01/04/2023
Our minds are constantly bombarded with news of all sorts: economic meltdowns all over the world, targeted ads, real or fake news, price increase, real estate market... The amount of these news is so great that our brain get to the point where he cannot process all the garbage, so will switch to fail-safe mode where all that gets in is accepted as "valid". This is a way to avoid all the sweat involved in filtering the news. Result.. we live in a constant state of confusion and we can easily be pushed left of right without even thinking. Few ways to help us out of this state...
1. Limit the amount of info that gets to you, give your brain a bit of a time-out so he can regain control and properly process important information. How to do that... try and get daily few headlines here and there, from different sources. DO NOT spend hours in front of a TV watching news. Read a book, if you have a hobby, it is the best way to get your mind focused on something you like. Short daily walks outside will also help your mind relax. Watching birds, trees, clouds, walking your dog... these are good for you.
2. Everybody is talking about meditation but very few manage t properly do it. If you manage to give your brain a few minutes break from all the havoc around you, its huge step on feeling better.
Say you are at home, or at work and you have few minutes to spare. Pick an object (non-electronic)... a leaf, a stone, a piece of wood and really look at it for a minute or so. Try and get its shape, weight, smell, texture, color.. all and any attribute you may thing of. After a minute, while still holding that object, close your eyes. Try and verify some of the attributes of that objects that you observed with your eyes before. Some attributes are the same, some are different, some are new, some you can't tell as you have your eyes closed. Try this for 1-2 minutes not more.
What you accomplished by this easy exercise: you managed to your brain to focus for few minutes on one thing only. This is very helpful and its an important step that helps your brain relax, even if is only for few minutes a day. Try and get this done daily for at least a week. Remember, no mater where you are, you need just 3 short minutes to help you brain take a break.
3. Shower time! This is a visual exercise that you can quickly do while you are doing your daily shower. No matter the time of the day when you are having the shower, this exercise will help you release some of the stress and problems you are dealing with. So, once you are in the shower and you are all bubbled up, before rinsing, imagine that all that soap covering your body represents the stress and problems you are dealing with. Gently, but firmly, dust off all that soap, and while the water is cleaning your body imagine all the problems are dissolving and going down the drain. You body is clean of soap, so its clean of stress and problems. It only take a minute or so and it will do wonders for you. Again, this is a visual exercise and nothing more, the idea it to dust off that "dirt" that represents stress and problems.
Be healthy, stay healthy.
