Releasing mental tension
What area of rest do you neglect the most in a busy season? I have realised this week that I have sorely neglected my mental rest of late. I underestimate the impact of a full and churning mind on how I feel physically and emotionally. Maybe you do too?
I have spent my days and evenings learning, processing, writing, researching and planning. I enjoy using my mind. This mental load has all been towards good things- my book, an upcoming family trip, work projects. The problem comes when I don’t give my mind space to just be.
I have been cramming in more and more information and making my brain work at high capacity for an extended period of time. The result is a mind that struggles to slow down, that is desperately trying to hold on to all the thoughts and to-dos. I bet I am not the only one who experiences this.
So what can I do to release these thoughts and mental tension?
- Journal– releasing my thoughts on to a page, even the ones I wasn’t really aware of
- Plan– release the to-dos and research into my planner so that my brain isn’t holding on to them
- Pause– take a step back from a project and do something less mentally challenging, allow myself to pick up something creative or just sit!
- Creativity– doing something with my hands that isn’t mentally challenging and isn’t a screen
- Ask for help– find others who have more expertise in an area and won’t need the same brain power to accomplish the task
Learning curves and times of mental load are inevitable in life but they are not sustainable for the long term. What are you going to do today to take a mental rest?
The other release I’ve been working on this week? ‘Stepping Up In Leadership: Reflections from the journey’ has been released for preorder! This book is a leadership book for women who don’t think that they are real leaders! You can find out more here. Available in both print and ebook formats.
