As I stumble into my early thirties, being a husband, father of two children, and an aspiring musician in pursuit of a computer science degree, I realized something. I don’t take breaks. I get the feeling this is beyond a personal problem, and something more societal, looking at you America. Really, I’m starting to realize how difficult it is to take a break, not because of a lack of time, or self-regard, but because of a programming. So how do we peel back the layers of this non-work mentality? How do we really relax and take a break? Some people are good at this, I am not, but here I am trying to explain how to do it so as to convince myself that it is indeed possible 🙂

I’m going to break down the approach into a few steps:

Gratitude

Every great mindfulness exercise starts with gratitude yeah? Think of a few things that make you happy, whether it be memories, people, places, or things. I try to feel the warmth these ideas bring me. I like to remind myself that reality is really just a self-projected model of the in-perceivable universe. And by feeling gratitude, we are literally shaping that model to be more comfortable; it takes a lot of time and effort for some of us, but it can be very rewarding.

Breathing

Breathing is the very act that connects our mind to the model of reality we project. By intaking a gust of oxygen to the brain, we are recharging our physique in its purest form. I also like to imagine breathing in my problems and worries through the nose, and blowing them out of my mouth.

Listening

This one is the hardest for me because I have mild tinnitus. Listening to your environment brings a focus to the brain. If you stop and listen to the world moving around you even for like 2 minutes, you’ll start to feel your brain hit a sort of resonance. If you go long enough with a listening exercise, it can almost be psychedelic. After all, the human brain is capable of naturally producing a psychedelic amount of silocybin, ibogaine, and N, N-dimethyltryptamine. Who know’s what we’re missing with such noisy, (exhausting) distracted lives.

Forgiving

I need to forgive myself constantly. So many of us are in combat with the inner voice not only repeats trauma, but also analyzes it beyond productivity. That baggage needs to go! Everyone is constantly screwing things up, that’s the human way, it’s not your fault you were plunged into the mix. Just do your best, remind yourself you did your best, and understand that you worthy of forgiveness.

Accepting

Accept the world around you. Accept no one really knows what’s going on in the universe. Accept we are witnessing a miracle of existence that may or may not be intended for us. Accept the model you built of your reality, and just enjoy it. Try to make some good memories, and take a friggin break already.

love you, bye bye now 😉