Dear James:

When your attention is moved to your body, as in physical exercise, you get a break from mental activity. It is like taking the elevator down from your head (brain) to your body. After a break, you feel relaxed. Obviously you need vacations from thinking.

And so, take those breaks, mini-vacations, only not by over-exercising or exercising that will wear down your body. Instead, to relaxing yoga (stretching and holding positions where your attention is in how this or that muscle or part of the body feels) or Tai Chi, which is a slow-motion set of movements, very detailed, where, again, your attention is on the body, the move, every second of every move. A delightful vacation from the wandering, over thinking brain.

anita