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february / march 2017yogajournal.com.sgthe upside of doing
There’s something about the new year that inspires a go-go-go
attitude in most of us. But if the urge to take a break and
hibernate strikes, give in, says Stephanie Brown, PhD, author
ofSpeed: Facing Our Addiction to Fast and Faster—and
Overcoming Our Fear of Slowing Down.“In our society today,
doing nothing is often associated with being lazy or wasting
time,” says Brown, yet there are big benefits to spending
chunksof time being unproductive. Need convincing? Do
nothing and you’ll :
Get over the “tough stuff” faster.
“We stay busy because we don’t want to think about certain
things,” says Brown.However,slowing down enough to face
uncomfortable emotions rather than pushing them aside gives
them less power, which in turn can help you disrupt your
always-busy MO.
Inspire more empathy.
Experts suggest that taking time to reflect helps you stay in
touch with your inner experiences, which translates to greater
compassion for others and what they are experiencing.
Boost your creativity.
When you’re not continuously scheduled, you give your
thoughts a chance to wander—and a study from the journal
Psychological Science shows we tend to develop more
innovative ideas when we allow our thoughts to drift rather
than focusing on one task. MEGHAN RABBITTNOTHING