Ever have a day when you just feel stressed out? You may be switching between activities and responsibilities very quickly and your whole day seems to be a big blur.
Something that I have started doing (with great success I might add) is doing nothing for five minutes a day.
Simply sitting down and relaxing for these five minutes helps me to slow down and think much more clearly. Though I have been only doing this once a day for the most part, it would also be a great to do it more than once.
Let’s say you wake up in the morning and instead of rushing to eat breakfast and get out the door, you decide to just sit at the table and look out the window for a few minutes. Then when you get home from work do the same thing.
The two major benefits to doing this that I have noticed are:
Slowing down makes for clearer thoughts – After taking a five minute break to sit and let my mind relax I find that whatever task I start goes much more smoothly. It is kind of like hitting the reset button for my brain.
Less stress – Being stressed out is the worst thing ever. I make a very conscious effort daily to not become stressed. This little break is a huge part of my anti-stress efforts.
Take a break everyday to do nothing and let me know how it goes for you.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Nate,
I’ve done this exact thing. Although, for me it started out the same but then it evolved, over time, into a meditation, which was my intention from the start.
I kept a journal throughout this entire period. It lasted about a year and a half, meditating every day (sometimes twice). Though I’ve meditated on and off for many years, I decided to pretend I was an absolute beginner so I could start over and re-explore various methods and modes of meditation.
I’ve thought about releasing my journal as a “1st Year Meditator’s Journal” so others could get a glimpse into one man’s thoughts and experiences with meditation.
I’ve even considered having it published the traditional route. I guess it depends on how much demand there is for something like that. There were times in my life when I would have purchased a book like that. Might still publish it sometime.
Cheers,
Scott
one way to practice I think is to do passive listening.
i.e. listening to music and “only” listening say to one relaxed song (no thinking, no nothing). or you can listen to another language you are unfamiliar, and simply listen to it.
cheers