Activate Your Numbness

Today I woke up with back pain. I have been lazy on the exercise and this is the price I always pay. Lazy me. :)

So, I have been stuck an entire day (and previously in similar situation, for a week) in horizontal modus. And this is the worst kind of sick from some perspectives. Your body can't do what the mind wants to do: be active. You are forced into a "dead man's pose" but your brain slowly goes ballistic of the boredom and the nothingness of stimulation.

I guess you could watch a movie or two, or read a fantastic book. But after a while that too feels sickening. For an hour I casually browsed the web, but it is hard to use a keyboard when you are lying down. I stumbled however on a really interesting blog: http://lovinglifeblog.com/2009/08/12/when-life-gets-busy where I read a few posts. And the "Dead man attracts love" was a very timely one for my current position.

Anyway, thought I'd use this post to ask a few questions:

1. Is it dangerous with too much relaxation? Will this eventually numb your brain and creativity? Will you eventually get used to do nothing?

Example: a friend of mine in Germany got fired. First he was actively seeking new jobs. Then he got depressed as he didn't find any and turned it inward and felt less worth. And then he kind of settled in the situation. He is not actively seeking jobs anymore, and seems fine with it.

2. If your brain does not want stillness, should you force it? Maybe there are different kind of human types and some of them are relaxing in their fullest activity mode?

Example: a dear friend of mine is an A-type person, mega edition, and he is CTO for a huge company here in Silicon Valley (the high-pulse Mecca for IT-professionals) so he has an extreme workload. Constantly. Still, when he goes on vacation (which usually lasts one or two days + a weekend at the most!!) he has tried to go to "relaxing" destinations. Bora bora, Dominican, Brazil, Mexico beaches...you name it. But he gets frustrated, he's told me, and would feel much more relaxed enjoying fun and sights in a high-pulse town like Tokyo or Hongkong. The people and activity relaxes him.

So...does everyone really need relaxation in the "be still" form or are there some kinds who really need the activity to stay relaxed and non-frustrated/stressed?

I am probably one of those who need "Dead man's pose" the most. And I should do more Yoga and relaxation for sure. So maybe I should stop being lazy and force myself to actively relax. That will probably eliminate the risk of this horizontal forced relaxation that I am in right now.

Hope you see how I tied all that together. This is probably my proudest moment today. Something for my bedside book. :)