Thoughts keep pouring into your mind. Memories keep welling up. For hours, and sometimes days, you go on thinking about things people said about you, discussing them in your mind, and sometimes reaching completely unreal conclusions. You dwell on hurt feelings, real or imaginary, and let mental images of fear, failure and problems arise in your mind. Do you recognize this situation? Do you like it?

Our mind and thoughts carry us away, constantly pulling us here and there. Our thoughts are like a butterfly that flies from one flower to the next, never being still more that for a few seconds.

This situation distracts our attention, wastes our time and energy, makes us tired mentally and physically, and brings stress and strain.

How can we change this situation? By becoming more mindful and attentive of what goes on in our mind, developing the skill of watching our thoughts and feelings without being pulled by them, and by developing some degree of inner detachment. Doing so, will free us from the constant mental chatter that occupies the mind, and would strengthen our control over our mind.

Here are a few suggestions:

- Try to be attentive of what is going inside your mind.

- Watch the state of your mind and your emotions when talking with people. Ask yourself why should you let their thoughts and emotions affect you.

- Understand that you don’t have always to react impulsively or automatically to thoughts, words and actions. You can learn to choose your reactions.

- By watching your thoughts you will not be so compelled to be carried away by every thought that enters your mind.

- Watching your thoughts as they enter and occupy your mind brings calmness and inner peace into your mind.

Here are two excerpts from the book Peace of Mind in Daily Life relating to this subject:

First excerpt

“The mind is a wonderful tool, much more sophisticated and powerful than the most advanced computer or software, but too often it is undisciplined and impatient.

It is usually quite restless, and cannot stand still for a moment. This is why it is so difficult for most people to concentrate their attention on one thought or subject, for more than a short moment. No wonder the mind has been compared to a monkey, because it jumps from one thought to another, just like a monkey that jumps from one branch to another.”

Second excerpt

“You can learn to remain calm and relaxed, and prevent undesirable emotions and thoughts from affecting you without your control or consent. You can learn to listen peacefully to someone recounting his problems or painful story, without feeling tense, without getting emotionally agitated, and without letting the other person’s emotional state affect you. This technique is called detachment.”

A visitor to the website has asked the following question:
“So you are saying once our mind is cleared, we start experienceing inner peace, but what is the most important thing to do to clear your mind? I have read a lot at many websites, but still can’t understand the subject.”

Here is the reply:

Concentration, meditation and the development of inner detachment help clear the mind of thoughts, making room for inner peace.

There is no instant inner peace. In order to attain and enjoy inner peace, work and effort are required, but not everyone is willing to invest the necessary time and energy into this project.

Concentration
The practice of special concentration exercise improve the ability to focus the mind on one single thought or subject and reject unrelated thoughts. This ability helps you gain the skill of opening or closing the mind at will to the constant flow of thoughts.
Information on Concentration
Concentration exercises

Meditation
In meditation you use the skills gained through the development of the power of concentration, in order to free your mind of thoughts. There are may forms of meditation, which all help clear the mind of thoughts, and which ultimately lead to the ability to meditate without thoughts.
More on Meditation

Detachment
Without some inner detachment there is no inner peace. You need to learn not to be affected easily by what people say or do, and not let your emotions rule your life. I am not talking about being indifferent and uncaring. It might seem a paradox, but you can be compassionate, helpful and full of love, and at the same time display inner detachment. It is a mental attitude which leads to common sense, better judgement, more understanding and inner peace.
More on Detachment

You can find in-depth information, instructions and exercises for developing the skills leading to inner peace in my book Peace of Mind in Daily Life.

Why should you want to calm your mind?

- Do you get easily nervous and irritated?

- Do you have fears and doubts that cause you to suffer?

- Do you have difficulties falling asleep at night?

- Do certain thoughts keep obsessing your mind, giving you no rest?

- Do you get agitated in every situation?

- Do you have difficulties focusing your mind?

If you experience any of the above situations, then you certainly need to learn how to calm your mind.

Frantic thinking, restless thoughts, impatience, fears and worries cause lack of inner peace, lack of concentration and the inability to think clearly. This leads to making errors, confusion, the inability to make decisions and to failure.

If you want to achieve more in life, you must know how to calm your mind, so that you stay focused and think clearly.

How to calm your mind:

Spend time doing something you love
Find some time each day to do something you love doing, such as a hobby, reading, listening your favorite music, etc.

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We all seek peace of mind in one way or another, in one form or another. All of us desire some degree of alleviation, rest or time out from daily chores and tasks, from stress, problems, the news, people and the rush of daily life. There are many ways to find peace, but most of them are temporary means, bringing temporary inner peace. Going to a movie, spending time doing something we love to do, listening to relaxing music and even sleeping are various ways to experience it.

It is also possible to gain a stable state of inner peace, which is independent of external circumstances, but this requires some inner work and techniques.

Here is an excerpt from my book Peace of Mind in Daily life, in which a teacher asks his pupil, why he is seeking peace of mind: 

“Teacher: Tell me, why are you seeking peace of mind?

Pupil: I have got several good reasons for desiring it:

• I often find my mind jumping from one subject to another or thinking on irrelevant matters, not letting me concentrate or think clearly.
• Worries and anxieties keep coming into my mind, by day and by night.
• Too often I find myself thinking over and over again on a past unpleasant event, reliving it in my mind, and experiencing all the unpleasantness that was associated with it.
• Unpleasant emotions and feelings often rise up, due to external situations or causes, arousing unrest and inner emotional storms.
• Worries, fears and negative thoughts often fill my mind, not giving me a moment of rest.
• Sometimes my thoughts and worries do not let me fall asleep, and when I do sleep, I do not sleep soundly enough because of them.
• There is an inner conversation and inner chatter inside my head that never seems to stop.

All this is tiring, straining and weakening, bringing unhappiness and lack of peace. I believe that peace of mind will free me from all these disturbing and exhausting experiences.”

This is an excerpt from the book Peace of Mind in Daily life

If your mind is like a house with wide open windows and doors, with nothing to sort or filter out what comes in, all thoughts are free to enter, dwell there and disturb and affect your mind and life. In this situation there is lack of control over your mental house and over what goes inside it.

Under these conditions the mind allows free access to thoughts, ideas, words and suggestions coming from the outside, from people, the media or from other sources.

For most people, this is the natural state of affairs. However, some seek a way to close the doors and windows of your mind and prevent unnecessary, useless or negative thoughts from occupying their mind and robbing their time and energy.

Someone, who has the key to the doors and windows of his mind, can prevent unnecessary thoughts and worries from occupying his mind. Such a person can choose to think or stop thinking at will. Such a person can enjoy inner peace and be in a state free from worries and anxieties.

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