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We rarely enter a moment of deep reflection or a high-stakes meeting with a truly blank slate. Instead, we arrive carrying the “residue” of the day with us: the email we haven’t answered, the tension from a previous conversation or the low-level hum of a mounting to-do list.
When our mental bandwidth is consumed by these “unfinished loops,” we aren’t truly present. We are reacting to the noise rather than responding to the opportunity in front of us.
This is where the practise of clearing becomes essential.
Clearing is not about achieving a permanent state of calmness or solving every problem on your plate. It is a brief, intentional threshold. Think of it like a moment to acknowledge what is occupying your mind so that you can consciously set it down. Whether you are a leader preparing for a strategic decision, a practitioner holding space for a client, or an individual embarking on a journey of personal healing, clearing is the act of “arriving.”
What Does “Clearing” Mean?
In coaching and reflective practise, clearing is the process of briefly acknowledging and releasing the thoughts, emotions or distractions that might otherwise dominate your attention.
Before meaningful reflection or change can happen, the mind often needs a moment to settle.
Clearing is not about solving every problem immediately. Instead, it is about creating enough mental space that deeper thinking, insight, or conversation can begin.
In Becoming a Professional Life Coach, Patrick Williams and Diane Menendez describe clearing as a short opportunity for clients to express whatever is on their mind before moving into the coaching work itself. By allowing those thoughts to surface, the client becomes more present and available for the conversation that follows.
This simple practise recognises a truth many of us experience every day: when the mind is crowded, it is hard to hear ourselves think.
Clearing the Mind Before Change: Some Key Ideas
- Clearing is a short moment where you acknowledge distracting thoughts before beginning meaningful work.
- It allows the mind to move from mental clutter to focused attention.
- Coaches, therapists, practitioners, and leaders all use clearing to become more present before important conversations or reflection. They may also encourage their clients to do so as part of the beginning of a session.
The Everyday Noise We Carry into Meaningful Work
Most of us move through the day carrying a quiet backlog of unfinished thoughts. Perhaps this shows up as the email you forgot to send, the conversation that didn’t sit quite right, the decision you keep postponing and the pressure of responsibilities waiting elsewhere.
These thoughts are not necessarily dramatic or overwhelming. Often they are simply unfinished loops in the mind. But when we try to focus on something meaningful, whether personal reflection, creative work, coaching, therapy, or leadership, those unfinished loops compete for attention.
Instead of being fully present, part of the mind remains elsewhere.
Clearing is a way of gently saying “let me acknowledge this, so it doesn’t have to shout for my attention.”
What It Feels Like To Clear Your Mind
There are many different techniques you can try in order to clear the mind. This might be using meditation, a moment in nature or the burning of incense. The most important aspect of clearing is not necessarily the technique. It is the shift in mental state that follows.
Many people describe the experience as a sense of breathing space in the mind and the feeling that scattered thoughts have been placed down for a moment. A clear mind gives the ability to focus on what matters now rather than everything at once and provides a subtle shift from reactivity toward intentional awareness.
Before insight, transformation or aligned action can occur, we often need to pause long enough to recognise where our attention currently is.
Clearing allows the mind to move from fragmentation toward presence.
Clearing Before Personal Reflection and Healing
For people exploring their own personal growth, clearing can create a gentle transition from daily life into deeper reflection. Without it, attempts to journal or reflect can feel frustrating. The mind jumps between unfinished tasks, conversations and worries.
A few minutes of clearing allows those thoughts to surface and settle.
Instead of fighting distraction, you acknowledge it.
The result is often a subtle sense of arriving, as if you have stepped fully into the moment where your attention actually is.
Clearing Before Working With Clients or Creative Practise
Practitioners who work with others such as coaches, therapists or spiritual practitioners often notice something similar. Clients rarely arrive with a completely quiet mind.
They arrive carrying their day with them.
Offering a moment for clearing allows the client to express what is present for them before the deeper work begins. Once those thoughts are voiced, the conversation can move toward the intention of the session.
The same principle can apply to creative or spiritual work. When the mind is crowded, creativity struggles to emerge. Clearing creates the space where insight can appear.
Clearing Before Leadership and Strategic Thinking
Leaders in business experience this challenge just as much as anyone else. The pace of modern organisations means that meetings, decisions and conversations often happen in rapid succession.
Without a pause to clear mental space, leaders can find themselves responding from the residue of the previous conversation rather than the needs of the current one.
A moment of clearing can change the tone of an entire meeting. It allows leaders to arrive with presence rather than pressure.
From that place, empathy, strategic thinking and authentic connection become much easier to access.
Clearing as The Threshold of Integration
Across personal development, professional practise and leadership, the same pattern appears.
Before meaningful insight can occur, we often need a moment to set down the mental clutter of the day.
Clearing doesn’t have to be a grand ritual. It could simply be a pause. A brief moment where you allow the mind to acknowledge what it is carrying before choosing where your attention will go next.
Within humanistic magick, this moment represents the threshold between reacting to the day and intentionally engaging with the work of growth, connection or leadership.
It is a small act, but a powerful one. Because once the mind has space, something else becomes possible.
A Gentle Reflection
Before your next moment of reflection, conversation or meaningful work you might pause and ask yourself:
What thoughts or concerns might I need to acknowledge, just long enough to set them down so that I can be fully present here?
Even a few minutes of clearing can create the space where insight begins.
References
Credit where credit is due, we aim to cite our sources because we value truthful content. 1 source was referenced during research to write this content, but you are encouraged to follow our links as well.
About Humanistic Magick
Humanistic Magick is a psychology-informed framework developed by Andie Brookes that integrates reflective and symbolic practises to support meaningful, lasting personal change. You can explore the full reference guide here: https://magentaschoolofmagick.com/what-is-humanistic-magick/
Citing This Work
If you reference this article in your own writing, teaching, or research, please cite:
Brookes, A. (2026). Clearing the mind before change: Why a few minutes of clearing matters. Magenta School of Magick.
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