Episode 93: THE ATHLETICS OF LIFE: RECOVERING FROM COGNITIVE STRAIN – Flourishing Friday
In today’s Flourishing Friday episode, listen in as Emiliya talks about the athletics of life. Every athlete knows that the best way to build their fitness is to train their recovery. But recovering from cognitive strain is a lot harder than recovering from physical strain. Because we are constantly “on”, it’s more difficult to disengage the mind. Listen in as Emiliya shares three simple strategies to recover from cognitive strain so you can come back feeling even stronger.
Why is it harder to recover from cognitive strain than from physical strain?
When athletes need to recover, they simply disengage and rest their bodies. Recovering from emotional strain, or cognitive strain, is very different. The world doesn’t make it easy to unplug from our work, both physically or mentally. We feel the burden of constantly being “on”. Even sleeping doesn’t necessarily let cognitive strain reset itself, so we need different strategies to conquer the “athletics of life”.
Three key practices that can help you recover from cognitive strain
There are three simple tools you can use to build athleticism and the capacity to recover from cognitive strain.
- Mentally “unplug” – Meditation and mindfulness practitioners have an advantage when it comes to recovering from cognitive or emotional strain. You can use mindfulness strategies such as paying attention to the present moment to mentally “reset”. If you can’t unplug from your day, what can you plug into? Noticing what you’re doing and putting your attention on your surroundings, plugging into the present moment, can have a restorative effect.
- Induce positive emotions – When positive emotions are present, we can undo some of the impacts of stress on our body. Rather than getting rid of the negative emotion or stress, try inducing positive positive emotions instead. Negative emotions drain us, whereas positive emotions fill us back up.
- Use your body to change your mind – Using your body to create a mental gear shift is one of the easiest ways to begin to take control of how you are feeling. Take a break. Go for a walk, stretch your body, or dance. Using our body works because our bodies and minds are intricately connected.
These are a few ideas for how you can begin to support yourself when feeling cognitive strain. Making small changes and tweaks to your day can help you come back even stronger!
Sponsored by 5i
This episode is sponsored by the 5i Change Agent model. Curious what type of Change Agent you are? Take this brief assessment to find out now.
