Your brain has roughly 6,000 thoughts a day. Most of them are likely about snacks, stress, or that one text you shouldn’t have sent. No wonder you’re exhausted.
You’ve probably Googled “how to clear your mind” more times than you’ve slept properly this month. Spoiler: the answer isn’t green juice or deleting Instagram.
That’s the problem with mental clutter, right? It hijacks your focus, drains your energy, and leaves you spiraling in thought loops that feel like an emotional rave.
But when you master the reset, your mind becomes a weapon, not a war zone.
Why your mind feels cluttered
You open your phone to check the time. Ten minutes later, you’re deep in a stranger’s vacation reel.
That’s the reality of our world nowadays. We’re overstimulated, underrested, and being force-fed garbage information 24/7.
Here’s what’s jamming your mental bandwidth:
- Information overload. You scroll past more headlines before coffee than your ancestors saw in a year.
- Unfinished business. Open tabs, unread texts, unresolved drama—your brain hoards them like digital lint. Thanks to the Zeigarnik Effect, your mind clings to every to-do you haven’t done.
- Chronic stress. Cortisol hijacks your brain like a caffeinated raccoon, wrecking memory, focus, and emotional control.
- Emotional residue. That argument you didn’t process? That grief you buried? Still there. Still heavy.
- No silence. You treat stillness like a luxury spa day instead of a daily need.
And while all this runs in the background, your mind keeps spinning louder, messier, harder to shut off.
“Overthinking also makes it hard to make decisions and to finish projects; it can create stress-related health concerns,” says energy healer Jeffrey Allen in his Mindvalley program, Duality.
In fact, researchers at Stanford found that mental overload kills your ability to filter irrelevant info, making you more distracted, less productive, and mentally fried by lunchtime.
“Due to the disruptions in the brain, it can be hard to activate the parasympathetic nervous system to calm the mind down or ‘let go,’” Jenna Nielsen, LCSW, shares with Pulse. “Some people struggle with this more than others if they have other vulnerabilities in their life or if they have never been taught emotional regulation skills.”
That’s not entirely your fault, though. But it is your responsibility.
So… time to clean house.
How to clear your mind: 7 expert-backed techniques
Your mental mess isn’t a life sentence. And when you know how to get out of your head, it does great things for your well-being, your focus, and your emotions—scientifically proven, no incense required.
Your body is so amazing when you’re present in the body. You’ll be amazed at what it can do and what you can do.
— Jeffrey Allen, trainer of Mindvalley’s Duality program
Here’s how to get there, one expert-backed power move at a time.
1. Do breathing exercises
Your brain might be spiraling, but your breath? That’s the kill switch.
When stress hits, your body launches a full-blown alarm system. Heart racing. Muscles tensed. Brain fog rolling in like bad weather. But controlled breathing flips the circuit, slowing your heart rate, calming your nervous system, and telling your brain, “We’re not dying. Chill.”
And this isn’t woo. Research from Harvard shows that slow, deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, a.k.a. your calm-down switch. It helps regulate emotions, improve focus, and even reduce anxiety symptoms.
It’s why Jeffrey uses breath subtly in his energy practices. It helps anchor presence and helps the mind stay in the body.
Start with box breathing:
- Inhale for four.
- Hold for four.
- Exhale for four.
- Hold again for four.
- Repeat until your body stops acting like it’s being chased by a bear.
If you’re feeling fancy, go for alternate nostril breathing or try breathwork programs, like Mindvalley’s Breathwork for Life program with pharmacist-turned-SOMA Breath® creator, Niraj Naik.
2. Do a thought “brain dump”
Dumping your thoughts onto paper is a brain-clearing power move. But knowing how to journal with intention turns it into a rewiring tool.
Jenna explains that they’re effective because they enable individuals to express their thoughts and reduce mind gunk.
“It helps to be able to refer to what you wrote down when your mind starts to ruminate or worry,” she shares. “You can remind yourself that you have worried about that and that it has been externalized.”
