The Benefits of Doing Nothing

When was the last time you sat down and did absolutely nothing?

I’m not talking about reading a book, watching TV or chatting with your friends, I’m talking about the real doing nothing. By that I mean the opportunity to unplug from the outside world, from everything going on in your life, from all the daily demands that tire you out and taking the time out to simply sit and stare.

These days everyone around us seems so busy doing ‘important’ things that most of us feel guilty if we’re not ‘doing something’ all of the time. Whether that ‘something’ is productive or not seems to be irrelevant, we have created negative habits that prevent us from having the time out we so desperately need for our wellbeing. Checking our smartphones every few minutes for messages, responding to emails and messages as they ‘ping’ rather than scheduling them for a better time, running non-essential errands when we’re exhausted and keeping social arrangements that we have made when we would rather cancel.

Life without essential downtime can easily morph into nothing but a series of commitments that you feel obligated to fulfill, to work, to family, to friends, to housekeeping and so on and soon enough, you become overloaded, worn out, and the joy and the passion seem to have left your life.

Your Inner Critic Loves Busy

Your inner critic (or inner bitch as we like to call her here at Raw Horizons 🙂 ) only serves to reinforce your need to be busy. ‘I’m not working hard enough’, ‘I’ll never get that promotion if I’m lazing around’, ‘I promised I would do that for so and so, they’ll think I’m a terrible friend if I don’t do it even though I’m exhausted’, ‘what kind of a wife/mother am I if I don’t have a gourmet home cooked meal on the table every evening’, and on your inner critic goes reinforcing your need to remain busy with all the ‘shoulds’, ‘oughts’, ‘have to’s’ and ‘musts’ that are so detrimental to your health.

Benefits of ‘Doing Nothing’

By giving yourself the time to simply be, you create the perfect stress release. It allows your mind to unpack itself, your stress to dissipate, your nervous system to drop into healing mode where it can relax, restore and nourish your body. In this quiet time inspiration arises, solutions to problems appear and a deeper connection with yourself is established. This helps you experience your inner guidance more clearly, to listen to the voice of your own heart and to discover your true passions in life.

How To ‘Do Nothing’

To overcome your inner critic, you need to schedule in some daily, non-negotiable ‘doing nothing’ time. You might be wondering where or how to ‘do nothing’, the truth is, you can do it anywhere you like; laying on your bed, sitting in a park, slipping into an unused conference room at work, sitting down with a cup of tea in a comfy chair staring out of the window. You may feel a little anxious the first time you try this but the unsettling sensations will soon pass.
How you create your ‘doing nothing’ time is up to you, to reap the benefits, you simply have to do it!

If you truly want to find more peace and balance in your life and discover your true passions, join one of our Balance Your Life or Find Your Passion Retreats where in between the activities (yoga, breath work, meditation and powerful coaching workshops) you will have plenty of time to practice ‘doing nothing’.