Take time to look at the clouds...

This last Sunday I decided to stop and take some time to do absolutely nothing. By nothing I mean no reading, no social media, no Netflix, no audio books or podcasts, no emails. Not even any meditation which somehow felt like something to do. My plan was to stop and just think, feel, process. 

I was inspired by a few people. I had a conversation with my wonderful sister Helen Williams about this idea of sitting. Lipika Subbiah reminded me about Ann Betz’s work on the brain’s default mode network. Andrew Calvert shared a blog about Nyepi, a Balinese "Day of Silence”.

And so after a long walk, I decided to just sit and look at the view for most of Sunday - even my exercise was done for the day!

I am lucky to live with a beautiful view. Often during the week I look up for my work and notice the view and wish I could just stop and look at it. But on weekends I get caught in doing things that often involve looking at screens and I don’t look at the view. 

I found a comfortable spot, with a clear view and just sat. Well, I sat for 15 minutes then got distracted, wondered around made coffee, then came back. 

Within quite a short space of time I noticed that I was thinking more clearly. I felt that my system was coming into some kind of alignment. Things I had taken in during the week had the space for me to process them. 

How often do we do this? Our busy lives and huge ’to do’ lists mean we jump from one activity to the next and we don’t stop to think. We have so many inputs to our work - what’s app, email, blogs, instant message, meetings - we can’t possibly take all these in a process them in a meaningful way. We are reading, watching, listening all the time. When do we give our systems time to assimilate and process? During Covid-19 this down time seems to be even less. Our working days have extended along with other time filled with children, family or friends. 

This often means my/our issues or ideas just ‘roam around’ in my system unresolved and no doubt cause some level of stress. Is our inability to stop and step back counter-productive?

On Sunday I had been worrying about a couple of work things, and just by sitting they surfaced and I thought about them and found a resolution. I was sorting things out which up to this moment I had been stressed about. 

To be clear it wasn’t a perfect time. I got distracted, played games, made coffee, made tea, put the rubbish out. But I kept coming back to the view and watching the weather come and go. 

Neuroscience points to the Default Mode Network in our brains being activated when we are not focused on a particular activity. It is associated with processing, memory retrieval and imagining our future. Stopping and just doing nothing allows it to activate (it’s probably what happens when we come up with good ideas in the shower or on a run!)

I believe coaching can also offer this space. It can be time for someone to stop and sit back and look what is happening. We often make coaching about goals and outcomes - what would happen if in some sessions we just sat back and looked at all that was happening for our client, with our client? What were their days like? What issues are coming up in the team? How are they doing looking after themselves? What are they worrying about? What are they pleased and happy about? We can gently help them have the space and time to sit back and think. 

I’m really inspired to spend more time like this. Realistically 15 minutes will be all I can do most days - when I will step back and just observe, process and think. 

This week I encourage you to find 15 minutes to stop and do nothing. Look out the window. Gaze at the clouds. Go for a gentle stroll. Even just move your chair back from your computer and think for 10 minutes. Anything that doesn’t involve doing. I’d love to hear how it goes!