The mind is invisible and transcendent. It can be considered as comprising of all our thoughts, mental processes, decisions, conclusions, ideas, concepts, frameworks, paradigms, values, beliefs, tendencies, likes and dislikes, preferences, mental models, cognitive models, colorings, lenses, points of view, patterns, programs, mental images, prejudices, biases, and all that we have gathered in and through our experience of being alive as human beings.
It holds a lot for sure.
When our mind holds a lot of stuff that is worthless, irrelevant, unproductive, and negative, it can be considered as mind “clutter”. What is held inside the mind does not sever our personal wellbeing?
Over the course of our lifetime, we gather and record information that comes into our daily awareness. We make decisions and conclusions and most of this decision making is based on a default mode of thinking and operating that comes from our mind.
Decluttering is a deliberate act to examine what lies there. The processes of decluttering can provide greater clarity into our thinking as well as decision-making capabilities.
The process can free up mental space letting us focus on the things that matter and re-evaluate what we should be choosing to focus on.
I will discuss three of the powerful ways that I have found to be very useful in this area of decluttering the mind. They are journaling, automatic writing, and meditation.
I use journaling and automatic writing on a regular basis because I have found that the level of insight I gain in applying that process gives me the clarity I need to identify what I want to keep in my headspace and what I want to let go of.
Journaling
Journaling is a powerful habit that can change a person’s life. If done regularly and consistently it can increase our cognitive abilities, help us see our life from different perspectives, and increase self-awareness.
All of these are very useful to declutter the mind. By increasing cognitive abilities, we can examine our distorted thinking patterns.
By seeing life from different perspectives, we allow ourselves to step out of the narrow view of our singular perspectives in view of life. This gives us clarity into situations and relationships.
By increasing our self-awareness, we are more likely to catch ourselves at times when we need to make different and better choices.
A daily practice of journaling 20 minutes has been proven to pay great dividends in the long run. It might seem difficult at first to sit down and pen down your thoughts and day to day events and challenges. But, with time the practice becomes easier.
The act of journaling is in a way a creative action so it has the potential to increase a person’s creative expression.
Automatic Writing
This practice of automatic writing has a spiritual bent to it. It is sometimes termed as soul writing. It might be more relatable to a person who has explored what lies beyond our human conscious awareness.
This type of writing is free-flowing and yet intentional. Sometimes viewed as a form of channeling it aims at receiving inspired information from a part of us that is more aligned to our true fundamental divine nature.
If practiced regularly it can provide valuable insights, spiritual strength, guidance, direction, advice, inspiration, and wisdom. It is different from regular writing that is done with a conscious mind. In automatic writing, we exit the conscious mind and enter into an altered state of consciousness.
As a result of this shift into an altered state of consciousness an important step is to seek and ask for Divine protection.
The content of automatic writing must at all times be loving, positive, wise and provide clarity.
The information received might not necessarily be comfortable and might challenge you in some way – but it will serve your greatest good. The content of automatic writing will be personal and yet could represent universal truth.
Meditation
Meditation is a time tested practice that has been proven to declutter the mind. This practice can ease the state of the mind, and put a person into a state of calm, relaxation and reduced thinking.
During meditation, we get into a state of observing our mind and the flow of thoughts. We deliberately practice non-attachment to thought. When we are overly attached to our thoughts we cannot see clearly the influence those thoughts are having in our reactions to every situation.
By practicing meditation we get in touch with ourselves at a deeper level and practice mental hygiene. The simplicity of the meditation practice sometimes puts people off. The thought of simply sitting and doing nothing doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.
However, when a person can get past their skepticism and engage in this practice, its power in decluttering the mind cannot be denied. There have been many scientific studies in this area of the power of meditation and it is truly a powerful practice in assisting the mind.
This article identifies important aspects of the mind and the need to declutter it on a regular basis. Practices such as journaling, automatic writing, and meditation if done consistently and daily can assist in this.
