matters that provoke annoyance in your daily life.
- Make a to-do list to make your daily activities more focused and more efficient. By writing down your daily tasks on paper, you don't have to remember them anymore.
Step 3. Tidy up scattered items
A dirty environment is unsightly and a messy room will cause stress. Our eyes are very quick to catch the little things that are around us. A cluttered room makes it difficult for you to focus your thoughts or attention because your eyesight is easily distracted.
- Organize your drawers, walls, and desks in your home and office by removing unnecessary items so they don't grab attention.
- The same goes for digital trash. Dozens of desktop icons, open programs, games, or messages are fighting for each other's attention. Delete it when you don't need it to make it easier for you to concentrate.
Step 4. Turn off the TV
Unregister the subscription cable or satellite TV package. Don't let your time be wasted just watching TV. There are other activities that are more important than watching TV. People watch an average of 37-40 hours of TV per week.
- Cable or satellite TV offers a wide variety of channels. Count the time you're wasting just browsing all the TV stations and not getting any useful viewing.
- If the reasons for a quiet home atmosphere aren't motivating enough, consider the cost. Subscribing to cable TV packages can currently reach hundreds of thousands of rupiah per month or millions of rupiah per year.
Method 3 of 5: Relaxing the Body
Step 1. Focus on the breath
We rarely take the time to think about the health benefits of paying attention to our breath because breathing is a very natural thing. Take three minute breaks several times a day while doing activities to breathe deeply by taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly. This method can clear your mind, calm you, and make you more productive. Find a quiet place where you can concentrate on your breath while paying attention to the air flowing through your body.
- Prepare yourself mindfully to do the breathing exercises in a sitting or standing position in a quiet place. Take a deep breath while closing your eyes and then ask yourself what you are thinking, feeling, and what sensations you are experiencing right now. Do this exercise for one minute.
- After a minute, shift your focus from the inhale to the exhale while observing and focusing on the physical sensations. As you exhale, control your mind so it doesn't wander. Do this exercise for the next one minute.
- One last minute, extend your attention to observing posture, facial expressions, and recognizing if any part of the body feels uncomfortable or tense. If so, focus on the breath and then imagine that you are directing your breath to flow where it hurts.
- Breathing exercises provide two benefits. In addition to helping you feel love and peace, this exercise allows you to take control of the situation, thereby reducing stress and stress.
Step 2. Rest your eyes
Many people think that you should close your eyes when you practice concentration, but there are also exercises that are done with your eyes open so you don't fall asleep. Many other techniques suggest that you practice with your eyes half closed, while others suggest that you practice with your eyes open. However, you can find peace in your daily activities with your eyes open and closed.
- Begin by focusing your gaze on a stationary point while relaxing your body. Inhale for three seconds and while exhaling, relax your shoulders, jaw, and face.
- Be aware of your surroundings, sounds, smells, and air temperature so you can be aware of what you are thinking and feeling.
- Receive all the sensory information you are processing. Don't try to control or change anything.
- Remember that you need to practice in order to concentrate. As with any other exercise or sport, you should take time to develop practical skills. In fact, the purpose of practicing concentration with your eyes open is to keep your mind focused while performing daily activities.
Step 3. Perform relaxation exercises in a sitting position in a chair
There are several sitting positions to relax the body. Comfort is the most important aspect in choosing a sitting position. While sitting in a chair is the easiest position, make sure you sit with your back straight while relaxing your back, shoulders, neck and face muscles. Do not sit hunched over or leaning back.
- Do not choose a position that requires more flexibility than ability because the purpose of this exercise is to relax yourself.
- Sit with the correct posture. Keep your back straight, but relaxed. Do not sit back because only the lower back can touch the back of the chair.
- Point your palms down or up. You can place a small pillow over your thighs.
- Place the soles of the feet on the floor. If your feet can't touch the floor, place a block of wood on the floor or use a lower chair to keep your feet from hanging off.
Step 4. Choose a cross-legged sitting position or use a pillow as support
If sitting in a chair feels too easy and you don't like sitting cross-legged, sit on the floor. The floor is a great place to practice because the floor can be a solid foundation so that it is easier for you to concentrate to calm your mind. You can sit cross-legged using a pillow or small stool to support your body.
