Linda Johnson (Mental Rest Matters)
Linda is a certified executive coach, management trainer and diversity trainer with additional certifications as a master business coach and organisational development coach. As an...
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How Does Mental Rest Improve Our Lives?
By practising mindfulness meditation and recharging our brains, we can actually change the interaction of the neurons in our brains and chemicals that are released. By taking care of mental wellness, it affects our overall wellbeing. Recharging our brain actually changes the interaction of the neurons in our brains. It impacts the chemicals that are released from our brains, including the chemicals that bring on relaxation and comfort, and overall concentration and focus. When we take mental rest, we'll find that we have more energy, we're able to focus more. We're enjoying our lives more. There are tremendous physical health benefits, and we'll sleep better and sleeping better also recharges our brains.
What are some signs of mental exhaustion?
We're living in a time when there are so many people who are emotionally and mentally exhausted. Some people have the exhaustion go from their mind into their body, where multitasking and thinking that it's a good thing, when in fact you're exhausting your brain by actually switching from task to task. There's no rhythm in life we just do and do and do when we're exhausted mentally. What we're actually doing is we're watching television blindly. We're constantly with a electrical device in our hands and going into our face. The blue light is also very damaging to our brains as well as our minds and our wellness. The reason many of us spend so much time on our devices or blanking out on social media is because we're actually exhausted and we need to recharge our brains.
What Practical Things Can We Do to Rest Our Minds?
Some of the things that we can do to rest our minds is to actually have periods of exercise, not over exercise, but at least three to four times a week, no less than 30 minutes each time getting into a sleep regimen, having good sleep hygiene so that we're slowing down. It's like the cool down after an intense workout so that we can sleep. Pay attention to how the food you eat makes you feel. Are there foods that just make you feel fuzzy minded? Are you having too much sugar in your diet? Too many processed foods can also cloud our minds and actually make us feel exhausted. We have to learn time management. If you don't know how to do that scheduling, if you don't know how to build in rhythm, there's plenty of resources out there so that you can learn how journaling and being more present with yourself is one of the easiest ways to begin mental rest. When people say, okay, I know I need to medicate. I don't know where to begin. Let's just start by setting aside time. Set your clock so that alarms go off every three, four hours, even every five hours, so that for a 10 minute period of time you're doing nothing. You're thinking of nothing. You're relaxing. Your feet are up. Perhaps you have your favourite aroma therapy. Perhaps your favourite music is playing in the background, but you give yourself time to not focus on things and just to be in a pleasant environment and a state of rest. Drink as much water as you possibly can. Also listen to your body. How do you feel after certain meals? Are you feeling actually more exhausted? Not the same as feeling rested and relaxed. Part of recharging your brain also has to do with having replenishing time with your friends. There are people you're with and you know what happens. Sometimes they charge you up, they replenish you, and others are draining. So make sure that you have that limit in your life so that you know whose presence is actually relaxing for you. Set your alarm so that you're having those periods of quiet. It can happen at least three times a day when you're just taking a break, the alarm goes off, and that means 10 minutes, put my feet up, close my eyes, and just breathe. Prayer and meditation can often go together, but sometimes you're just thinking of nothing or letting your mind wander, but in a relaxed way, cooking can be relaxing for many people and so can taking care of nature, for example, not only having time in a natural setting, which actually lowers your blood pressure and your heart rate and your cortisol levels, but also it really allows your brain to recharge like REM sleep. That's why dreaming when you're sleeping, sleeping deeply is so important. Practise progressive relaxation. Learning to relax your body from top to bottom because there is a body Mind connection that is symbiotic. Sometimes. If you're working and you're doing a lot of brain work, take time out. Take care of the plants in your office. Do something mindless, clean off your desk, wipe up the floor, do some filing. Sometimes you really need to do that in order to be actually more productive. Choose an activity that you usually rush through and savour instead, whether it's having a good meal, whether it's playing with a child star, gazing, even chatting with a neighbour. All of these things rest to your mind, and I always encourage people to journal. Get some of those thoughts that are keeping you up at night on paper so that you can file them away.