As per requested by your feedback in my reader survey for 2015, today's post is advice and tricks I use when wanting to clear my head or to calm down. I hope you find it useful and feel free to leave your own tips for others in the comments!



Calming Music
Listening to calming music may seem like an obvious choice but I can assure you that it can help. I'd recommend either acoustic versions of songs you already love or even the orchestral music from your favourite film - most films have them. When doing this, although it may sound strange, I like to lie on the floor staring at the ceiling just focusing on the music instead of the issue at hand. I'll also only have the fairy lights in my room on instead of the more intense light of a lamp, I find that this makes a more relaxing atmosphere and therefore are more likely to collect yourself again.



Nature
Nature and the world around us is a beautiful thing, just looking at images of the world can make you realise that in the grand scheme of things the issue you are worrying about may not be as big as it seems. Looking at the world around you may also take your mind off the issue by finding places you wish to aspire to in the future and therefore giving you something to aim towards, if that's something you need but are lacking.




Something You Find Fascinating Or Beautiful
This partially follows on from nature but look at something that you find fascinating or beautiful but I'd highly recommend that it's not a person. Look up a video or images of something in the world (or out) that you think is impressive. For example I've always loved space and therefore I sometimes look up videos of beautiful things other planets do or more commonly the Northern Lights.


Go For A Walk/Stand Outside
Fresh air can do you the world of good, even if it doesn't clear your head it can often leave you feeling better than before (at least in my experience). Ideally don't take your phone or have it on quiet to try and leave your problems for a moment, walk somewhere locally you like or if not just walk about.

Calming Websites
I'd recommend staying off the internet and social media however there are some brilliant websites about that are designed specifically for these types of situations. I'll leave some of my favourites linked below for you to check out and use.

calm.com

thequietplaceproject.com


Do Something
Do something, don't just sit about doing nothing because that leads to overthinking and that make the issue seem a lot worse than it actually is as well as leading you to question over things that are completely fine. Do some housework, homework, go for a run just do something that doesn't mean you are sitting about. If you're struggling in an educational environment, throw yourself into the work and make sure you don't have time to think about the issue at hand.