The Benefit of Going Inward
February 17, 2022
Many of us in today’s world struggle—with our time management, our desire to make more money, our 60-hour work weeks, and the list goes on and on. You know that the world has changed when you’re sitting in a restaurant and everyone is on their smartphones. They aren’t talking to one another; they are literally sitting across from their partner, friends, and co-workers just staring at their phones.
I cannot even recount the times I have seen young parents with a small child in a shopping cart and the child is just staring at an electronic device. Believe me, as a parent, I get how hard it can be to shop with a child, and in some cases, diversion is a great tool. However, this is not beneficial to anyone, especially the little one. What about giving that child the chance to just engage with what is going on around them? To really see the world, to encourage their amazing little sponge brains to soak it all up.
Don’t get me wrong—we have all been part of that parenting model. For me, it was Disney DVDs or even VHS tapes. (Yes, I am revealing my age.) But we live in a 24-hour, 365-day culture now, and so many things are vying for our attention. It’s hard to know where one thing starts and another stops.
The point is that we cannot continue to live like this as a society. We all have important things to do and people to connect with—it’s a fact of life. However, no one is more important than reconnecting with ourselves.
Can you even remember the last time you took 5 minutes out of your work day to check out and tune in? Just sitting at your office desk and closing your eyes, working on your breathing, or disconnecting from the world for a little while? I know it is not looked upon as a good work habit at most companies, but if we could have intentional down time on the job, I am guessing our work would not suffer. Quite the contrary—it would probably help immensely.
It’s no wonder that anxiety, depression, and stress are an overwhelming part of our emotions and the daily roller coaster we ride. In fact, anxiety in teens and young adults is at an all-time high, steadily increasing since 2007.
It Doesn’t Need to Be Like This!
In my hypnotherapy practice, one of the many tools I teach my clients is how to BREATHE, how to RECONNECT, and how to meaningfully ENGAGE in life. Daily gratitude, self-reflection, and time spent with yourself is incredibly healing and beneficial, not only to the brain but the body as well.
Study after study shows the importance of breathing—yes, simple, intentional breathing. The kind where you really pay attention to your breath, in and out, the rise and fall of your chest. Filling the belly, and letting it all go. Even 5 minutes can be so beneficial to our stressed-out, over-engaged brains. Breathing calms the brain, and it regulates blood pressure; the rhythm of your breathing affects memory, and it also might help with your immune system and metabolism. Who doesn’t want that?
Are we so afraid of what we might find if we check out and go inward? The simple truth is, when we do just that, we re-engage our intuition. You know that little voice inside of us that helps us make decisions and keep ourselves safe? The one we forgot we even had?
What I am proposing is not monumental or even new—quite the opposite. People have been doing meditation, transcendental meditation, and self-hypnosis for thousands of years. It requires commitment and practice, but if we all just took the time to stop and really feel what life feels like, if we went inward for a short while, we would find that what we have been missing out on is not FOMO, but connection. Connection with others, connection with ourselves. Connection with our inner wisdom. It’s time to get back to what is important. I hope after reading this blog you will find the time to do just that.
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