Walking Therapy - On Being Calm

Transcript

No body can miss them for me That’s reason why I try both If all is gold I can see a thousand times of it I want to talk about being calm I’m currently sitting in one of my favourite spots on an old wall looking out over the Grampian mountains across the field in some woodlands in some woodlands surrounded by wildlife It’s a place where I tend to feel calm and part of the reason I’m recording this is because while walking around I was thinking about what it means to be calm thinking to myself oh I need to record this and all while thinking that not being very calm So here I am explaining or talking about calmness by doing one of the things that makes me calm which is to talk things out and while I’m talking it out you might as well listen So calmness I think is quite misunderstood What calm isn’t is inaction or passivity or nonchalance or just the act of not doing anything What calm is and where calm comes from is equilibrium, homeostasis things being in balance and your mind at a state where it can feel settled doing one thing or doing several things that are well calibrated and that could be running around, it could be writing a novel it could be some people find their calm in running complex environments like events or shows There’s no one meaningful definition of calm it’s just the state that results when you’re doing something that at that point in time is consummate to creating a sense of equilibrium and control of your environment So maybe that is sitting down and watching the latest instalment of your favourite TV show and just zoning out maybe it’s sitting in front of an easel, maybe it’s cycling but one way or the other you’re in an environment where you feel comfortable and doing something that you feel comfortable doing and calm doesn’t mean that you are not achieving anything it doesn’t mean that you’re not adding value it doesn’t mean that you’re not providing resistance it doesn’t mean you’re not fighting it doesn’t mean that you’re not helping it just means that you’re doing so in such a way that you have equilibrium, autonomy and control and you are comfortable and when you think about it, that’s the best possible state you can be in any given human may have multiple things that make them feel calm for me, time in front of my easel, I quite like working with wood except when I stab a giant hole in my hand like I did yesterday it might be walking around for me and sometimes running but really I need to be somewhere where other people aren’t but it could be any number of things I try and introduce as many opportunities to create a sense of calm every day in my schedule now that doesn’t mean to say I’m always calm while doing those things I tend to find it quite hard to create art if I’m not feeling the vibe I can go walking in my favourite places and feel like I should be calm but my brain is racing and that can be positively or negatively so I have ways of helping pacify my brain and refocus it and one of those is listening to podcasts or audio books sometimes music although sometimes listening to music can have the opposite effect but the point here is for me I’m not trying to eradicate thought I’m trying to encourage a healthy state I’m trying to create an overall thread, a bedrock of balance within my day to day routine existence that allows me to affect a level of calm that is as constant as possible and why would I do that? Because when I’m calm I’m at my best and the world is in a very precarious state at the moment I’m not going to go into this stuff and open up your favourite news app or perhaps don’t plus I’ve published at least one episode of this podcast that tackles this head on if you want to know my opinions go back and listen to that but what’s going on in the world at the moment is scary and disempowering and I can’t control what the world powers are doing I can’t control what the oligarchs are doing I can control what I’m doing and I can affect those around me and I can only do that meaningfully if I’m feeling in control of myself and feeling a level of autonomy over my life and my surroundings and the moment I feel like I have that is the moment that I know I’m calm and it’s important because if I’m constantly stressed or unfocused if I’m doom scrolling blue sky it might feel like I’m focused but every single little post sends me in a different direction plays with my emotional state, makes me feel angry, worried, relieved makes me laugh, makes me grumble which is to varying degrees might be useful or valuable and even entertaining but what it isn’t is calm and so that’s not a good activity I might be keeping abreast of what’s going on but I’m certainly achieving very little and one thing I’m definitely doing is destroying my sense of calm and calmness isn’t passivity or weakness, calmness is strength think about this, electric vehicles they use up power while they’re locomoting so if you’re driving on a flat or going up a hill or accelerating but when that car is coasting, either coming to a stop or going downhill it recharges itself, it uses the kinetic energy generated by the momentum of it travelling in the forward motion and potentially extra energy provided by a hill and it translates back into energy that gets fed back into the battery so these are moments of calm for that car that it can recharge and it can go on for longer and therefore you extend the battery charge lifespan by doing that and it’s not so different with the brain and the body if you’re able to carry on a level of momentum where you’re not putting in large amounts of