There is that point in the day when the eyes burn and we can hardly think straight. We rush through emails, hardly reading them, and pound out responses.
After a day with the children, their sweet, cherubic voices start to pierce our eardrums around 4 p.m.
The television drones painfully in the doctor’s waiting room enticing us to smash the screen to bits.
Diagnosis? Overstimulation.
Our brains need rest. Contrary to the proverb, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” an idle mind is actually a healing mind.
In a study, Rest is Not Idleness, cognitive scientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and colleagues found that MRI scans of wakeful but resting brains showed a rise in neural processing that is otherwise oppressed during focused attention, i.e., work.
So if you’re not resting your brain, you aren’t allowing it to work at its fullest potential. Here are a few ways to disengage.
1) Be Mindful.
Merriam-Webster defines mindfulness as “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one's thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis; also: such a state of awareness.”
Read this EmpowHER article Your 10-Step Guide to Mindfulness this Winter for ideas on how to slow yourself down and allow your brain to recuperate in the present moment.
2) Unplug.
Unplug from everything: TVs, phones, laptops, radio, iPod.
Pay attention to your body and your mind without distractions. Adapt your brain to quiet. Daydream.
3) Take your Forest Medicine.
The Japanese practice Shinrin-yoku, or “forest therapy” as a means of mental and physical healing. Reduced stress, reduced blood pressure and better sleep are just some of the benefits of Shinrin-yoku. Read more here.
4) Indulge in Danish Coziness.
Danes have their own word for restful coziness: hygge. They famously practice the habit of coziness by gathering by candlelight, especially in winter. In summer, quiet meals outside in the yard or on a picnic serve to rejuvenate relationships and relax the mind.
5) Nap.
It’s free. It’s easy. It reduces stress. Read this EmpowHer article Is Napping At Work A Good Idea? on the benefits of napping at work. Yes, work. Share this link with your boss.
Ferris Jabr writes in Scientific American, “Downtime replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to both achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life.”
So stop underacheiving, and rest!
Sources:
Why Your Brain Needs More Downtime. ScientificAmerican.com. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mental-downtime
Shinrin yoku.org. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
http://www.shinrin-yoku.org
Rest is not Idleness. sagepub.com. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
http://pps.sagepub.com/content/7/4/352
Reviewed March 31, 2015
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith