How to Calm Your Troubled Mind

This blog is excerpted from a longer piece called Calm Your Troubled Mind. It’s the feature story in the Digital Magazine Real Stress Solutions. I really love this magazine because it focuses exclusively on stress reduction techniques which we all need to learn and practice daily. I know I certainly do. Real Stress Solutions features physicians, psychiatrists and, of course, yours truly.

We all say we want to be happy and find inner peace. But it is hard to do and at times seems impossible to achieve for longer than a few fleeting moments. As if on a looped tape, regrets about the past and fears for the future run us ragged. Our troubled minds run over and over on a negative groove that causes suffering. Great suffering. In the face of all the sewage of ain’t-my-life-awful self-talk with its stinking stress and anxiety, we need a big-time force to help us. Something powerful enough to allow us to calm the troubled mind and help us to enjoy the many (yes, many!) roses strewn our way.

There is “something” that has worked for thousands of years to alleviate the suffering of the troubled mind.

It is the willingness to connect to the spiritual dimension.

This is the ultimate connection that takes us out of the constant muddied stream of thinking, thinking, thinking and into the real world of the present moment with all its depth and richness.

Relief from pain is ours if we can turn to a spiritual practice, a Higher Power (HP), or the God of our understanding. That relief is available to us even when we turn to an HP that we can’t or don’t understand. Simply being willing to try such a connection gives you a clearinghouse for your resentments, pain, and upset; a balm for your troubled mind and spirit; inner peace and a renewed faith in life and love.

Benefits from Spiritual Practice

There are tons of benefits from spiritual practice designed to connect us to a Higher Power. Research and clinical studies show that prayer and meditation can and do heal. Even when prayer takes place at a distance from a sick person, and those who are praying do not know those they are helping, there is a positive and healing physical effect. Thousands of studies show that meditation strengthens the immune system and helps prevent heart disease, asthma, type II diabetes, PMS, and chronic pain. Meditation also lowers stress, anxiety, fear, and blood pressure while increasing feelings of being in the present and in a state of connection, compassion, and serenity.

The Loving Mother Meditation

Meditation is such an important spiritual practice that I’ve created a free meditation MP3 designed to help you soothe your troubled mind based on the archetype of an unconditionally loving mother (not your real mother, even if she was unconditionally caring!). If the word “mother” brings negative associations to mind, you can substitute “angel” or “goddess.” Download this 15-minute MP3 here. It’s an invaluable tool designed to start or end your day in a state of inner peace and serenity.

Practice meditation or prayer, listen to music or spend a little time in Nature. And, please be willing to open yourself to connect to a Higher Power or Something Greater than yourself. It could be the universe of which we are but a speck, Spirit, light, angels, power animals, or love itself. When you connect to Something Greater, no matter how you understand it, you don’t have to be alone. Or make it all happen in your life by sheer will. Over time you will develop a sense that the universe is benevolent and trust that it will provide support for you. Even when things seem to be shockingly negative or your life seems to be falling apart. All things must pass even the bad times. to read more about developing inner peace go here.