Happy & Healthy

VACATION FROM YOUR THOUGHTS

The wonderful story of Hendrik Meier by Roald Dahl fascinated me intensely as a child. In that story, a man earns a fortune in the casino because he learned to see through things – and thus through cards. It took Hendrik three years and three months to master the art of seeing without eyes. His training began with staring at a candle flame. And because I also wanted to see without looking out of my eyes, I stared for minutes on end at a flickering candle flame for several days, trying with all my might to concentrate on it.

With that seeing without eyes, nothing came of it. But I did discover that it became pleasantly quiet in my head by concentrating on one thing. Look: I am a thinker. That is a nice quality, but also a curse. I think about everything and anything all day long. About trivial things, important things, things from the past and things from now. And I make connections between them. Or not. I possess some real knowledge, plus a wealth of useless information – unless you think that the sung tagline ‘Rather chicken liver sausage than regular liver sausage’ is of inestimable value to humanity.

Anyway, I know things. Nice, but in addition, I am the driver of an overcrowded bus of commentators who constantly feel the need to express their opinions. That opinionated crowd in my head chatters and complains to no end. You can imagine that sometimes I need a much-needed vacation from my head. Sports seem to help, but as an honorary member of the anti-sports club, I definitely can't just jump around. And mindfulness. Living in the here and now and doing things with attention. Specifically: no worries for tomorrow (a ridiculous task for a perfectionist) and just stay focused. The remedies below work best for me; maybe they'll help you too.

“That opinionated crowd in my head chatters and complains to no end”

Read a book

A well-written book, of course, a book that grabs you and takes you to another world. Zero time to let the wheels of your own imagination turn. The clumsily moralistic tales in a children's Bible edition that my father tried to surprise me with only fueled the noise in my head, so boring – for heaven's sake, even then. Also a dangerous remedy, because more stories and bits of knowledge in your head.

Make lists

I am quite good at remembering many things. However, when I have a lot of work to do with a bunch of loose ends that need to be resolved, it gets out of hand with that remembering; I keep repeating the things I need to do in my head. Not peaceful. At the end of the day, making a list of what still needs to be done helps, just like sticking the little notes in your head on a big board. It gives me overview and insight: often the list of points is not as infinite as I imagined in my head.

Treat yourself to something nice

It's a shame that I don't smoke anymore because I always became wonderfully calm and determined from a nicotine stick. I tried to analyze why: nico and tine must have something to do with it, but also breathing and enjoying the smoke deeply. Well, it turns out that the latter can also be done with something that doesn't catch fire. For example, eat the best cake in town (a financier of Pompadour, by the way) and enjoy it fully. No chatting and yapping in the meantime, but munching, tasting, swallowing. ‘With attention,’ they call it these days.

Find a hobby

Hobbying with your hands helps: concentrating on a difficult macramé knot – for tying those crazy retro plant hangers – or complicated crochet stitches helps stop your other thoughts. But I also become calm from intensive Pinteresting and online shopping. Because I do that with attention, too.

Written by Kalinka Hählen