Stress makes you Stupid: Conscious Distraction through music is the RX

Who has time for play? I used to say that. While I didn’t think I needed it, I’d sneer at woman who made time to play tennis, dance or paint. Why were they wasting their time? Until I moved to California and was obviously a little jealous that people could actually work AND have fun. I never thought I’d be saying stress makes you stupid. I thought stress made me serious and gave me an edge. But knee-jerk reactions to situations aren’t your best response. Dare to bend your assumptions about what’s good for you and what’s bad. Working harder is bad. Unwinding is good. Working harder without knowing why is a way to avoid reality is denial. Letting go and airing out is renewal and you need it when you are really under stress.

Having greater clarity and awareness is what you want to have. To achieve it, you need to do things that will reboot and reset your brain. It’s a brain break. It will help you end ruminating thoughts even if it’s for an hour. You will shift from "OMG, OMG the sky is falling!" to "OMG, there is a God and life isn’t as bad as I thought." You’ll have clarity and be able to focus on the key 2 things you need to do today instead of the 2 zillion things.

If this inner calm and discernment sounds like Nirvana, it is. It’s why people practice yoga or become hooked on drumming, dancing or painting or praying. They get a glimpse of something. They get out of their way and the veil of deception and busyness is lifted for a moment. It’s a delicious tease, and you want more

Try listening to great music. It doesn’t matter if it’s Classical or Reggae. The music you resonate with and like will have a positive effect on you. The Greeks recognized the healing effects of music. Avram Goldstein, a neuroscientist at Stanford University concluded back in the 80’s that music releases endorphins, the body’s natural mood booster and painkiller. The Cleveland Clinic studied 40 people with chronic pain. Half of them listened to music of their choice for a week and experienced 21% less pain and 25% less depression than those who didn’t. So create your own happy, upbeat song tracks and walk at lunch and listen to them. You will be tuning out the noise from the office and receive a hormone high.

My zombie track: If you are in LA, 1260 AM is called retro music and I love the double shot of Frank at the lunchtime hour. All Sinatra all the time makes me sing out loud and off key, and I have more confidence to “Do it My Way.”