<ol>
<li>Surround yourself with nature. Nature makes us feel good and improves our health. It helps as a buffer against the stress we deal with on a daily basis. If nature is inaccessible, looking at photos of nature helps, as well as listening to birds and rain.</li>
<li>Create opportunities for awe. It gives us the feeling of ceding control of our inner voice. We are less self-focused.</li>
<li>Declutter. When we see the order in our environment it gives us a comforting feeling because it makes life easier to navigate.</li>
</ol>

Optimizing your environment for a calmer mind

<ol>
<li>Shifting our perspective </li>
<li>Talking to others to get support; and</li>
<li>Changing the environment around us </li>
</ol>
<p>The first two work in moments of distress and allow us to make smarter choices, while the third is something that we can proactively do. How we think and how we feel are embedded in our physical spaces.</p>

3 main ways we can turn down the chatter in our heads

<p><strong>According to the psychologist, Ethan Kross, one of the biggest contributors to our happiness is the voice inside our head</strong>s. Our inner voice analyzes every situation we're in, reflects on the past and the possible future, and plays a part in telling us who we are.</p>
<p>Our own voices can either bring us down and ruminate on negative emotions or otherwise.</p>

The voice inside our heads

<p>One of the biggest contributors to our happiness is something we barely pay attention to: the voice inside our own heads. </p><img alt="" srcset="https://ggsc.s3.amazonaws.com/images/made/images/uploads/Calm_a_Distressed_Mind_by_Changing_Your_Environment_300_236_int_c1-1x.jpg 1x, https://ggsc.s3.amazonaws.com/images/made/images/uploads/Calm_a_Distressed_Mind_by_Changing_Your_Environment_600_473_int_c1-2x.jpg 2x" src="https://ggsc.s3.amazonaws.com/images/made/images/uploads/Calm_a_Distressed_Mind_by_Changing_Your_Environment_300_236_int_c1-1x.jpg" width="300" height="236"><p dir="ltr">As psychologist Ethan Kross describes in his new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525575235?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=gregooscicen-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0525575235" dir="ltr"><em dir="ltr">Chatter</em></a>, that voice is constantly analyzing the situations we’re in, reflecting on the past and future, and telling us who we are. While sometimes friendly and optimistic—<em dir="ltr">it’s OK, everything’s going to work out!</em>—it can also be critical and downbeat. Our inner voice can berate us for mistakes or decide our life is ruined. It can ruminate on negative emotions and experiences, dredging them up without any kind of constructive resolution. </p><p dir="ltr">According to Kross, there are three main ways we can turn down the chatter in our heads: <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_to_gain_perspective_on_negative_events" dir="ltr">shifting our perspective</a> so we’re not so immersed in our problems, talking with others to get support, and changing the environment around us. </p><p>The first two approaches work in the moment of distress: Kross offers tips on how to step back and gain some distance, and then share our problems with others. But changing our environment is something we can do proactively, to make us less likely to ruminate in the first place. </p><p>“We’re embedded in our physical spaces, and different features of those spaces activate psychological forces inside us, which affect how we think and feel,” writes Kross. “If we make smart choices about how we relate to our surroundings, they can help us control our inner voice.”</p><p>Here are three suggestions from Kross’s book to optimize your environment for a calmer mind. </p><h2>Surround yourself with nature</h2><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612464659" dir="ltr">Plenty</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11610" dir="ltr">of</a> <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_nature_makes_you_kinder_happier_more_creative" dir="ltr">research</a> suggests that nature makes us feel good and improves our health, too, whether we’re taking a nature walk, living in areas with more green space, or just looking at trees. </p><p dir="ltr">Nature also seems to help buffer against the stress we experience in life. For example, one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61689-X" dir="ltr">study</a> in the U.K. found that being exposed to green spaces protected people from the harmful effects of poverty on their health. In another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160121972846" dir="ltr">study</a>, poor residents in urban public housing felt that the obstacles in their life were less severe and more solvable when their apartment looked out onto greenery, rather than a cityscape. </p><p dir="ltr">Why is nature so soothing? A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510459112" dir="ltr">2015 study</a> provides a clue. When participants spent 90 minutes walking through grasslands, they reported ruminating less than those who walked through busy city streets. Not only that, but their brain scans showed less activity in networks that support rumination. Being around nature may actually influence our habitual thought patterns. </p><p dir="ltr">Even if you don’t have many trees on your street, this research is still relevant. In fact, other studies suggest that you can get some of the attention-improving and stress-reducing benefits of nature just by <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es305019p" dir="ltr">looking at nature photos</a> or <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-018-1539-1" dir="ltr">listening to birds and rain</a>—and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494413000893" dir="ltr">plants help</a>, too. </p><h2>Create opportunities for awe</h2><p dir="ltr">Being in nature, in the face of tall trees or breathtaking views, we often experience a sense of <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/awe/definition" dir="ltr">awe</a>: the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world. </p><p>But nature isn’t the only thing that can evoke awe, Kross explains. We can also feel awe when we read poetry or listen to music, watch great athletic feats or our toddlers’ memorable firsts. </p><p>“Awe is considered a self-transcendent emotion in that it allows people to think and feel beyond their own needs and wants,” Kross writes. “The operative power of awe is its ability to make us feel smaller, nudging us to cede control of our inner voice to a greater grandeur.”