Perhaps you’ve noticed that I’ve been MIA for the past 6 weeks or so… Or perhaps you didn’t notice, which is OK too. 😛
As I’ve mentioned in previous letters, I’m constantly doing this waltz of being way too busy and taking on way too much, and then slamming on the brakes to get my breath. February was one of those months where everything caught up with me, and something had to give (beside my mental and physical health), so it I let go of the newsletters for a few weeks.
And you want to hear something SUPER ironic? One of the things that made me “oh so busy!!” was a trip to the Dominican Republic wherein I laid on a lounge chair for 5 days straight and did the following: Read 3 books, drank several fruity cocktails, ate lots of seafood, walked along the beach, went to bed at 8PM and slept until 6AM almost every day, and generally did not much of anything at all.
And boy was that weird.
We arrived in the DR on Monday night, and by Wednesday I was getting the itch. Should I go on an excursion? Should I go to the gym? Shouldn’t I be doing SOMETHING?? Shouldn’t I be milking this experience for all it’s worth??
And then I gave myself permission to just sit on my butt, bask in the sun and warm weather, and just read, drink, eat, and swim to my heart’s content. No judgment. Just relax. Oh. And chat with the septuagenarian Canadians who were encamped in the neighboring cabanas.
Not being “productive” for 5 days was challenging mentally (or maybe I mean culturally??), but oh so necessary. Us human beings, much like machines, need periodic reboots to keep functioning well and to clear out all the random bits and bytes that are clogging up our junk.
I recently listened to Dr. Andrew Huberman’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) podcast episode, and he answered a question about how to increase motivation. The number 1 thing we can do is to get quality sleep (if you need any tips on how to get QUALITY sleep, please reach out to me – we just covered this in my health coaching class). The second thing he mentioned was Non Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR). To the yogis in the audience, this is essentially yoga nidra! NSDR or yoga nidra is a type of mediation where your attention is systematically led through your body, leading to a deep state of relaxation.
Dr. Huberman referenced two Danish studies that show that doing yoga nidra for as little as 10 minutes a day can dramatically increase your dopamine reservoirs (dopamine is closely tied to motivation). There is also data showing NSDR can help recover lost sleep, as well as increase cognitive ability and performance in cognitive tasks!
And now, I’m circling back around to my point. By RESTING, we can actually be MORE PRODUCTIVE with LESS EFFORT. Whoa.
If you’re curious about NSDR, here is a 10-minute practice from Dr. Huberman. And here is a 10-minute recording of a yoga nidra from yours truly.
Happy Resting!
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