Do Nothing: Let Your Worries Wander Away

If it feels like you’re stressing out more than ever these days, you’re not alone.

Concerns about family, health, work, politics, finances, and the environment, are real and persistent for many of us. In fact this year, according to a poll conducted in April by the American Psychiatric Association, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did last year. No surprise really, as good news has become a rare commodity these days.

While we may feel helpless to deal with or solve many of the situations that cause us nagging worries and sleepless nights, there are many simple, effective ways to quell the deadening emotional angst they fuel.

Perhaps the simplest remedy is to do nothing at all. Like the Italian art of dolce far niente – the “sweetness of doing nothing” – or the Dutch practice of niksen, basically stepping off life’s treadmill for a break, and setting your worries and anxieties free. Think of it as a non-mindfulness activity like simply staring up at the clouds, silent walking, or knitting.

“Doing nothing offers our brains the ability to recover,” says Andrew Brodsky, Ph.D., assistant professor of management at The University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business. “Even 2 to 5 minutes a day can have an impact, helping you recharge and power through the rest of your day,” adds Dr. Lisa MacLean of Michigan’s Henry Ford Health system.

If you can’t easily get away to a deserted tropical island or a cozy mountain hideaway to lay back and do sweet nothing for a little while, you can virtually decompress in this field of sunflowers. (Loop the video and bliss out for as long as you like!)

;-) Please like and share this story with anyone you know who needs to take a brain break -- Thanks!

Header photo: Envato Elements; video: Happiness Archive