Whilst paying some bills online, I noticed an ad for a bank which states:

“Do something while doing nothing.”

This got me thinking. Back in the days when even if you had a mobile phone, the only thing you could do on it was to make or receive a phone call, you didn’t stare into your phone screen blasting coloured blocks, telling everyone about your night out, watching a silly YouTube video about cats or transfer money across bank accounts whilst waiting for your coffee to be made.

No.  You stood (or sat) there, just waiting, maybe reading the signs on the wall, watching some people out the window, or maybe thinking about what to have for lunch.  You weren’t really doing anything in particular, just waiting.

We feel that there are not enough hours in the day, and we fill every spare moment catching up on the 100 tasks you didn’t get around to last week.  I’m very guilty of this, doing far too much for my own good, filling up my calendar.

And then I teach a yoga class, and during the Savasana (5 minutes+ of lying down) at the end I tell my class to let go, let go of the body, clear the mind, be and do nothing.  Enjoy the nothingness, the “mu” in Japanese culture.  I mean, how often do you get to and consciously “make yourself” do nothing?  It’s a luxury these days.  But so, so important.

Some years ago, I was doing far too much, running a kid’s theatre festival, working full-time in IT travelling back and forth between Melbourne and Sydney… and ended up with chronic pain in my neck and shoulders, plus numbness and pain in my left fingers and arm. Yep, my body said

STOP!!!

So I had to slow down out of necessity.  6 months later, the pain finally left, but with no concrete diagnosis of what it was.

I need to remind myself of that time.  I used to not be able to stop.  I’d feel guilty if I sat down on the couch for an hour. I tried to do too much in one day, too many things in one go.  I felt proud of being utterly exhausted at the end of the day.

I’m still guilty of doing far too much, using the excuse that I don’t have a family to have to look after (except my cats, of course).  But I am at least aware, and try to stop every now and then.  I tell myself that I don’t have to study today, it’s the first day of a long weekend.  I don’t have to go to every single opera event on in town (as much as I’d like to!). I don’t need to stay back at work until 7 to finish something off – I just need to put some placeholders in my work calendar so that others won’t fill it up with one meeting after another – and then I can do that work without staying late!  Little steps.

At work I run a half hour session twice a week for my colleagues, to do 15 minutes of guided meditation and to do some simple stretches.  The truth is, it helps ME as much as it may those who attend.  It lets me STOP.  Although I am actively guiding the session, I’m doing something relaxing and my mind takes a break from the work that I’m doing.

Some who attend these sessions tell me it’s very difficult to sit still and to not start thinking about 1000 things at once.  That’s when I tell them that this is the reason why they need to come along!  Doing nothing isn’t easy.  You do need to “work” at it.

We need time to do nothing, to stop, to relax, recuperate, revive.  Believe me, you’ll feel better, think more clearly, be less anxious, and maybe even feel happier.

Give it a go.  Grab a guided meditation or a Yoga Nidra CD (or there are several online).  Or just sit / lie down and from the top of your head to your toes, note each part of your body, become aware of it without moving, and let go.  And see what happens.  You might fall asleep – that’s ok.

Or at the very least – next time you’re waiting for that soy latte, instead of staring at your phone, look out the window.

I’m hoping to record a guided meditation or two for you all and post it here – so stay tuned (but in a non-active way)!