The busy brain

I often have the feeling that people have the urge to be busy. If they’re not busy at work (but have a ‘normal’ day) then they may feel that they are not doing enough and even might feel guilty. Then they want more and more and MORE! And they do get more. Which means that they will eventually be very busy. But then they will get (and receive) even more. And more. And more. Until they are not able to ‘turn their heads/thoughts off’ – even when they have a moment of peace. And this may lead to anxiety in the end (or busy brains) because they fear that the world will end if they stop just for a moment.

Have you ever worked somewhere where you almost felt guilty taking a day off or leave work earlier or sleep in a little? Even though there were weeks where you ran 60-70 hours but still, when things slowed down, you felt lost, and really guilty that ‘Now I have nothing to do’. 

There are work cultures where this is a reality. Even more true for people who are hard-working, feel responsible and cannot say ‘no’. Because that’s the reality. It’s only because they cannot set clear limits they will get more and because they are hard-working, they will do more and then feel responsible for everything that needs to be done. And if everything is not done, everything will be lost. At least that’s how they will feel and what they fear (hence anxiety).

For the record; it’s absolutely fine to be busy. But it’s also fine to stop for a moment and do/think nothing. Because this is the chance for our body and mind to rest and recover so we can continue being busy (or just having a normal day) with fresh energy.

However, when the body and mind don’t have the chance to recover, they will become stressed. Stress is very useful because they keep us alarmed and can make us more sharp, more productive BUT being ‘ON’ all the time is exhausting. That’s when we tend to develop some physical symptoms of stress. Headache, pain in the back or shoulders, cramped stomach, bad skin, pressure on the chest, and so on.

Unfortunately, sometimes it’s very difficult to just stop and think of nothing or do nothing productive because of all the distractions around us. There’s always something happening around us. TV or mobile screens everywhere. If it’s not on TV, it’s at the neighbours. If it’s not at the neighbours, there’s a party at a friend’s house that we shouldn’t miss because we should maintain our social life! And the list goes on. We simply cannot stop being busy.

Then you may or may not start to look for ways of calming your mind. Then you find some breathing exercises; yoga; meditation, mindfulness and so on. But these you all have to do on your own. How do you focus your thoughts when you cannot even calm your mind for the one second to focus your thoughts in order to calm your mind? See my point? A vicious circle.

That is where reiki can help. Receiving a treatment or giving a treatment – either ways I did not have to do it on my own or think of ‘how to clear my mind’ because basically someone else did it for me. 

The key is however, stopping regularly for a moment. If you just lay down or take a walk or go for a massage or get a reiki treatment – make sure to do it regularly so you can regularly go back to being busy.