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Story poll: clear your mind... (Patreon)

Published:
2020-12-02 16:46:37
Imported:
2026-09
Tags:

Content

Been awhile since we did a story poll! 

This one is more of a fill-in-the-blank. Yoga folks, people who (try to) meditate, and anyone who's ever attempted to clear their mind (and probably failed)... when you try to clear your mind, what usually pops up?

Alternately, if attempting to clear your head is something you've never tried before, set aside ten seconds right now.

...

Take a cleansing breath. Inhale. Exhale.

Take a deep breath in. Anything that comes to mind, sigh it out.

...

What thoughts were in your mind? Nothing? Something? Be honest. 

Comments

Ali Grotkowski

Anxiety!! What if I can't clear my mind? What am I forgetting? What is the elephant in the room? Ack!!!

Angela Bullock

Chucking my phone somewhere far away from where I'm sitting and reading. Really does the trick for me!

Ash

It’s usually tied between something I forgot to do and an embarrassing thing that I did.

Ralph

I don't meditate, but I find repeating the Lord's Prayer is a good way of accomplishing much the same thing.

Sarah Beebe

For me it's definitely a litany of "does this count as clear? Is it clear enough? Why is my heart racing... OK, keep breathing"

Nancy K

Either what I need to do in the next 30 minutes, or music. Not an earworm, just music I might have heard recently, or that reminds me of something I heard recently.

Farrah Sarpkaya

I start by counting down from 100. Sometimes my to-to list pops into my head, like, “oh, have to remember to add garlic to the list,” and sometimes it’s, “did I send that email?” Sometimes I’m interrupted by pets, or weather. Other times it’s just, “I’m itchy. This position is uncomfortable.”

Molly Mitchell

I always worry: Did I forget to make dinner? Am I missing something at work? What's going on outside? Is that a cat or an intruder?

Liam Barksdale

usually a song playing over and over and over, or just life shit

Mads

Usually starts with counting breaths, and focusing on taking in a breath (is it deep enough, get out of the ribcage, use the diaphragm) and letting them go (why is breathing so HARD?!) and at some point I end up in anxiety-land and when I realize, I go "nope, we're breathing." If counting breaths doesn't work, sometimes I'll count heartbeats.

Laura Taylor

When I fail, the usual thoughts are about what I want to do next or need to do later that day/the next day. When I come closer to succeeding I'm usually just focused solely on my breathing and what that feels like.

Amy Simmons

Mine is usually "Do I need to do laundry? Do I have clean clothes for a few days? What about dishes, are there any that need cleaned?"

Emma Aingé

Sometimes when I meditate I see a vast calm, ocean. And then maybe some tiny surfers appear and I think “no no go away I’m trying to think of nothing” and they disappear.

NJGR

My to-do list. 😕

David Neale-Lorello

I teach meditation to my patients (as well as being an on-again-off-again practitioner) and the first thing I usually tell folks is that "clear your mind" isn't a thing (at least for new meditators). Human minds are literally wired to be busy, so what pops into one's mind when one stops actively thinking is anything: grocery lists, last night's movie, that guy that pisses you off, sexual fantasies or memories, a song you heard, something you're working on, a feeling in your body in the moment, etc. The character of thoughts in the novice meditator's mind is randomness.

Neil Robertson

I calm down and close my eyes, but I can't shut off my hearing. My heart beats, and I hear even as I try to blank it out. Since early childhood, this has always sounded to me like the marching feet of soldiers, relentless in methodical marching pursuit of... me?

Rachel Hughes

As a kid I used to get the marching feet of soldiers only they were soldier ants marching through my brain.

John Smutko

Things I need to get done at work. But the big one is replaying arguments I’ve had, or the ones I *wish* I’d had.

Nathan Clark

Mine has always been waves washing onto a shore, with the "in and out" matching my breathing.

Iitu Ducin

There's always something hurting, or itching, or general uncomfortableness.

Erik Greenfrost

Whatever reality competition show elimination I just watched and am totally pissed off at the judges about!

Rob

"Oh, that felt good. Breathing is so cool, isn't it? This whole crazy respiratory thing, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling. Do you think that by the time we die our total number of inhalations will equal the total number of exhalations? It would make sense, wouldn't it, I mean, it's not like you can take two separate inhalations in a row; they're really the same one but you're just pausing in between. So I guess they would be the same number, assuming you inhale first thing when you're born and then exhale right before you die. But maybe you could take one last inhalation? Maybe I'll try that. I hope I remember."