</p><p dir="ltr">This is reflected in the brain: When we feel awe, we show <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24616" dir="ltr">less activity</a> in brain areas involved with self-focus and mind-wandering. Awe almost automatically makes our problems feel smaller and gives us that broader perspective, without us having to engage directly with the problems at all. For example, one <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_is_nature_so_good_for_your_mental_health" dir="ltr">study</a> that took volunteers on a river-rafting trip found that the more they experienced awe, the better the improvements in their stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, happiness, and sense of belonging. </p><p dir="ltr">So, what does an awe-inspiring environment look like? It’s probably different for everyone, but it might mean putting up art or photographs on your walls, playing music that transports you, or being sure to <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_ways_to_incorporate_awe_into_your_daily_life" dir="ltr">unplug from your technology</a> to notice the beauty in the people around you. </p><h2>Clear the clutter</h2><p>When our thoughts and feelings seem out of control, one way we can get a grip is to exert a sense of control over our environment—by decluttering. </p><img alt="<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525575235?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=gregooscicen-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0525575235”><em>Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It</em></a> (Crown, 2021, 272 pages)" srcset="https://ggsc.s3.amazonaws.com/images/made/images/uploads/Chatter_200_301_int_c1-1x.jpeg 1x, https://ggsc.s3.amazonaws.com/images/made/images/uploads/Chatter_332_500_int_c1-2x.jpeg 2x" src="https://ggsc.s3.amazonaws.com/images/made/images/uploads/Chatter_200_301_int_c1-1x.jpeg" width="200" height="301"><p dir="ltr">“Seeing order in the world is comforting because it makes life easier to navigate and more predictable,” Kross writes. Even just reading about how the world is an orderly place can make us less anxious, one <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu097" dir="ltr">study</a> suggests.&nbsp; </p><p dir="ltr">There’s also evidence that when we feel out of control—when we think about a situation where we were helpless, or when we’re exposed to loud noises we can’t turn down—we’re more drawn to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1159845" dir="ltr">visual patterns</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/661563" dir="ltr">structured images</a>, as we try to impose order on our external world. </p><p dir="ltr">Decluttering might also just make us happy. According to a new <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101553" dir="ltr">study</a>, people who have a more positive experience of the clutter in their home—who are less ashamed, upset, or inconvenienced by their clutter—tend to experience more positive emotions, better relationships, and more meaning in life. </p><p>Like the other two strategies, decluttering can be done proactively, but it may also soothe you in a moment of stress—as anyone who’s ever done any “procrasti-cleaning” knows. </p><p>Of course, even with the most verdant, awe-inspiring, Marie Kondo’d home, we won’t be able to avoid rumination entirely, and that’s where Kross’s other strategies come in. His book ends with a helpful list of 26 tools to pull out when you start to feel overwhelmed by repetitive negative thinking. And his own personal experiences, shared throughout the book, remind us that even a researcher with expertise on the topic isn’t immune to freaking out every now and then. </p><p>While the voice in our heads may seem like our enemy sometimes, there are lots of ways we can turn that conversation in a productive direction.</p><img src="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/css/images/temp/logo-small.png" alt="GreaterGood Tiny Logo" width="36" height="38"><h5><span>Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?</span></h5><UL><LI><img src="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/css/images/rate4.png" alt="Rate 4" width="49" height="49"><img src="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/css/images/rate4-clicked.png" alt="Rate 4 Clicked" width="49" height="49"><div title="Rate Very Likely" dir="ltr"><button for="field-very-likely" value="4" type="button" dir="ltr">
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A new book offers tools to help you avoid being overwhelmed by negative thoughts and feelings.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

mentalhealth

Mental Health

<p>One of the biggest contributors to our happiness is something we barely pay attention to: the voice inside our own heads. </p>

<p>As psychologist Ethan Kross describes in his new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525575235?ie=UTF8&tag=gregooscicen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0525575235"><em>Chatter </em> </a>, that voice is constantly analyzing the situations we’re in, reflecting on the past and future, and telling us who we are. While sometimes friendly and optimistic—<em>it’s OK, everything’s going to work out! </em>—it can also be critical and downbeat. Our inner voice can berate us for mistakes or decide our life is ruined. It can ruminate on negative emotions and experiences, dredging them up without any kind of constructive resolution. </p>

<p>According to Kross, there are three main ways we can turn down the chatter in our heads: <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_to_gain_perspective_on_negative_events">shifting our perspective </a>so we’re not so immersed in our problems, talking with others to get support, and changing the environment around us. </p>

