What are you up to today?
Ticking all of the items on your list?
Running 30 errands in an hour?
Do you feel pride in being able to do the above tasks, quickly, efficiently, and repetitively?
Have you ever considered that sitting and staring at the wall or just sitting outside and smelling the air might be just as productive?
In my office, I see many people who are very tired not only in their bodies but in their minds. The disease of overactivity is wearing them out, and their bodies and minds need rest.
Why can we not sit without playing with our phones, or having a million thoughts streaming about what is next to worry about or knock off of our list? Even the idea of slowing down or just taking time to observe the precious moment always comes across as “new age hocus pocus” when in reality, neuroscience is preaching constantly now that we need to train our minds, we need to clean out the clutter, we need to slow down. Multi-tasking is actually a myth; the more we try to do, the less we actually do well.
Our brain and body respond very positively to time-outs, and restful activities.
When our brains are more restful, we actually have a better ability to assign the right priorities, to make the right decisions, and to respond to the right emotional cues. If we are feeling upset, we can calm ourselves down faster. We can be more loving to those around us, especially those around us whom cause us distress. We also heal faster in our bodies, and most often, our bodies when in pain, are trying to bring attention to a lack of attention and care. To give one example, flare-ups of disease with colitis or Crohn’s notoriously happen when people are tired and overscheduled, as with so many other medical conditions. Poor eating, poor sleep, high stress are all ideal conditions for health to go awry.
Your inactive challenge
Our bodies and minds need time to enjoy this wonderful weather, to feel the sun on our faces, to smell or view the new blooming flowers, to take joy at the colour that is emerging into nature right now.
I dare you to take 5-10 minutes each day and decide to do nothing. Ideally, it would be great to be by a window to look outside and just observe.
Do nothing. See how it feels.