Anchors

Putting a drag into your life is a good thing!

Jokes about “anchors around necks” are commonplace, but these resulting chuckles have given the poor anchor a bad rap!  In modern society, everything moves so fast that our everyday thoughts are often akin to scrolling TikTok or Youtube, changing directions every few seconds. Brain researchers are worried about what multitasking and scrolling are doing to our brains.  Dragging down our fast thoughts is no longer natural nor easy.  That’s why we need to build anchors into our day.    

One type of anchor is daydreaming. Brain researchers are worried that we aren’t getting enough daydreaming time, because it turns out that unplugging and daydreaming is amazing for our brain. Think through your routines, activities, and chores for these daydreaming anchors. Do you start your day in quiet silence, putzing around as you make your morning coffee?  I bet your mind daydreams as well!  Do you find yourself daydreaming during your workout or on the drive home? What about during chores like shoveling snow or vacuuming? Where else could you add in this important anchor?

Brain researchers are also worried that we aren’t reading books anymore, because it turns out that focussing our eyes (or ears if it’s an audiobook) on one thing for an extended period of time is also an amazing anchor!  When do you anchor yourself by focussing your thoughts on just one thing?  One of my favorites is sitting down for a boardgame.  Mowing the lawn with an audiobook is another.  I bet we can find other times where we can put the scrolling away, forget the multitasking, and give our brain this amazing one-focus anchor.    

Of course, being in the present moment is yet another anchor.  Yoga and meditation teaches us to anchor into the present moment by using breath or movement or a repetitive mantra.  Solo hikers do this by turning off the tunes and focusing only on noticing the nature around us.  Dancing or running to music is yet another.  

In modern society, we really do need to consciously build anchors into our daily lives.

Until next time, anchors away!

Laura