The Garden Knows What Your Racing Mind Doesn't

I recently needed to make some choices about my business and was finding it hard to focus, discern the options clearly, and move forward. My thoughts were jumbled and racing, and I was distracted, unfocused. I decided to sit quietly for a while in my garden. As I took some deep breaths, all I could hear was the song of several birds and the soft fall of water in my fountain. When I looked around, I noticed a blooming pink rose and a hummingbird feeding on my red flowered bush. The tension eased in my shoulders and my mind blessedly calmed down. 

After allowing this to go on for what felt to my usually hurried self like a very long time, I made some notes about the decisions in front of me and some ways I could approach them. I started to get a sense of what felt right, what was in alignment with my long-term vision, and what was doable given a recent health challenge and a desire not to overwork. Yet only when I slowed down and quieted my racing mind and distracted attention did this clarity return. 

It turns out that what I was experiencing before my time in the garden can be explained by brain science. A chronically distracted and cluttered mind overtaxes the brain's neural processing capacity, locking the nervous system into a persistent state of low-grade stress and cognitive fatigue. Mental overload and fatigue cloud judgment and raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which in turn taxes the body. 

Our ways of working can deeply affect the ability of our brain to assist us in our leadership. Frequent task-switching and dealing with competing stimuli drain mental energy, making the executive control center (prefrontal cortex) work much harder just to maintain basic focus. "Aha" moments and strategic breakthroughs happen when the brain shifts from active, forced concentration to relaxed, default-mode thinking. As leaders, we function at a much higher and healthier level when we can switch throughout the day between focused work and allowing our brain to rest in a more open, relaxed state. 

A calm mind also helps leaders listen better, respond with empathy rather than reactivity, and manage team conflict more effectively. I know that many times when clients come to me in distress, unsure what to do about a serious problem in their organization, I first help them slow down, breathe, and calm body and mind. When that happens, I tell them that they do, in fact, know what to do, or are beginning to know, to address the situation. From a calm mind, they find ideas and action steps they can take. (They may have feelings about taking those steps – something we can also address – but I find that most of the time, they already know what they want to do.) 

It was a relief to sit in my garden and feel the confusion and mind clutter clear, and I wanted to find ways to maintain this pleasurable and beneficial state I had reached. I have dedicated some deep-focus time in my day while removing distractions, alternating it with daydreaming time. I have also reduced my cable news consumption (I'm a news junkie so I delve more into print sources which are less stressful for me), increased my contemplative time in the morning (sitting quietly, journaling on the day ahead, and sending positive energy out to loved ones), and I take naps when I'm tired in the afternoon to give my mind and body a brief rest. 

Clarity, it turns out, isn't something we force our way into, but something we make room for. The garden didn't hand me the answers; it simply gave my mind the quiet it needed to find them on its own. 

What are some practices and pauses that might work for you to reach a calmer mind and reset your nervous system? 

A few minutes of stillness, right where you are? 

A walk outside? 

Listening to soothing music? 

A quiet cup of tea without a screen in hand?