Retrain overclocked brain so you can unwind, ease stress
“I can’t relax anymore,” Lenore told me, the tension apparent on her face. “Never?” I asked. “Maybe when I’m asleep, but I’m not even sure about that. I wake up feeling tired, sometimes exhausted,” she replied.
This is an increasingly common refrain among folks living jam-packed lives with crazy-making schedules. They tell themselves that when a break from the frenzy appears — a vacation, weekend, free evening — they will chill out, but then can’t.
They discover that, after having their psychological foot to the floor on life‘s accelerator for an extended period, the “pedal” sticks when they try to ease off.
“If I’m not doing something active, I feel jumpy,” Lenore continued.
Torture for such people is being in a drab room with no devices and nothing to do and having to sit for a half hour. When I asked Lenore how she’d fare in such a circumstance, she replied, “I’d be crawling the walls, maybe literally.”
The best term for this condition is “chronic agitation,” because that’s what it feels like. The inability to simply be, rather than always do, drives the compulsion to engage in something . . . anything . . . every waking moment.
Those with a severe version of this malady tend to self-medicate, alcohol being the frequent drug of choice. Of course, one can “medicate” in all sorts of ways — chronic gambling, compulsive exercise, overeating, workaholism, etc.
While it’s up to each of us to master our behavior to avoid this scenario, the environment — in particular, the modern, tech-saturated world — makes this more challenging. It’s all too easy to find one’s self sucked into a vortex of commitments, work, emails, kids, hurrying, multitasking and so on.
Once we train the brain to be “on” every waking minute, it gradually loses the capacity to hit the “off” button. This effect comes on gradually, often outside one’s awareness, but, once ingrained, it proves difficult to reverse.
Lenore’s challenge is to take command of her mind-set so she is no longer at the mercy of the world’s many beating drums and the crazy cadences they create. This requires retraining the brain to find its “off” button. No easy task, but doable.
Unwinding in nature is pretty much an instant antidote. Of course, the palliative effect disappears if one lugs along a smartphone or some other electronic leash from the human world. Remember what it was like to dawdle outside as a child? That’s what you’re after.
Another powerful nostrum is what I call a “slow hobby.” Examples include photography, knitting, wood carving, bird watching, singing, gardening, mindful coloring books, etc. Obviously, the chosen activity needs to be something one enjoys, be readily accessible and have a decelerating affect.
Meditation or another contemplative practice, such as journaling, mindful yoga or tai chi, are proven ways to ease back and regain some comfort with just being, rather than doing all the time.
Being engaged, productive and even busy can have many positives, but when one can’t turn it off, those go away, leaving disquiet in their place.