5 Mental Resets You Can Do in 5 Minutes Or Less
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Life can bring you challenges that make it difficult to sort out your thoughts and feelings. You can become overwhelmed and find it hard to continue on with your everyday functioning. Many people experience moments of being overloaded with thoughts and emotions during times of distress, but they’re more likely to impact people who experience symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder.

A mental reset during stressful or upsetting times can help you slow down your thoughts and work through negative feelings. It’s an approach to stress management and emotional regulation that can help you clear your mind so that you can get back on track with your day with focus and optimism. 

When you need a mental reset, you may not always have the ability to take a few hours to relax or practice self-care. The good news is that there are plenty of five-minute mental reset ideas that are worth testing out.

5 mental reset exercises that take just five minutes or less

A mental reset involves stepping away from the present moment or task and engaging in an exercise that can help you relax and reduce negative emotions. If you’re experiencing episodes of depression or bipolar disorder symptoms, mental resets can help you take back control over them for improved mental and emotional well-being.

Quick mental resets work as coping mechanisms for symptoms and there are many different examples worth testing out. Talking to a therapist can help you determine which options work the best for you.

Here are five mental resets you can do in five minutes or less:

  • Deep breathing

Breathing exercises are a common way to quickly calm your mind when you feel overwhelmed. There are many different types of breathing exercises that can reset your mind and slow down your nervous system, such as deep breathing.

Deep breathing, also known as diaphragmatic breathing, is a mindfulness exercise, meaning it helps you to focus on the present. It allows you to be aware of your body and environment in the current moment. Here are the steps for deep breathing:

  • Get into a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down.
  • Put one hand on your chest and the other hand below your rib cage.
  • Slowly inhale through your nose so that your belly rises.
  • Tighten your core muscles as you exhale so that your belly goes down.
  • Continue to breathe this way for one to five minutes or until you’re feeling calmer.
  • Body scan meditation

A common mindfulness exercise is body scan meditation. It involves paying attention to each part of your body individually so that you can recognize physical sensations, such as tension or coolness. You want to let yourself recognize these sensations without judgment to reduce hyperfixating on the negative thoughts and feelings that are causing them. It not only works to reduce stress, but it also strengthens the connection with your body for improving awareness of muscle tension.

Body scan meditation steps:

  • Get into a comfortable position and close your eyes.
  • Take deep breaths, and mentally scan your body, starting at the top of your head and moving gradually down to your toes.
  • Observe the sensations in each part without judgment for about 5 minutes.
  • Calming music

When your mind is overtaken with thoughts, it can be helpful to reset it with relaxing music that can reduce those thoughts. By listening to calming music, you’re stimulating the parts of your brain that impact your emotions, leading to improved mood regulation and positive emotions. You can also reduce your stress hormones (cortisol) and boost dopamine levels (the “feel-good” hormone).

It can be helpful to find instrumental or piano versions of your favorite songs. Be sure to create a playlist that you can keep going back to when you need mental resets in the future. The songs on this playlist should all be 5 minutes long or less.

  • Gratitude list

When times are hard, or you’re experiencing mental health conditions that are impacting your quality of life, it can be easy to focus on the negative aspects of you and your circumstances. But a mental reset can change your perspective and reduce hyperfixation on pessimistic thoughts. That’s why a gratitude list can help.

You can take just five minutes to create a list of things that you are grateful for in your life. This can mean anything from a personality trait of yourself that you’re proud of to the people in your life that you can depend on. By focusing on the positive parts of your life, even for just a few minutes, you can adjust your mindset and boost positive emotions.

  • Stretch

Moving your body is always an effective way to help your mental and physical health. Stretches can help release muscle tension caused by stress and anxiety. When you need a mental reset, take a moment to stretch your muscles and alleviate the physical and mental effects of stress.

Stretches worth trying include chest expansions, child’s pose and neck rotations.

Lightfully is here to help if you need more than a 5-minute mental reset

If you’re struggling to manage your overwhelming thoughts and emotions, then talking to a therapist can help you learn mental resets that may make a difference. But it’s possible that you may need more intensive care for your mental health beyond resets, and that’s OK.

Lightfully provides four levels of care that can provide you with support and tools to guide you along your mental health journey:

  • Residential Treatment
  • Partial Hospitalization Program 
  • Intensive Outpatient Program
  • Virtual Services (vPHP/vIOP)

Change is possible. When you’re ready to take the first step, reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team. We’ll take the next steps together, toward the fullest, brightest version of you.

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