Conscious mental cleansing is an ongoing challenge but the rewards are many. I call this ‘mental minimalism’.

“I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it.” – Arthur Conan Doyle

This quote by Arthur Conan Doyle sums up the state of our jumbled mind space. It is filled with the useless lumber we collect all day, every day. We are bombarded with countless messages by the media, at work, our families, and through various screens. Most of these messages have no value, but we still hoard them. We also store countless snippets from our past up there. How do we clean up our mind space and use it to our benefit? I call this process ‘mental minimalism’.

Unclutter your living space. Cleaning up your living space will help reduce mental clutter. The more things you have, the more there is to be done. The more time your spend maintaining your stuff, the less time you have to relax your mind and focus on its well-being.

Let go or be dragged. – Zen proverb

Use your mind space wisely. What have you accumulated in your mind space? Have you attempted to take stock of what is in there? This is our most sacred and precious space. Instead of trying to avoid or blank out memories that you perceive as bad, feel them, accept them, and move forward. We keep reliving past experiences inside our heads. When you bring yourself to the present moment, they disappear because they are ghosts of the past. However, when you come across a good memory, cherish it and store it with great care. Access it from your mind and examine it often as you move forward. Be grateful for it.

Welcome unwelcome thoughts. When unwelcome thoughts cross the threshold of my mental attic, I don’t try to chase them away. I know from experience that I need to listen and reason with them instead. “Thanks for bringing that up. Life didn’t happen the way I thought it would but that’s the way it goes, doesn’t it? Can I focus on the Now instead, when things are going well?” This works most of the time. When it doesn’t, I do something physical. This can be as simple as walking 100 steps, looking out a window or thinking of a happy memory. The latter requires conscious practice, so be prepared with a list of happy memories to usher out your unwelcome guests.

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” – Thich nhat hanh

Stretch. Have you felt the joy of stretching your body slowly and luxuriously? Maybe with a favorite yoga pose or a warm-up routine? When you stretch your body in a way that works for you, your mind becomes more relaxed.

Music. Listening to music is a wonderful way to get the much-needed space to focus on your mind. Listen to the notes with your eyes closed. Ever wondered how all those instruments blend to form a perfect symphony? Or how they complement a human voice? You can also listen to music while working on something else. That’s enjoyable but doesn’t help look inward.

“Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart..” – Pablo Casals

Three-minute meditation. Many are intimidated by meditation after reading some complicated way to meditate. I was in that place too. Here’s an easy method I discovered some years ago: I set the timer for three minutes, sat in a quiet place, and closed my eyes. The aim was to keep my eyes closed for three minutes. Nothing more. I allowed my thoughts, feelings, emotions, and memories to flow over me like a tsunami. I felt them fully, without resisting.

I continued doing this for about a month and was gratified when I started slipping into a more relaxed state for more than three minutes. I was able to hear through the incessant chatter in my head and observe what was cluttering my mind. You can try this at any time during the day.

Take a deep breath. What happens when you take a deep breath? An ‘It-has-been-ages-since-I-did-this-and-it-feels-so-good’ kind of breath? It forces you to focus on the way you breathe and move into the present. You can’t luxuriate in the swamps of your putrid past or worry about the future when focusing on your breath. You can only think of breathing in and out.

Eat well. Eating junk will make you feel like junk and affect the quality of your thoughts too. Eat well for a healthy mind and drink lots of plain water. When your body gets the nutrition it needs, you’ll binge less on junk food and won’t crave unhealthy snacks. Take charge of your body and maintain it well.

“If you keep good food in your fridge, you will eat good food.” – Errick McAdams

What’s the worst that can happen? If you find a negative ‘mind worm’ playing over and over inside your head, try asking, ‘What’s the worst that can happen in this situation?’ This helps put things in perspective. You’ll be better prepared to let go when the ‘worse’ happens and move on. If the mind worm is a person, replace that person with someone who helps get you to your mental happy place.

We clean our living spaces regularly. We protect them from burglars with expensive security systems. The best security system for your mind is to first accept that your mind is a confused jumble. Take comfort in the fact that this is how it is for everyone, regardless of their material status. We can never banish negative thoughts completely. The trick is to become conscious of them when they check in and check them out.

We disinfect our houses and bodies because of the coronavirus scare (had to bring that in to show that I’m panicking with y’all.) Unfortunately, we don’t treat our mind spaces with the same care. We allow anyone or any thought to walk in and take over our lives. Be possessive about this precious space — the only one that’s exclusively yours, always. Clean it up because only you can do it. You can’t hire a cleaning service to help you with this.

When you treat your mind gently and kindly, it treats you well and empowers you. If you keep allowing negativity to invade it, it becomes an ever-growing landfill. Once you remember this, you’ll treat your mind with compassion, empathy and understanding.

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” – Deepak Chopra