Episode 3: Clear the Mental Clutter
Do you ever feel like your mind never slows down? Our minds are crowded with thoughts and lists, worries and stress, and it can feel like inner stillness is impossible.
In this week’s episode, I’m sharing a practice called “download” that can help you get the mental clutter out of your head, and clear some space for inner stillness and peace.
This Week’s Practice: Download
Clear your mental clutter by writing down your scattered and messy thoughts. This will help you still and focus your mind so you can pay attention to yourself and to God.
Tips for this practice:
This practice will help you eliminate not only outer noise, but inner noise, to help you hear and connect with God.
This is not journaling, so it doesn’t have to be pretty. Use a piece of paper you’ll throw away.
It’s okay for your writing to jump from one random topic to another. This is how our brains tend to work, so just go with it! Just get it all down on paper.
How to Practice Download:
Grab a piece of paper that you don’t mind throwing away when you’re done, and a pen.
Set your phone timer for five minutes.
Write down your thoughts to get out the mental clutter.
Write stream-of-consciousness, jotting down anything that pops in your head.
Write a to-do list of nagging tasks taking up brain space.
Focus on one issue, problem, or source of anxiety. Write out all your thoughts, questions, or stress about just that one thing.
When the timer goes off, set the paper aside and turn it over so you can’t see it.
Say a short prayer of surrender for all that’s on your mind: God, I give all of these messy thoughts to you.
Allow yourself to rest in the outer and inner silence for a few moments.
BONUS STEP: Try first doing this practice of download, and then following that with the practice of five minutes of silence (from last week’s episode). See if it helps to get things out of your head and onto paper before you sit in silence makes it easier to be still without your mind racing or being distracted.
More Resources:
For more resources to help you discover steady and sustainable growth through simple spiritual practices, download a free starter guide.
This podcast is part of the New Hope Podcast Network. Learn more about all the podcasts in the network here.
