Brain Brakes
Does the accelerated speed of life, work and daily activities, plus financial worries, planning, life events, and TMI result in overwhelming stress for you?   

Then please, give yourself a few minutes at intervals during the day to decelerate; to focus on a sensory experience to help your brain switch gears. 

Brain brakes with kids. Is personal time and space hard to create when kids are home? Try to involve them in sensory brain brakes, too.

• sorting dirty clothes and folding laundry, invite kids to
  • identify colors,
  • experience textures,
  • talk about their favorites, etc.
• identify sensations while stretching 
• cover their eyes and
  • identify sensations of various objects
  • guess what the mystery objects are
• Watch our hands make repetitive movements  (re: helicopter noise: I live in a densely populated LA neighborhood with frequent helicopter surveillance, sirens and other urban street noise. Meditation practices become are more resilient when we make space for these and other distractions. 

What happens when we don't brake?  

Too much information and too much sensory input results in traffic jams - congestion - in our nervous system and 

• can exceed the capacity of our nervous system to relay information
• can exceed our brain’s capacity to process it
• overwhelms our ability to make choices and decisions

Too much information releases stress chemicals, which disrupt digestion, circulation, clear thinking and the immune system.

How can brain brakes help?

Sensory experiences are brain brakes. When we switch to sensory experiences we 

• access information from our whole body, a slower  process than thinking and planning, so we decelerate naturally.
• give our brain time to process and assimilate the mental stuff 
• make space for new information
• assure our body that we're not blowing off it's needs: to pee, to eat, to hydrate, to rest, to play
  • notice the sensations that let you know that your bladder is full, you're hungry, thirsty, tired, over-worked
  • use the word, NOTICE vs feeling when accessing sensations.¹ 

Which one do you want to try first?

Before you start and when you're finished, it's helpful to scan your body and notice what you're experiencing.  

• Notice the sensation of your feet on the floor
• Notice your breath and the areas where it's easy to breathe
• Notice what other sensations get your attention

Brain Brakes

• Walk around the space you're in 
  • notice sensations in your feet, especially if you walk on different surfaces
  • notice the air flow on your body
  • notice temperatures
  • notice colors; textures
  • what else?
•  Music
  • move to it
  • day dream with it
  • allow it to inspire a doodle
• Draw/ color
• Feel the texture of clothes in your closet or drawer
  • put on a favorite - notice the sensations
  • sort by colors, patterns
• You got the idea so make up some more
• Remember to check in with your body. What do you notice that's different from when you began?
• Notice if solutions to problems reveal themselves after you take a little break from them.

¹Noticing sensations may naturally make space for feelings to also emerge.