Springtime signifies a season of rebirth and new beginnings, popularly used as a time for cleaning our homes and reorganizing our belongings. Realizing that the environment we create might reflect our internal state of mind can help us understand that if our rooms need tidying, our minds probably do too. Two simple but powerful ways of helping “clean” our minds to lower stress, improve focus, and support good mental health are through meditation and visualization.
The Power of Meditation
There’s no easier way to declutter a racing, restless mind than looking inward and meditating. Too often, we get stuck in negative or obsessive thought patterns that stress us out, and what we need is a step back from this thought loop to see what we’re doing to ourselves.
Meditation offers you an outlet to let go of negative emotions while also helping clear your mind and allowing you to hear what your gut is trying to tell you beneath all of the stress and anxiety. You don’t need much to begin meditating, just yourself in a comfortable position (and maybe a meditation pillow if you want to be fancy!) while focusing on your breath and being in the present moment. If you find it difficult to quiet your mind’s chatter on your own, then listening to a guided mediation is a great way to feel more relaxed in meditation.
Visualization: A Handy Tool in Your Mental Health Toolbox
Visualization makes the perfect adjunct to meditation. Introducing a regular, self-guided, positive visualization practice this spring can help you combat negative or self-limiting beliefs. Visualization is a tool that can be used in different ways depending on your need. It can help calm you when experiencing anxiety by imagining positive images like being on a beach or happy memories from the past. Your brain reacts as if it was happening in reality, and you reap the hormonal and biochemical benefits as such. Using creative visualization, you can move beyond the mental blocks behind self-limiting beliefs and visualize yourself achieving your dreams or goals. Studies have found that visualizing yourself experiencing your desired outcome can help you reach your goals better.
Our homes aren’t the only thing that can use some spring cleaning. Our minds, too, can benefit from a cleansing of the negative feelings and thoughts we experience. Using meditation and visualization to help break the cycle of negative thoughts or self-limiting beliefs will help us to feel less stressed and more in flow with life this spring. Avalon Malibu is a California state-licensed mental health and substance abuse treatment center that can help you in addiction recovery and mental health struggles. Through our integrative approach to healing, we will customize a treatment that is unique to your needs. With our help, you can overcome the challenges facing you, and you will be on the road to feeling joy and a strong sense of well-being once again. To find out more about our services, call us at (844) 857-5992.
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