The deadline is near. You still have loads to do.You’re exhausted, but you must push through the fatigue and get the work done. Now. Trouble is, you’ve already been at it for hours. It takes longer and longer to do anything.
How you are going to get your commitments done on time when your mind is no longer fresh?
And this is making you feel even more stressed.
It doesn’t have to be this way…
You need to rest your mind
Resting your mind does not always mean sleep. Some people sleep enough hours each night, yet wake up feeling groggy and unable to think clearly.
Your mind always in one of these 4 states: asleep, dreaming, awake, or meditative.
Body is at rest | Mind is at rest | |
Asleep |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Dreaming |
Yes
|
No
|
Awake |
No
|
No
|
Meditative* | No |
Yes
|
*Note: even if your body is in a sitting meditative pose, your body works to sustain that position
Your mind is active when you are dreaming or awake.
So, there are two ways in which you can rest your mind
- a meditative technique (shown below)
- improve the quality of your sleep
How to rest your mind while your body is active
The key to resting your mind while your body is active is to eliminate all thought and all distraction. This technique is a great way to quickly freshen your mind when you have a deadline approaching.
Here is the technique:
Go to a quiet place where you can sit and be undisturbed for a few minutes. If you are at work, you can always go sit on a toilet. No one will bother you there. Well, hopefully.
Exercise 1:
Close your eyes.
Close your eyes.
Sit with an upright spine.
Put 100% attention on your breath. (No thoughts, no inner dialog.)
Notice the exact spot where the exhale turns into the inhale.
Sense your eyes relax and roll back into their sockets.
You may notice a sense of calm and space. Open your eyes. Sustain this mental space as you return to your task.
To get the most out of this exercise, you should have no thoughts. This next exercise will make you aware of your inner dialog, and help you to condition yourself to think less while your intention is to rest your mind.
Exercise 2:
Set a timer for 2 minutes.
Set a timer for 2 minutes.
Do exercise 1, but this time count the number of breaths. Every time you have any thought that is not counting the number of breaths, start over.
When the timer rings, what number did you reach?
This exercise will tell you how much chatter is going on in your mind at any time. It is common to have a low number the first time.
The more you practice this, the more you will condition your mind to quiet down. This will keep your mind fresh and open to a flow of ideas.
So that was a short-term mind refresher. When you have more than a couple of minutes, you can improve the quality of your sleep.
Improve the quality of your sleep.
Sleeping for many hours is not enough to wake up with a fresh mind. What matters is the quality of sleep.When you dream, your mind is active.Your mind rests when your body is at rest and you are not dreaming.
If you regularly wake up feeling groggy, you are not spending enough time in the deep sleep stages where your mind can rest.
- Shift your alarm. This app will measure your sleep stages and wake you after you have left the deepest stages of sleep.
- Modify your environment. Here are some practical ways to change your routine and your environment in order to support a good night of sleep.
- Cure insomnia. You can build a light box and do light therapy, or start a sleep log and use some of these advanced techniques to tackle insomnia.
Your turn now: I’m curious, what techniques have worked for you to keep your mind fresh?
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