- If using a small pillow, choose a pillow that is solid and supportive, such as "zafus" which is specially designed to train concentration.
- Adjust the thickness of the pillow so that your body does not bend so that it feels more comfortable, less painful, and easier to concentrate.
- You can place your hands in a variety of positions, but it's easiest to place your hands on your thighs. If you feel uncomfortable, place a pillow or blanket on your thigh as a place to put your hands.
Step 5. Sit cross-legged
Just like the half lotus or full lotus sitting position in yoga, cross-legged is the most difficult sitting position to concentrate on. Therefore, do not force yourself if this position makes you uncomfortable because it can cause muscle and joint injuries. Pain also makes it difficult for you to concentrate.
- You can sit cross-legged by making some adjustments. This is the easiest and most widely used cross-legged position.
- The trick, use a support so that your knees can touch the floor. If your knees are still raised, sit on a pillow or tuck a blanket under your knees that can't touch the floor for more stability.
- If you can't sit cross-legged yet, start practicing yoga to stretch your hip joints and muscles.
- Place your palms facing up on your thighs.
Method 4 of 5: Concentrate on the Silence
Step 1. Think consciously
Throughout the day, your mind will work automatically because the fast pace of life makes it difficult for you to think so that you don't realize what you are doing. Our minds are always filled with visual and mental garbage from having to deal with the hectic and chaotic situations around us. The practice of mindful thinking allows us to enjoy the present more and break the chain of stress and anxiety.
- As with other concentration techniques, breathing exercises that concentrate on the flow of your breath and the air flowing through your body can bring awareness into you and then return to your awareness of your surroundings. This exercise allows you to be aware of every thought, sensation, feeling, and situation in the environment around you moment by moment.
- Eating is another way of attaining awareness. For example, prepare raisins or other dried fruit that you can hold and then feel the texture, pay attention to the color, smell, and taste. Do the same steps when you chew and swallow raisins. By eating raisins, you will experience a series of sensations consciously and notice how useful this exercise is.
- Awareness can be achieved by performing household tasks and daily activities. Just like the practice of eating raisins, do this exercise mindfully, instead of completing it mindlessly as you have been doing all along.
- Do only one activity per day for about ten minutes to practice mindfulness. After one week, write down and describe what you experienced while doing the activity more consciously. And most importantly, do an evaluation to show the difference between doing an activity mindfully and without thinking consciously.
- Thinking consciously means being willing to accept the situation as it is and not judging, instead trying to change or control activities. In order to feel the benefits, you have to practice mindfulness by practicing and experiencing it yourself.
Step 2. Do physical awareness exercises without moving
Silence is the highest energy that enables you to focus your attention so that you can understand the truth about yourself. Silence means the absence of negative energy that brings harmony, dynamics, harmony, and creates new sensations about life. In the highest silence, you can feel peace and experience a spontaneous transformation in the way you think about yourself and the way you view life.
- Understanding oneself through oneself is the lowest silence. To practice feeling peace physically and mentally, start by paying attention to the sensations in your body. You can do this while awake and mindfully relaxing your body in your current environment.
- Eliminate all conflicting judgments about yourself by getting to know who you really are in order to experience and discover your true self. You will feel peace after clearing the conflict and chaos within yourself.
- Once you reach this stage, you can go about your daily life with full confidence in your newfound certainty. This means that you stay aware of the truth about yourself at all times of the day and eliminate false judgments, evaluations, and views of yourself.
- Focus on inner peace to keep your perspective neutral to validate your new identity for yourself and others.
Step 3. Get in the habit of practicing yoga
Yoga helps you reveal and discover who you are so that you can live your life with new awareness. Finding yourself through thoughts, feelings, and emotions by practicing yoga brings you into silence. Ultimately, this behavior will determine how you think, what you do, and how you interact with your environment. In conclusion, yoga can affect the quality of your life.
- While there are many yoga postures that can help you experience peace and quiet, start with the corpse posture (savasana). This posture is performed while lying on your back while straightening your arms and legs at a 45° angle with your body and breathing deeply. You can feel more relaxed and release tension by doing the corpse posture.
- Be aware of what is happening right now and the circumstances around you while closing your eyes.
- Relax your facial muscles while taking long, slow breaths through your nose.