But journaling is just one option. Dr. Caroline Leaf, a neuroscientist and trainer of Mindvalley’s Calm Mind: A Scientific Method for Managing Anxiety and Depression, has another: Metacog. Its purpose? To help you get familiar with how to stop intrusive thoughts, track where they’re coming from, and break them apart before they spiral.
Here’s how to do it:
- Draw a big circle in the center of a page.
- Inside it, write the thought that’s been hijacking your focus.
- Then add layers. Describe it in more detail; branch out into how it’s showing up now, how it’s shown up in the past, where it could take you if left unchecked, and what might be triggering it.
Dr. Leaf explains that your thoughts are real, physical structures in your brain. They grow like trees—memories forming the roots and branches.
“The more you pay attention and grow these,” she says in her program, “the more you actually release the natural resilience that is inside of you.”
3. Practice mindfulness
When you think of mindfulness, what do you think of? No, you don’t have to sit cross-legged while imagining a waterfall.
This skill is more of pulling your brain out of its chaos (so to speak) and parking it in the now. When you practice it, you bring all that scattered energy back to the present. And that’s where your power actually lives.
“Your body is so amazing when you’re present in the body,” says Jeffrey. “You’ll be amazed at what it can do and what you can do.”
A review in Clinical Psychology Review shows that mindfulness practices improve well-being, reduce emotional reactivity, and sharpen behavioral control source. In short, you stop snapping, spiraling, or shutting down.
So start with one minute.
- Sit.
- Breathe.
- Focus on your inhale and exhale.
When your mind tries to bolt—which it will—bring it back.
“One of the most important aspects to be mindful of is to let go of judgments,” Jenna advises. “If you are noticing that you are thinking that there is a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to practice, you are not practicing mindfulness in its full capacity.”
Most people don’t realize that presence isn’t one-size-fits-all. You can do mindfulness meditation, head into nature for some forest bathing, or, as Jenna suggests, “brushing your teeth, taking a shower, listening to music, eating, reading, or about any other activity that can be done mindfully.”
The goal is simply to be in the moment. The method is up to you.
4. Clear your energy
You walk into a room and feel heavy. You talk to someone and leave drained. That’s not just a mood. That’s energy hanging around like emotional secondhand smoke.
Jeffrey teaches that energy isn’t just part of your system; it is the system. When your space is filled with other people’s junk, past stress, or tangled thoughts, it scrambles your focus and drains your clarity.
One way to clean it? Sacred geometry.
He explains it as “a fundamental part of how space/time divide” and it’s “how things actually work on an energy level.” Here’s what that entails:
- Visualize an octahedron (a three-dimensional diamond shape) surrounding your body.
- Imagine roses placed in front, behind, beside, above, and below you, all connected in a structure of light.
That shape becomes a container for your energy. When your thoughts or stressors feel like they’ve taken over your body, move them into that external space. Let them exist, but outside of you.
This simple visualization helps you master how to get your mind off something and back into your own space.
Learn more on energy clearing and sacred geometry:
5. Practice gratitude
Gratitude sounds like a soft concept, but it’s not. It’s how you grab the mic from your brain’s inner critic and remind it who’s running the show.
The thing is, that built-in negativity is ancient survival wiring. But when you train your focus on what’s working, studies show your brain rewires itself to stress less and notice more of the good.
Dr. Leaf explains that this practice strengthens your brain. She adds, “I found my patients with a strong gratitude mindset were way more motivated to do the things that gave their lives meaning and to push through the challenges.”
There are so many ways to count your blessings. A gratitude journal is one. But you can also just pause once a day. Name three things that don’t suck. Say them out loud or in your head.
And if you’re in a mood where everything feels like trash? Start small. Be grateful for your coffee. Your socks. The fact that you have Wi-Fi and didn’t throw your phone out a window today.
Whatever form it takes, let it count. In the grand scheme of things, gratitude is strategy. Use it.