Jack Arnold

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer had a ver...

Jessamine

Whatever random song was most recently in my head, but only repeating one or two lines of lyrics. This week's lyrics are various one-liners from Disney songs.

Bori Vekony

"I hope the cats won't choose this very moment to come and snuggle."

Eric Rahm

Something at work that irritated me that day or recently. Usually it is reliving the events that unfolded that I didn't like or trying to relive those events the way I wanted them to go.

Alia Torres

Today, it was my headache wanting my attention, and/or my period cramps. Usually it's something on my to do list or planning out what I need to get at the store.

Sage Says Stuff

"ow." Usually because some part of my body hurts because I'm nearing 40 and that's apparently how life works? Alternately, whatever story I'm working on. XD

Kier Salmon

Learned early that "nothing" is not possible. I pick something soothing and constant. Flame, tree, waving grass and keep my mind there... or I let it roam at will, not focusing on anything.

Margaret Oliver

May I please just quit my job? What would I do instead? [IMMEDIATELY thinks of dream job] Ok, but what would I do instead that would pay the bills?

DieMaster00

Thoughts almost always go back to what I need to keep in mind for next meeting & how many bug fixes I have to QA today.

Jarrod Lombardo (he-him)

Close up of green grass moving in the wind (my meditation always starts with focused breathing exercises and the feeling of my breath through my nose puts that image in mind before my mind wanders to other things).

Emily Wolf

My to-do list for the day. Especially people I need to call. Or I start reliving conversations where I didn't respond as well as I could have and start thing about the perfect retort or explanation or whatever. But then I promptly forget my to-do list or retort or thing by the time I'm somewhere I can write it down.

BrenaMarie

My migraine that's been going on for 4+ days 😭

Kristyn Smithson

My never ending to do list... groceries, what are we actually having for dinner? Leftovers, good, now I'm hungry....let it all go...ooh is there anything chocolate like in the fridge?, Is that sandwich still good, it's probably gone bad by now. I need to get better at reducing food waste

Carla Ayles

Am I sitting straight? What’s that noise? Should I be breathing slower or faster? Did I eat enough before this class? What will I eat later? Does this outfit ride up when I do these moves? Is my underwear showing? ... etc...

Sheri Spangenberg

Usually whatever it is that I was worrying about that the meditation/yoga was supposed to make me not think about.

GAY

my next meal, and whether dessert can/should be involved

Matthew Welmers

I like to imagine my thoughts are leaves floating on an idyllic stream which helps let them be acknowledged and then float on down stream. It's usually a mountain stream but not always. And usually big old oak leaves too, sometimes maples.

Amy Crook

what part of me hurts today (sigh), and whatever the kitties are up to that's making That Noise

Limitless tolerance limits tolerance

If I thoroughly exhausted myself, I'm more likely to fall asleep than have wandering thoughts >.< If I fail at the physical exhaustion, I'm likely overanalyzing a conversation that went awry recently (hooray social anxiety)

Deven

Why can't my kids wait to scream bloody murder until AFTER I'm out of the bathroom? (Note: I did not read this in the bathroom XD)

Charlotte Askew

My skin hurts, why can't I edit books at a normal time like a normal person, do I have any ice cream in the freezer, is it bedtime, why am I so tired

Miriam

What should I have for dinner? Should I add avocados to my shopping list? I should remember to check if I have avocados...

Andy Ihnatko

It is the nature of a housecat to jump up and splay itself on your keyboard as soon as you sit down to do some work. I have the same thing happening with David Bowie's "Oh! You Pretty Things" when I try to spin my brain down to low-power mode. Within a minute, I'm hearing Bowie sing the refrain: "Oh you pretty things/Don't you know you're driving/Your mamas and papas insane?" I love the song -- Bowie's effortless leap between scales is insane -- but I have to mentally find and hit the Mute button before I can move on to the Peace And Nothingness part of the exercise.