- Pay attention to each part of your body while trying to relax it mindfully before moving on to other parts of your body. Start at the top of your head and work your way down one by one to the soles of your feet.
- Do this exercise for 3-5 minutes and don't fall asleep.
Step 4. Count down
Counting down is a breathing exercise to relax the body, create stillness, and feel at peace in the midst of the busyness of everyday life. Find a quiet place and count backwards from 50 to 0 while aligning the numbers with your breath.
- Even numbers on exhaling and odd numbers on exhaling. This method also helps you during the count in case you forget. Count only on exhalation.
- Make sure your back is straight and your eyes are closed. You can sit on a chair or on the floor, whichever is more comfortable.
- Once you reach 0, stop counting, but maintain awareness of the natural rhythm of your breath.
- Normal breathing means breathing regularly as usual without having to breathe deeply.
- With a countdown, you stay focused and concentrated while being aware of your thoughts and surroundings as your mind becomes active during the count.
Step 5. Refocus your attention
Sitting motionless is the easiest way to experience stillness, but that doesn't mean your body shouldn't move at all. Instead, you should be able to recognize the energy of stillness by practicing sitting still.
- Do this exercise for a few seconds, but do it as often as you can throughout the day.
- You can sit still while working, driving, chatting, or eating. To feel calm and happy, refocus your attention several times a day.
Method 5 of 5: Enjoying the Present
Step 1. Spend time with your friends and family
Sometimes, inner emptiness and loneliness can be filled by a busy lifestyle. Maybe you actually feel deprived of love and support. Getting together with friends and family can fill the void you feel. You will feel relaxed and find balance in your busy life when you meet them.
- Chatting with people you love and trust helps you de-stress, think positively, and free your mind from work and other stressful issues.
- Even if your weekly schedule is very hectic, set aside a day to hang out with friends and family. This will be very beneficial for your body and mind.
- Gathering with family and friends is a moment of friendship, brotherhood, and happy gatherings that will relieve loneliness and stress.
Step 2. Do useful work
Recent research has shown that participating in rewarding work, such as volunteering, can reduce rates of depression and the risk of death.
- Instead of staying at home all day, consider volunteering. You can improve your mindset and benefit from physical activity by helping others.
- Establishing social relationships with fellow humans, instead of using computers or cell phones, will be fun because humans were created to meet and interact with each other. Biologically, this interaction will trigger the hormone oxytocin which is associated with relationships, attention, and reducing stress.
- Volunteering is a fun activity because it makes you feel valued and happy.
Step 3. Believe in yourself
Sometimes good people act with insincere motivations, such as lying to prevent a bigger problem, doing inappropriate things in order to be accepted in society, helping friends or acquaintances in a self-serving way. Even if it's not against the law, it will cause guilt and other unpleasant feelings.
- Think about the real motivation for your actions by asking yourself what the real reason you are doing certain actions is. In other words, don't lie to yourself and others. Trust that your reasons are good ones.
- Believing in yourself and telling the real reason for your actions will slowly purify your soul.
- You should stay away from people who like to lie and cheat so as not to be influenced by their actions.
- Work on purifying your mind and soul of unwholesome thoughts as long as you live and eventually, you will find activities that connect you to the things you love and the people you love.
Step 4. Seek professional help
If you can't find inner peace within yourself, consult a psychologist or go to therapy. A professional counselor will monitor your emotions, anxiety, focus, and relationships to determine the most appropriate therapy for your problem.
- Professional psychologists are highly trained to carry out clinical evaluations and examinations well to help people deal with problems so that they can feel at peace. Don't be afraid to seek professional help.
- Many people think that professional psychologists only treat severe mental problems, such as depression, controlling anger, or other mental trauma. In fact, psychologists can help with a variety of health problems, including physical problems.
- Psychologists also work with general practitioners, pediatricians, and psychiatrists to help you feel medically, physically, or therapeutically calm.
Tips
- So that you can feel peace from within yourself, live life in peace.
- Maintain your focus and belief.
- Subclinical neuroendocrine disorders and autonomic nervous imbalances can cause mental confusion.
- Hindus & Buddhists who apply the above practice techniques say that they can attain enlightenment.
- Complete this practice by praying and doing breathing exercises.
