I don't know about you, but I am READY for some time off of teaching, client work, and learning.
It's not often that I reach fizzle out stage, because I'm pretty good at regulating capacity.
When I start to feel fizzle-y, I know where I've gone off the rails: I've reached cerebral congestion, and I haven't integrated.
Some people use the word "rest" - and I do, too, since its quippy and easy to understand.
Yet, what we really need may not be "rest" per se... what we may need is integration.
Being busy is overly celebrated in our culture and our field. When we post about how busy we are, and the comments from other voice teachers range from "Way to Go" to "🔥🔥🔥" to "Get it!", that is an indicator that we've certainly equated busy-ness with success.
Here's the irony: The brain needs downtime in order to function.
And no, scrolling socials, watching movies, playing games, even hanging out with friends or reading a book isn't downtime. It's leisure. There's a difference.
True downtime is the time when your brain is wandering. No processing is happening, just daydreaming, or free thinking. This integrates all that the brain has had to process, so that the default mode network areas of the brain can operate at maximum efficiency.
Letting our brains wander, while not actively processing information, is replenishing - and necessary.
THIS is the best way to use your holiday break: for integration.
If you aren't good at true downtime yet, here's a few ways to get there:
- Make it Top Priority: Schedule separate "downtime" and "worry time" in your calendar and keep those appointments with yourself. Yes, they are different and separate.
- Mindless is Key: Choose a mindless activity that will allow your mind to wander. Walk a familiar route in your neighborhood, vacuum, doodle, weed the garden, treadmill with no TV on, etc. Anything that you can do without needing to process information.
- Start Short and Stack it - if you are into the "busy busy" cycle, beginning with a few minutes a day is helpful. Stack this mind wandering time on top of something you would normally do, like have your morning cup of coffee, or right after a pee break!
- Love Them and Leave Them - Get alone. Hide in the cereal isle. Go sit in the car. If you have small humans or cats, get away from them, so your can mind wander. If you're a parent or owner of young felines, even if your kids are simply playing or dorking around on their phone, and the kitties are playing with bags - you are in "be on alert" mode. Make being alone for a little bit imperative.
If you're the main provider of cooking and cleaning and hosting (oh my!), you will most certainly need to create the space for integration, since much of your break will be centered on processing things like when to start the appetizers, set out the table linens, and how many towels are needed in the bathroom.
You'll be processing different types of work, even if you aren't seeing 1:1 clients, so it's important to remember that just because you aren't "working", you are processing, and the brain needs space to heal.
Dr. Scott Bea, a psychologist for the Cleveland Clinic, has said, "Our brains are like sponges. They can only soak up so much information before they’re saturated, then they have to dry out a bit." Amen and amen.
Instead of using your whole break to "create a fabulous 2022", consider using this break to integrate all of what has happened in 2021, last month, and yesterday.
You can only be your most creative and productive when we take the time to loosen up that cerebral congestion and replenish attention.
Use your break to dry out that sponge, so that you're ready to soak up all that 2022 has to offer you.
Happy Winter!
