Electric Shock or alone with your thoughts?

What would you choose?

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If you were given the choice between sitting quietly with your thoughts or self-administering a mild electric shock, what would you choose?

Yes, it’s a serious question and one that was addressed in a study by Timothy Wilson et al at the Department of Psychology at Virginia University – “Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind”

All men’s miseries come from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone. 
-Blaise Pascal

If you are anything like me, in today’s world of excessive stimuli and assault on our senses, you crave time alone in silence, “me-time” to sit quietly, rest and calm the mind and to meditate. You would also most likely consider that to be a pleasant experience.  Not so for some of the population who apparently consider being alone with one’s thoughts to be an unpleasant experience. The study by Wilson et al determined that men, in particular, chose to give themselves a mild electric shock rather than be denied external sensory stimuli.

“…Many participants elected to receive negative stimulation over no stimulation–especially men: 67% of men (12 of 18) gave themselves at least one shock during the thinking period…”

“…not including one outlier who administered 190 shocks to himself]” Read more…

REST is SACRED

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We are living in a culture where being pathologically busy is the norm and where rest is riskily underrated. Hands up if you find it challenging to give yourself the time out to rest; to give your mind, body and spirit a decent respite with the opportunity to unplug from our often too hectic world. Can you allow yourself the time and space to ease into the bliss of nothingness?

Rest is fundamental for enhancing our health, happiness and our capacity to achieve our personal goals and success in life.  We need rest for mental health and cognitive function; improving and balancing our moods, memory and concentration. Rest is imperative for reducing stress, enhancing a healthier immune system while promoting well-being. When we sleep soundly, some of our physiological systems such as our digestive system have the opportunity to rest and in doing so can improve our metabolism and help us to manage our weight more effectively.

Rest isn’t simply about sleep –  humans also need “Waking Rest”.  In the article, “Exercise, sleep, nutrition and waking rest” published in 2019 by the Oxford Academic, the authors explain that, “Waking rest is a period of quiet, reflective thought that allows the brain time to consider and process whatever arises spontaneously. Waking rest can last from 5 to 20 minutes once or multiple times per day, and should take place in an area where the participant feels safe, comfortable, and can remain uninterrupted by outside influences. It is void of effortful, focused thought and distracting stimuli such as watching television and engaging in social media.” Read more…