<p>The first two approaches work in the moment of distress: Kross offers tips on how to step back and gain some distance, and then share our problems with others. But changing our environment is something we can do proactively, to make us less likely to ruminate in the first place. </p>

<p>“We’re embedded in our physical spaces, and different features of those spaces activate psychological forces inside us, which affect how we think and feel,” writes Kross. “If we make smart choices about how we relate to our surroundings, they can help us control our inner voice.” </p>

<p>Here are three suggestions from Kross’s book to optimize your environment for a calmer mind. </p>

<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612464659">Plenty </a><a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11610">of </a><a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_nature_makes_you_kinder_happier_more_creative">research </a>suggests that nature makes us feel good and improves our health, too, whether we’re taking a nature walk, living in areas with more green space, or just looking at trees. </p>

<p>Nature also seems to help buffer against the stress we experience in life. For example, one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61689-X">study </a>in the U.K. found that being exposed to green spaces protected people from the harmful effects of poverty on their health. In another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00139160121972846">study </a>, poor residents in urban public housing felt that the obstacles in their life were less severe and more solvable when their apartment looked out onto greenery, rather than a cityscape. </p>

<p>Why is nature so soothing? A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510459112">2015 study </a>provides a clue. When participants spent 90 minutes walking through grasslands, they reported ruminating less than those who walked through busy city streets. Not only that, but their brain scans showed less activity in networks that support rumination. Being around nature may actually influence our habitual thought patterns. </p>

<p>Even if you don’t have many trees on your street, this research is still relevant. In fact, other studies suggest that you can get some of the attention-improving and stress-reducing benefits of nature just by <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es305019p">looking at nature photos </a>or <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-018-1539-1">listening to birds and rain </a>—and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494413000893">plants help </a>, too. </p>

<p>Being in nature, in the face of tall trees or breathtaking views, we often experience a sense of <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/awe/definition">awe </a>: the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world. </p>

<p>But nature isn’t the only thing that can evoke awe, Kross explains. We can also feel awe when we read poetry or listen to music, watch great athletic feats or our toddlers’ memorable firsts. </p>

<p>“Awe is considered a self-transcendent emotion in that it allows people to think and feel beyond their own needs and wants,” Kross writes. “The operative power of awe is its ability to make us feel smaller, nudging us to cede control of our inner voice to a greater grandeur.” </p>

<p>This is reflected in the brain: When we feel awe, we show <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24616">less activity </a>in brain areas involved with self-focus and mind-wandering. Awe almost automatically makes our problems feel smaller and gives us that broader perspective, without us having to engage directly with the problems at all. For example, one <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_is_nature_so_good_for_your_mental_health">study </a>that took volunteers on a river-rafting trip found that the more they experienced awe, the better the improvements in their stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, happiness, and sense of belonging. </p>

<p>So, what does an awe-inspiring environment look like? It’s probably different for everyone, but it might mean putting up art or photographs on your walls, playing music that transports you, or being sure to <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_ways_to_incorporate_awe_into_your_daily_life">unplug from your technology </a>to notice the beauty in the people around you. </p>

<p>When our thoughts and feelings seem out of control, one way we can get a grip is to exert a sense of control over our environment—by decluttering. </p>

<p>“Seeing order in the world is comforting because it makes life easier to navigate and more predictable,” Kross writes. Even just reading about how the world is an orderly place can make us less anxious, one <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu097">study </a>suggests.  </p>

<p>There’s also evidence that when we feel out of control—when we think about a situation where we were helpless, or when we’re exposed to loud noises we can’t turn down—we’re more drawn to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1159845">visual patterns </a>and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/661563">structured images </a>, as we try to impose order on our external world. </p>

<p>Decluttering might also just make us happy. According to a new <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101553">study </a>, people who have a more positive experience of the clutter in their home—who are less ashamed, upset, or inconvenienced by their clutter—tend to experience more positive emotions, better relationships, and more meaning in life. </p>

<p>Like the other two strategies, decluttering can be done proactively, but it may also soothe you in a moment of stress—as anyone who’s ever done any “procrasti-cleaning” knows. </p>

<p>Of course, even with the most verdant, awe-inspiring, Marie Kondo’d home, we won’t be able to avoid rumination entirely, and that’s where Kross’s other strategies come in. His book ends with a helpful list of 26 tools to pull out when you start to feel overwhelmed by repetitive negative thinking. And his own personal experiences, shared throughout the book, remind us that even a researcher with expertise on the topic isn’t immune to freaking out every now and then. </p>

<p>While the voice in our heads may seem like our enemy sometimes, there are lots of ways we can turn that conversation in a productive direction. </p>

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Calm a Distressed Mind by Changing Your Environment

Optimizing your environment for a calmer mind

3 main ways we can turn down the chatter in our heads

The voice inside our heads

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