6. Move your body
Your brain isn’t a landfill, but modern life treats it like one.
Between doom-scrolling, revenge bedtime procrastination, and the constant ping of group chats, your mental space gets hijacked before breakfast. Social media doesn’t do you any favors, either. It fries your focus and floods your system with stress.
However, as Jenna points out, the real culprits hide in plain sight. Skipping sleep. Ignoring your hunger cues. Powering through back-to-back meetings without moving your spine.
The body keeps the score, and the mind pays the price.
“You see, where your mind goes, your brain and body follow where your mind goes, your life follows,” says Dr. Leaf. When you do some kind of physical movement, it lights up the circuits that control emotion and mental resilience.
So go for a walk or do earthing. Shake it out. Do a five-minute stretch that feels like an exorcism. Doesn’t matter what it looks like. The point is motion.
7. Use sound therapy
One jarring alarm and your cortisol spikes. An Avicii track plays, and your dopamine throws a dance party. White noise? Your thoughts finally stop sprinting.
If you think it’s just background noise, think again. One guided sound healing session can feel like a full mental scrub. Your shoulders drop. Your breath deepens. You’re back in your body.
It’s undeniable that your brain reacts to sound, not just hears it. Recent reviews confirm that sound therapy, especially music, has been linked to improvements in stress, pain, depression, and anxiety. The science is still catching up to the practice, but the results are promising.
“Different sound frequencies are effective at helping to change the brain waves and help you get into a more relaxed state,” Jenna explains. “It can also be helpful to do sound therapy as a mindfulness practice that allows you to stay present in the moment.”
So try this: put on binaural beats, ambient nature sounds, or a sound bath playlist. Sit still. Let the sound do the heavy lifting.
Or, if you’re looking for a great meditation music track, check out this session to help clear your mind:
How to clear your mind for specific situations
Some thoughts refuse to leave quietly. They dig in when you’re trying to sleep. They hijack your focus mid-meeting. And they crash your zen during a simple walk.
You see, where your mind goes, your brain and body follow where your mind goes, your life follows.
— Dr. Caroline Leaf, trainer of Mindvalley’s Calm Mind: A Scientific Method for Managing Anxiety and Depression program
Each kind demands a different solution. So if you want peace that actually sticks, you need to match the method to the mess.
Of unwanted thoughts
Rogue thoughts don’t knock. They barge in, make a mess, and hang around like they pay rent.
So here’s how to clear your mind of unwanted thoughts without going to war with them: stop chasing them and start shifting your awareness. Jeffrey teaches that your awareness isn’t static; rather, you can consciously move it out of the noise and into calm, like tuning a radio to a cleaner frequency.
Here’s what you can do:
- Close your eyes.
- Bring your awareness to the center of your head.
- Now float it slightly upward and back. That’s your still point.
- Stay there.
- Breathe.
From that space, thoughts lose their grip. You stop identifying with the static and start observing from mental clarity.
Of negative thoughts
Negative thoughts don’t whisper. They build a megaphone and start a podcast.
They loop old insecurities, recycle secondhand fears, and hijack your mental real estate like they’re paying rent. But Jeffrey teaches that your thoughts are just visitors. You decide who gets to stay.
Here’s how to clear your mind of negative thoughts, step by step:
- Close your eyes and take a deep breath.
- Move your awareness to the center of your head.
- Visualize it as a room. What’s in there? Old fears? Doubts on repeat?
- Now clear it. Create a giant mental drain and let all of it spiral out.
Light floods in. The noise gets quiet. The room is yours again.
“When you’re finished, give yourself permission to enjoy this clean, quiet, peaceful room just for you at the center of your head,” says Jeffrey. “Keep this peaceful awareness and return your attention to your body.”
From stress and anxiety
Unwanted brain chatter? Yeah, it feels like it’s always lurking around, just waiting to take over your focus.
But what if you could learn how to clear your mind from stress and anxiety? Dr. Caroline Leaf says you absolutely can.