effort to do one thing or the other or you’re focusing pulled in lots of different directions if you’re able to create that equilibrium, you’re able to recharge and how do you use that battery power, how do you use that charge well if the way you want to use that is to create some difference in the world then you’re going to be better and more able and that level of calm, that level of focus, that level of energy is really important for actually achieving things all the while you’re scattered, all the while you’re worried and stressed and pulled in lots of different directions you’re achieving less being pulled in lots of directions is not the same as multitasking multitasking is a debatable concept anyway but let’s say you’re the sort of person that can do multiple things at once and do them well you are still focused on those three tasks you are still at a state of equilibrium while you are delivering these and it’s that that’s important that single-mindedness of autonomy over your environment and the things that you’re doing that creates a sense of calm that gives us energy and the ability to go on and this is what the body and the mind wants your mind, your body is a homeostasis machine what do I mean by homeostasis? I mean the natural tendency of things to find a state of equilibrium living things but actually most physical systems need to find some level of equilibrium for them to function meaningfully it’s like a machine that machine needs to be with cogs and motors and drives and belts that all needs to be in sync, it all needs to be in equilibrium and when it’s not the machine stops functioning and the thing about the human body that’s different from a physical engineered machine is that it’s adaptable and it will change its inner machinery to suit the environment it’s in and what’s it trying to do? It’s trying to find homeostasis it’s trying to find that level of balance that allows it to function in that environment and that’s when your body and your mind is best but if you’re constantly stressing that system it’s constantly having to find balance, to find balance and you can sometimes find an unhealthy level of balance in a wrong state in a state of stress and this is what chronic anxiety is effectively your body and your mind has had to settle in a groove of being permanently afraid of everything that’s around you because that’s all it’s been introduced to and now maybe you’re in a situation where that is necessary you know you live in a war zone or something but if your environment is relatively calm and manageable then that’s an extremely unhealthy state to be in and it’s unnecessary so you’ve got to find a way to lift yourself out of that rut and convince your body to find its equilibrium, its homeostasis in a different place and how do I know when I’m in that place when I feel calm? So calm is not a passive state, it’s an active state it’s a state of presence, it’s a state of necessary and healthy equilibrium that we as beings should encourage, should seek out and we do that if you’re listening to this podcast, Ashim one of your major outlets is to make some art and again art, making art is not passive, it’s active and it’s involved and you might absorb yourself in the process and in the activity you might lose hours but those hours have been very well spent you’ve been recharging, you’ve been creating, you’ve been changing the world and you’ve achieved something that will also feed back into that sense and system of equilibrium and you’ll have been feeling calm and that feeling of calm will continue and then when you have to go and do some things that perhaps you’re less than confident or something you don’t particularly want to do you’ll feel so much more capable of doing that so it’s important, these things are important, it’s important for our personal health but it’s also important for our ability to function in this world in a valuable and meaningful way so I want you to think, think about what being calm means to you and when you experience that and to take the time to appreciate it and understand what it’s doing for you and cultivate it and build upon it knowing that this isn’t guilty time that you’re snaffling away to try and defend yourself from a harsh world this is essential activity in terms of having a meaning and an impact on that world on changing the world around you for the better and for doing it with the right motivations with a healthy mind and a healthy approach to those around you and the world around you it’s not optional, it’s not optional you need to find this time because the world humanity needs you to be calm the world wants to be calm, your body wants to be calm you need to find that equilibrium again and if you are feeling unsettled, anxious, stressed, worn down, fatigued then you’re not going to be thinking straight, you’re not going to have the strength and the energy and the batteries to fight what little battles you have, the big battles you have the day to day melange of challenges that we have thrown at us in the modern world it’s essential to find that space doesn’t mean to say you don’t get to do a bit of doom scrolling doesn’t mean to say you don’t go off every now and again and shake things up a bit and make yourself not calm you have the calm oases so you’re able to do the other things and then when you have that energy, when you have that drive and that momentum please use it well, please use it to make a positive difference we really need you to do that right I’m going to continue my stroll through the woods I’ll see you all again soon also against mental illness