If you get my emails or follow me on social media, you’ll know I took some time this holiday to recharge, recuperate and honestly turn everything (including me) off. Very little social media, no coaching at all for over a WEEK! yikes! And yet, everyone seems to have survived!

And it was soooo needed. I mean, have you ever finally done something, or gotten something and realized you didn’t realize how much you needed that? (I need say I also feel this way about my salad spinner because oh my goodness I had no idea what a game-changer that is!)

Yup. That was me this holiday season. Just turned it all off, or at least waaaaay down.

So what was I doing? I was just enjoying myself. My Pilates club re-opened, I was able to talk to friends, read books, journaled til my heart was content, napped, hiked, completed a few projects around the house, hung out with Simon and most importantly spent some time doing nothing.

That’s right. Nothing. No book, no YouTube, no TV, and not a podcast in sight. Okay, I sometimes had some tea with my nothing, but basically, I sat in my chair and let my mind wander wherever it felt like going.

When was the last time you did nothing?

What if I told you it’s actually good for your brain to let it be bored for a while?

Neuroscientists have found that not only does it give our very over-stimulated brains a break, but it can also foster creativity, refill your cup of inspiration and motivation and even improve your overall happiness with life.

I know! It’s a weird thought for those of us in North America with our time-crunch, ‘hustle or lose’ culture, but not all cultures feel that way. While we say we are ‘killing time’, Italians have a saying ‘il dolce far niente’ which translates to ‘the sweetness of doing nothing’. The idea behind this is to prioritize BE-ing alongside the importance of doing.

I get reminded of when I took a music theory class a few years ago. I was taking my certification in Mindfulness Education at the same time. In music the instructor was talking about the importance of silence in writing music, the space between notes creates the feeling of the music as well as the actual sound of the instruments. The connection between that and mindfulness practice was so obvious!

You see, just as in music, there is an art to find the pleasure in doing nothing.

So I invite you to find some space and just practice being present in doing nothing but being for a little while.