Thekla

The spot that starts itching the second you try to meditate and all the housework, grocery shopping and washing that needs to be done.

ayshela

Ugh, my back hurts, my head hurts, I wonder if the kids' migraines are better yet? Did they get their time off work medically approved like they had hoped? If not, will I be able to send them anything to help them out? Whose birthday is coming up next? Do I have a plan for that? Did I get everything recorded like I needed to before I came to try to relax? Will this help me... focus. Right, focus. Breathe. Fuck, breathing hurts. Probably another costochondritis flare. That's going to get in the way of using my arms. I'll have to focus... right. Focus. Breathe, gently.

NJGR

Sorry for the second post, but it's later in the day and I just realized that I have a calming strategy that has worked SO WELL for my blood pressure when anxious. (I'm always anxious at the doctor and normally still have fairly low-normal pressure, but one time I was so anxious that the nurse said, "Either we get this blood pressure down or you're going to the hospital. Think of a sandy beach." I'm not a beach person, but once Neal was telling me about thinking that heaven would be like sitting under an old apple tree. So now when I'm having my blood pressure taken (ha!), I think of this immense, old apple tree, heavy with fruit. Neal and I are sitting under it, just lounging in the shade and enjoying the breeze in the leaves. This worked so well on my blood pressure that first time, it's now my default "happy place" to imagine when I need a mental break. I don't use it too often, because I don't want it to lose its magic. I should mention that I have that thing where I can't literally see things in my imagination. But I "see" them through a feeling, a sense of what everything would feel like, look like, taste like, etc. It's so hard to describe to people who have visual imaginations, but everything can be so strong even though I don't actually see it behind closed eyes. (I do dream and see things in dreams, just can't see it when I close my eyes and try.)

Melody

It's usually money, my mom (we don't have a good relationship), or some part of my body that's suddenly decided it's uncomfortable and needs to move. I'm convinced at this point that some of my muscles relax faster than others and then cause more tension making other muscles more uncomfortable, because I cannot just sit still.

Morgan Ferguson

Eagles I think when I was a kid trying to learn visualisation techniques I was supposed to feel weightless or something, so I started thinking of soaring like an eagle but then got stuck thinking about eagles... So now when I'm supposed to clear my mind, it goes straight to thinking about eagles.

Swati Shrestha

"Clear your mind...the rest will follow..." (I know that's not the lyric!)

Becki Brothers

Either what I want to eat for my next meal, or some kind of intrusive thought that just spirals into terrible things. I've gotten pretty good at shutting them out, but sometimes, you just have to go with it.

Kat Kennewell

Instant itch (somewhere... often my face). What's on my to-do list? Then I refocus "on the breath" in such a way that breathing tends to start feeling weird: "Is this how I normally breath? Are my inhales suppose to feel like that?" Then I think of the Steven Universe song "Here comes a thought" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHg50mdODFM and the line about 'watching them go by' which makes me think of a river/stream.... which makes me think about the rivers in the mountains I love when I hike, which makes me think about hiking....

Ruth Merriam

Brilliant sapphire blue light boring into my forehead and a feeling on my face like I've got sunburn starting. If I don't go there immediately, the spondylolisthesis tends to get my attention and won't let go. I'm pretty good at letting all the mundane crap slide at this point (hello, post-it notes and cluttered desk) but physical pain is really hard to breathe through when the meds aren't cutting it.

dcorsetto

I'm amazed that people can hear their own heartbeats! I can only hear it if my ears are stuffed/covered.

dcorsetto

Hah!! This is DEFINITELY something that I would think about.

dcorsetto

Ooh I like this trick. I try to picture my thoughts as if they were painted in watercolor and a brush dipped in water has just dissolved them into soft blotches of colors. They're there, but I'm watching them blur away.

dcorsetto

Ooh this old apple tree visualization is so sweet. :) I get trying not to overuse something like that. (Although my immediate connection to that concept was "this is why I don't let myself watch Ghostbusters more than once a year.)

Bruce Shipman

As my father once said while suffering from a hangover (which I've never had, as I don't drink that much...) - "Tell that cat to quit stomping his feet!"

Reese

Pain, then the spun out daydream of the last book I read

Emma Aingé

What's your dream job, if you don't mind me asking?

Margaret Oliver

I'd be self-employed and making art (science illustration), probably relying heavily on freelance. There are obviously wonderful and successful people out there who do something along these lines (Danielle being a fabulous example), I'm just not confident in my own abilities to be successful at it. One day I'll give it a chance though!