Mind Racing? This will help.

Mind racing?  Running through your To-Do list? Feeling frazzled and distracted?  Yep, it happens to me too.  And when it does, man is hard to actually be present and engaged in my life.  It can be exhausting to be up in your head and not present in the moment.  One of the easiest and best tools I have ever found to help bring myself back into the moment is a little something I call, “Naming”.  Now that is not a fancy title and I can’t even take credit for it but that is how it was taught to me.

So what is this thing called “Naming” you ask?  It’s actually pretty simple and can be done anywhere at any time.  I find that the first few times you do this or the more anxious you are it is better to do it aloud but you can also do it silently in your head if your in a crowded place.
Stop what your doing and look around the room.  What do you see?  Start calling out what you see, naming the items. For example the picture below is of my office.

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​I see a:

1. Gray couch
2. Teal pillows
3. Tissue box
4. Picture frames
5. Blanket
6. Plant
7. Mirror
8. Rug
9. Ottoman
10. Window
11. Trees outside
12. Clouds outside

 
 
Now you look around the room you are in and start calling out what you see.  Even call out the details like the light switches, lights, floor, etc.…
 
Did you feel a subtle shift happening in your brain?  You couldn’t name the items in your surroundings and still think about your to-do list.  Your brain can really only focus on one thing at time.  The more detailed you are the more brain power and concertation it takes which allows you to stop thinking and focus on what is in you immediate environment. 

When your mind is racing, thoughts are swirling, and your feeling overwhelmed/anxious go ahead and try this naming exercise.  It will work.  My clients who have practiced this exercise say it has been very helpful and I know that I have also practiced this when I was feeling overwhelmed and it pulled me right out of my head and back into what is real and now.