Mindfulness
fromSilicon Canals
15 hours agoThe underrated value of rest - Silicon Canals
Prioritizing rest can significantly enhance creativity, patience, and overall well-being, challenging the misconception that rest is for the lazy.
Sitting in the audience, listening to these professionals in perfect harmony, brought me back to my days in the band. I wasn't good, it was mandatory, and I played the trombone. I desperately wanted to quit. We couldn't have backpacks in school, so I walked through the halls lugging my trombone in my right hand and books under my left armpit. This made me a perfect target for a bully or two to come up behind me and smack the books out from under me.
That question may sound provocative, but it has fascinated scientists for decades. Despite the billions of dollars spent each year on antidepressant drugs, a striking body of research suggests that much, and possibly all, of their benefit may come not from chemistry, but from expectation: the simple belief that the pill will help. 1,2 That phenomenon has a name: the placebo effect.
Even when our own lives are relatively stable, constant exposure to war, political unrest, climate crises, and humanitarian suffering activates the brain's threat system. The nervous system is not designed to distinguish between danger that is physically nearby and danger that is emotionally vivid or repeatedly witnessed. Over time, this creates chronic vigilance. When people observe patterns of harm, exclusion, or dehumanization playing out publicly, the body registers risk.