Costals

Relaxation is an investment

Nature doesn’t rush, yet everything is accomplished.

Most people think of relaxation as a waste of time.
They might not be conscious of this idea, but they act like it’s true.
It’s an effect of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
And it’s also a cause of FOMO.
FOMO keeps you pseudo-productive,
always in the doing, way too busy,
rarely in the being, never truly still.

Wisdom comes from stillness.
You can’t be wise if you’re always on the move.
Paradoxically, you’re actually missing out by trying to not miss a thing,
and you don’t know what you’re really missing out.
Sorry, I just caused you more FOMO.
Keep reading though.

Now let’s change perspective.
Doing nothing isn’t a waste of time.
Doing nothing is an investment.

Relaxation is an investment.
Relaxation is part of any successful project.
You work out your muscles one day, but you let them rest the next day.
If you don’t, you get injured.

It’s the same with mental work.
One night, I was forcing myself to keep writing my book.
I started to feel stuck.
I wasn’t able to think clearly any more.
I knew I had to delete some parts and rewrite others, but I was to tired to make more decisions.
I eventually let it go and went to sleep.
The day after, I didn’t plan to work on the book, but it happened anyway: a few minutes after waking up, I had fresh ideas in mind and went to my computer.
Everything cleared up, and after an hour, my chapter felt done.

It happens during the day as well.
You’ve been working for two hours, flowing.
But now you’re slowing down, and you get stuck.
It doesn’t feel good any more, but hey, it’s only 2 PM.
Why forcing while the body-mind is telling us that he gave it all for now and it’s time to rest?
Five minutes away, laying down, can do the work.

Those little breaks are actually part of the work.
They might even be the most important part.

The space between work sessions are gold, fully part of the process.
But they must be real space, ideally with no information inputs.
You need to feel off work and either be resting completely, or resting into a fun and low-stimulation activity, using different areas of your brain while the worked-out area is resting.

But you’ve got to be wise.
I said fun and low-stimulation activities.
Loads of people go out at night every week-end after an exhausting week of work or study.
Because they’re so disconnected from themselves, they think they’re relaxing by drinking alcohol, dancing all night on extra-loud music, and getting laid with strangers.
They are somehow relaxing the worn-out parts of their brains by not using those parts during the week-end.
But their body’s energy gets drained like crazy.
The only fact that one goes to bed at 5 AM – two hours before usually getting up – is enough to disrupt our complex organism.
One might be young and enjoy great life force, others drink coffee and smoke tobacco to keep up with the rat race, muting body signals that are asking for a much needed deep rest.
They might suffer less from an intense lifestyle – apparently.
Though they might die suddenly at age 50 from a heart attack at their office desk.

Live fast, die young.

Or live slow and die old, with a smile on your face – deeply calm and satisfied.

There are different ways to relax.
The idea of relaxation here is more broad, and also includes relaxing one part of the brain by using another part of the brain.
The more ways you use, the better you’ll feel and function overall.

Reading anything you love, maybe comics.
Walking in nature.
Swimming in the sea.
Slow cycling in the countryside.
Cooking, if you enjoy it.
Disconnecting and not using screens for a day.
Taking a short nap, meditating, or doing yoga nidra.
Stretching, many times a day.
Watching a funny or contemplative movie, or a documentary.
Being with kids.
Doing anything you used to love as a kid.

What kids do?
They play.
A person who doesn’t play is an unhappy person, no matter the age.
Play daily.
Play is vital.

Play is relaxation, as long as it’s not your career.
If you’re a professional chess player, playing chess might not feel like play time anymore.
You got addicted to the adrenaline and dopamine of competition.
Certainly most professional fighters and football players do it for the dopamine more than the joy of the game.
Also, at a pro level the training might be too intense, and life gets unbalanced because of too much focus on the career and too little in every other aspects of life.
Then you’re an unhappy player.

It somehow happened to me with music.
And I am so happy that I let go of a music career.
After a year hiatus, I’m back to music.
Now music is a daily hobby I take seriously, 100% fun and light.
I don’t have to release it.
I don’t have to promote it.
I don’t have to focus on the production and mixing for hours.
I don’t have to worry about the audience’s reaction.
I don’t have to do all the things that were draining me.
All the pressure is off.
There’s just lightness and fun left.
Making (slower) music is now a great way to relax.

And in the end, I might make my best music – but it doesn’t matter.

#english #relaxation