Stillness Breaks

 The body thrives on movement. The mind thrives on stillness.

But in modern times, we are doing the opposite. This seems to be one of the main reasons behind most lifestyle ailments.

Most of us are aware of the importance of the movements for the body.
We track steps, train for marathons, walk, run, jog, swim, lift weights, do Yogasanas, etc.

But are we spending adequate effort towards stilling the mind?

Distractions are plenty.
Inputs are overflowing through all senses.
The mind is overloaded with sensory input.
In the name of "Content", so much sensationalism is being created.
We are always "wired", which makes our minds so "tired".

Though our body and mind feel tired, we are unable to sleep OR we don't want to give them the required rest.

Infinite scroll (a.k.a. doom scroll) gives us the feeling of relaxation at the end of a long day, but it only makes our minds more restless.

Similar to tracking the number of steps, track the minutes(or hours) during your wake hours when you can just sit with your eyes closed, doing nothing and taking in no inputs through your senses (even good, useful, or inspiring content).

Start with 5 min of stillness and gradually increase the duration.
Practice frequent moments of stillness during the day.

Meditating for 30 min and then going about the rest of the day overloading the mind nullifies the effect.
Take 5-minute stillness breaks every 1 hour (or at least once every 2 hours).

When there are impurities in a bottle of water, you shake them vigorously and then lay it still so the dirt settles at the bottom.

Stillness breaks give the mind a much-needed breather to let the thoughts settle down without further inputs going in.