- Practice the multiple perspective advantage (MPA). The next time stress strikes, pause and mentally step back. It “enables us to observe ourselves like we an outside observer.”
- Increase your alpha brain waves. “When your alpha brain wave increases, anxiety decreases,” says Dr. Leaf. Mindfulness, meditation, and deep breathing exercises can all activate your calm-down response and reduce stress.
- Self-regulate in real-time. In the heat of a stressful moment, take a second to check in with yourself. Ask, “How am I feeling right now? What’s really going on?” This practice helps you step away from the chaos and respond thoughtfully instead of reacting on impulse.
- Journaling for clarity. Once you’ve observed your reactions, grab a journal and jot it all down. It’s a powerful way to process your emotions and gain clarity on what triggered your anxiety. Over time, it’ll strengthen your ability to handle your emotions with ease.
So, next time stress tries to hijack your mind, you’ll be the one in control. Not bad for a few simple shifts, huh?
To sleep
It happens to the best of us: tossing and turning, trying everything from counting sheep to sipping chamomile tea, but sleep still won’t come. It’s beyond frustrating.
But according to Dr. Caroline Leaf in an episode of her YouTube channel, knowing how to clear your mind to sleep might actually be simpler than you think.
- Stop worrying about sleep. The more you obsess over your lack of sleep, the worse it gets. Let go of the fear, and remind yourself that sleep will come when you stop pressuring yourself.
- Detox your mind. Before you even think about lying down, clear out the mental clutter. Acknowledge the chaotic or toxic thoughts swirling in your head and write them down.
- Don’t panic if you wake up in the middle of the night. Instead of stressing, turn the situation around. Use this quiet time to read that book or tackle a small task. This shift in mindset lowers your cortisol levels, makes stress work for you, and helps you relax.
- Build a bedtime routine. Practice “thinker moments” throughout the day. These short, mindful pauses help your brain organize information and keep chaotic thoughts at bay when it’s time to go to bed.
So, next time sleep eludes you, don’t fight it. Calm your mind, and watch the rest follow.
To focus
Ever tried to focus only to find your mind running wild in a million directions? You’re trying to get things done, but suddenly you’re thinking about what to eat for dinner, that one text you shouldn’t have sent, or the pile of laundry that’s staring you down…
Mental spam has its way of sneaking in and hijacking your ability to focus, making even the simplest tasks feel impossible. But what if you could clear your mind in just a minute?
Jenna’s techniques help you cut through the chaos, ditch the distractions, and zero in on what matters.
- Quick body scan. Start from the top of your head and work your way down. Relaxing each part of your body releases the tension that’s messing with your focus and clears your mind for what’s next.
- Ground yourself with your senses. Take one minute to notice what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. This mental detox shifts your focus away from the mental noise and brings you back to the now.
- Mindful breathing. Inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and hold again for four seconds. Repeat this for a minute, and you’ll feel your focus sharpen, leaving stress and distractions behind.
The more you practice these techniques, the easier it gets to stay in the zone.
Futureproof your well-being
Counting sheep, chugging green juice, maybe even deleting apps… You may have tried it all, but those 6,000 thoughts still run through your mind.
But you can finally hit reset on all that noise, clear the blocks that keep you stuck, and unlock true mental clarity. And Jeffrey Allen’s free Duality webinar will help get you there.
In just 81 minutes, you’ll discover:
- Powerful energy tools to remove negativity,
- Clear energetic blocks, and
- Bring lasting clarity to your mind.
It’s the prelude to his Mindvalley program, where thousands of people have already experienced profound shifts.
Shubham Singh, an internet marketing manager from India, for instance, is one. Before starting Duality, his life felt cluttered and mentally exhausting, with constant worries and confusion weighing him down.
“I took a baby step towards changing my physical and energy world,” he shares. But the main thing he learned was “being aware is more important than anything.”
If you’re ready to stop the mental noise and take control, the shift you need is just a click away.
Welcome in.
