The Art of Doing Nothing – Part 2
Last week I spoke about the de-stressing and mind quietening benefits of doing nothing, set you a task and asked you to email in your results.
The task was simply to find a chair, sit in it, do nothing and see what happened.
The main thing that people had difficulty with was getting their mind to accept that it’s ok to do nothing.
Susan from Mold emailed to say “A few minutes into the experiment, my mind wandered to all the tasks that were not being completed: I could phone my Mum. Hoover the house. Wash the dishes. Make the bed. Sort my recycling. Check Facebook again” the list went on.
This is a common theme when we try to really relax.
Our lives can be so busy that our minds have become used to having to fill every moment with “stuff” to keep us from feeling guilty about wasting precious time.
However the massive benefit of taking time out for you, for a change, is that it allows your mind to de-clutter and your body to recharge reducing that feeling of stress and overwhelm.
So let’s talk about some simple steps that will help you this week.
Plan Ahead
Make an appointment with yourself when you are going to have your quiet time.
You could even write it in your diary as “Doing Nothing”.
Start Small
Doing nothing properly takes practice, so start small to prove to yourself that you can do it.
5 minutes is plenty to start with – it can feel like hours at first! Then when you’ve comfortably achieved 5 minutes, up it to 10 and so on.
Let people know
Let everyone that needs to know understand that you will be busy for that amount of time.
Unplug the phone, switch off your mobile and make sure you don’t have any other distractions like TV or Radio going on.
Set your Alarm
Set an alarm of some kind to go off when your “nothing” time is over, so that you don’t have to constantly look at the clock and count the minutes.
Free Your Mind
Clear your mind of all thoughts of work, worries, family, etc. by simply letting them go.
Doing this not only allows your body to do nothing, but your mind as well.
It’s fine if it takes time to get right.
Buddhist monks dedicate their entire lives to freeing their minds.
Enjoy doing nothing this week!