How to do a Brain Dump

                One activity I get a lot of good feedback from is the brain dump exercise. There are a variety of reasons one may want to do this activity and a variety of benefits that this activity can bring.

                The brain dump is perfect if you are feeling upset, overwhelmed, anxious, angry, sad, or have racing thoughts you simply do not know what to do with. However, the brain dump is also perfect if you are feeling excited, happy, elated, grateful, and/or your mind is full of great thoughts. The brain dump is also perfect for those who want to get into a journaling routine and are unsure where to start. Or for those who are trying to better connect to their inner experience.

                How do you do a brain dump? You simply set aside some time somewhere around five to fifteen minutes and depending on your preference, write or type every single thought that comes to mind. I feel it is important to note that if you are willing to do this as a handwritten activity, there is greater benefit to doing it this way. There is no purpose in trying to make the thoughts make sense or serve a point or have any cohesiveness. You will get to a point when you think you are out of thoughts but keep going you may have one or two waves of thoughts - maybe multiple waves, before your mind really feels empty. The point is to get the thoughts from your mind out on paper. In fact, specifically if you are in a negative place, the idea is to not even reread what you wrote, but again just to get those thoughts out, (if you are in a wonderful positive mood, you can reread if you like to continue to appreciate the mood – it is important to acknowledge the positives). Once finished you can decide to keep your brain dump in a spiral, rip it up and throw it away, set it on fire - ! if you can do so safely! – it is completely up to you.

                What are the benefits of this exercise? When you are in a negative mental state it is helpful for you to slow down negative thoughts and do something with them. The goal is not to pay more attention to them or think more deeply about them, but to get them out on paper and get to a place where your mind goes clear. This activity also gives you greater awareness and connectivity to your inner experience which can help with identifying your needs and your own self-awareness. Better self-awareness actually helps keep you better emotionally regulated.  This minimizes the chances of having displaced anger – where you lash out at someone because you are angry at someone or something else that you did not or could not address. You may even learn something about your inner you.

                As always, I am here to help – reach out!