21 Jun Coming Home – The Problem of the Overstimulation Situation
Home is not where the computer is
I’ve had bloggers block. In fact both Laura and I have. How wonderful for both of us to have it at the same time.
Its not just a small case of “I don’t have time to write and don’t know what to write about” I mean full on, absolute non inspired totality of nothingness. This is an unusual situation for me as anyone who knows me will tell you I can talk for Britain and have an opionion about everything. But a block I have had. There have been many good ideas just nothing that I’ve been motivated enough to write about.
Then the other day I had a realisation. Back in April I got into twitter. Since then I have happily been tweeting with celebrities, laughing at comedians and radio presenters and gawping at photos of actors at the gym. All the while I have been networking and generally “doing social media”. That’s all brilliant except I’m a busy business woman/wife/mum and the only time I have to do this is first thing in the morning. Literally the second I wake up I’m reaching for my iphone and spending the first 15 minutes of my day on Twitter and Facebook. Yes it’s lovely to hear what my friends are up to and laugh at some celebrities but it’s not a pathway for self discovery.
This is called the ‘Overstimulation Situation’. It’s a common problem we face today. How hard it is to just “be” we are distracted by TV, computers, music, Facebook, Twitter, kids, work, travelling to work etc etc. The trouble is when we are focusing “out there” we are losing sight of what’s happening “in here” and we lose ourselves.
Very often we want to get caught up in the news, soaps, x-factor or a celeb gossip mag to distract ourselves from the mundane or the monotony, but what if we were honest about the fact we are bored and living our life through an external source? What can we do to change what isn’t fulfilling us?
I realised I have been giving precious moments of my day to people I don’t even know. In the case of Facebook of course I know and love many of the people I liaise with but it’s still a way of avoiding myself, deflecting and getting tied up in other peoples dramas.
So this morning I grabbed a blanket, sat on my balcony and looked at the sea then shut my eyes and went inwards for 15 blissful minutes. I came home to myself and all day I’ve been centered, rational and calm.
I know the power of this stuff I’m a yoga teacher but no matter how many tools we have in our tool box it’s easy to be distracted by the shiny stuff.
There are loads of studies around meditation and how it thickens the cortex of the brain, improving memory, calming the parasympathetic nervous system and enhancing mental clarity but it also brings you back to yourself and when we aren’t distracted and are focusing on ourselves many of the worries and dramas we get tied up in disperse or fade into perspective.
For coming home you can’t beat yoga or meditation but also a really lovely bath with no music or books will do it. Take a walk in nature and really look at what’s around you with all your senses switched on. Trust me you will feel great.
Of course I’m still going to be on Twitter and Facebook but my new rule is that few minutes are mine, all mine to be, feel and breathe. The rest of the world can wait.
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