What calms you down or distracts you?

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I'm having trouble turning off my head. I can't stop thinking, generally about unpleasant or completely irrelevant topics. My previous way of handling it is no longer particularly helpful, and my new coping mechanism is generally considered to be exceedingly unhealthy and an all-around bad idea. And it's not really helping.

What do you do to calm down?

i soothe my own angst by talking to myself in a sweet loving manner similar to soothing the fears of a small child. it is the small child within me that is scared of the boogyman of life.

Almost five years ago i've gone through a period of being completely caught in certain unpleasant and unsettling thoughts. Talking to myself in a soothing manner, as auntblabby describes it, made things even worse, got me upset and angry.

Finally my counselor came up with the idea to do something completely different which would absorb my mind and simultaneously activate different brain areas. She gave me some numbers games and spatial stuff, e.g., memory games. Works perfectly for me.

Personally I don't have a particularly good way to stop negative thoughts. If I get a little out of control I go somewhere quite and lie down til it gets better.

Fresh air, playing with my tangle toy, lying on the floor, humming, drinking tea.

Running a few miles! Sometimes w/ some audio book about smt trivial-ish eg "God Delusion". Or going out taking some photos esp in sunrise/set. Catnap works great if one bothers to practice it. Other option might be browsing through random information such as mineral composition of planets, population sizes or any conspiracy theory which make one feel angry&self-rigteous. Oh, and browsing net w/an sceptic eye.

Listening to music, sitting alone in a dark room or having a good laugh with my friends helps to clear my mind.

digitally restoring an old audio recording distracts me for hours on end, it's a rewarding hobby. but i'd really love to get into video restoration.

When I'm seriously over-stimulated "coccooning" is usually the answer.

If I need to be distracted, hobbies that consist of relatively simple tasks that require close attention/focus are a huge help.

When I have these issues, either I just fall asleep (if I can), and if I can't, then I make myself get out of the house to get a burger/soda, and then lose myself in a video game. One that is stimulating and keeps my brain from wandering.

video games and logic puzzles are a handy distraction for me.

Reading, video games, listening to music, or if all this fails, nap.

I put on some music & stim, air-guitar & head-bang