Downtime for your brain
As I made way into the compartment and found a comfortable spot, I had a habit of reading my book in the 13-minute short commute, until a few months ago. And as I looked into the restricted space around me, I could see half a dozen cell phone screens active and it dawned on me that we all have forgotten how to wait without our cellphones or get bored standing during travel or waiting anywhere, which was not a few decades ago.
The idle time in our schedule is missing and realized we are not giving our brains a break!
To do NothingAt every turn, we are pushed to do more, exceed our limits, in this expeditious world filled with challenges, and we strive to meet the relentless pace. In response, we put in extra hours of work and incessantly be up to date using the apps on our phone, the social media sites and all the round the clock notifications. In our obsession with success and being productive always, we have forgotten that we need a break!
In the book Autopilot: The Art & Science of Doing Nothing, written by Andrew Smart, the author gives us the science behind idleness.
Disengaging increases brain activity!Brain activity is measured by blood flow and how oxygenated the blood is in a specific region of the brain. Neurologist Marcus Raichle during his experiments found that certain brain regions, like the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and the precuneus, are suppressed while engaged in certain activities. These regions become super active when not being in a fully attentive state of mind— this means increased blood flow in your brain! Blood rich brain means a happier, calmer, healthier and more creative brain. In neuroscience, this network of brain regions that becomes active during idleness is referred to as Resting-State Network (RSN). In this mode your brain becomes orderly, efficient, engaged in idleness making you content and creative.
It is essential to take breaks, we all know it. But how many of us actually consider taking a maybe a 15-minute distraction-free walk in the mid-day, or maybe 15 minutes of meditation or whatever works for you to free yourself from one stimulus to another, focused on NOTHING (no stimuli, no distraction)!
I personally no longer read anything during my commute to work & back home, indulge in quiet moments with mediation or just get bored! I see how this turned out a one-hit-wonder for me and I can resonate with positive vibrations inside me. For starters — I way calmer when under pressure, I am more efficient at work, I can write more :)!
Authors Note: Enter into the quiet of the mind that already exists, you just need to find it leaving you with time for yourself and loved ones, and you feel a river flowing inside you — a river of JOY & CREATIVITY!
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