I tried the meditation app Headspace. I failed. But I did find something else that worked.
“Its behaviour patterns aren’t pretty. It gets angry, fast. It’s territorial and aggressive; it would do anything for sex, and it cares way too much what other people think. It’s obsessive and compulsive and thinks in pictures, symbols and shapes rather than words. It gets scared very easily and stops us from doing what we want to; from trying new hobbies to achieving our dreams.”
This, thing, described by Edwina Shaw, sounds like a pretty nasty creature, whatever it actually is. More about that later.
“If we believed that we had a soul, we would not treat patients as we do today.” Gabor Mate, a Jewish Hungarian now living in Canada, is a renowned scholar and physician by training who has spent most of his working life studying addictions, traumas, and how our mental health is connected to our physical health.
Gabor wrote a great account of his learnings and observations in the book, “When the body says no: Understanding the stress-disease connection,” which he published for the first time in 2003. It is a fascinating read about the connection between the occurrence of chronic disease and the lack of mental well-being. I highly recommend it.
“It is a fascinating read about the connection between the occurrence of chronic disease and the lack of mental well-being. I highly recommend it.”
Gabor’s very articulate review and numerous examples of psychosomatic patterns in human beings fascinated me. I have, for a long time, thought about how a poor or troubled mental state can lead to disease patterns.
Gabor’s research was inspiring and, in a way, scary at the same time. I strongly believe that the high-pressure environment of entrepreneurship and building companies leads, in many cases, to both poor mental health and illness. Luckily, entrepreneurs are starting to be more open about the problems they face. Talking about the mental strain of building a business and making more information available are the first steps to actually addressing these problems. You can find plenty of articles about the subject on Medium.
“Talking about the mental strain of building a business and making more information available are the first steps to actually addressing these problems.”
Mental wellness is as critical for enabling everyday people to function well as being at the peak of their physical performance is for athletes. There is a fine balance between pushing yourself and running with mental clarity, letting the adrenaline of the day push you, and being pushed over the edge. The edge is never obviously in sight. Life is unfair. Problems do not arrive in neat packages on a conveyor belt where you take care of them one by one. Chances are that when you are in deep into your work, or in a critical situation with your company that needs 24-hour attention, you will have somebody close to you succumb to illness unexpectedly, or a friend who gets into an accident, or all three things at the same time. It is not that bad things happen or that they happen simultaneously, it is how you react to and deal with them that defines you.
“Problems do not arrive in neat packages on a conveyor belt where you take care of them one by one.”
I have written about being vulnerable before. Sharing your vulnerability is a superpower. This is not how we are trained, but I know from experience that most of us react with openness, encouragement, and a non-judgemental mind when we are exposed to vulnerability. It is OK to share that you are stressed or overworked, or that it is all a bit too much.
“It is OK to share that you are stressed or overworked, or that it is all a bit too much.”
Mindfulness has become a new buzzword, and I think it is terrific. Meditation, yoga, cardio workouts, or even long walks are great ways to attain a calmer mind. I tried the mediation app Headspace. I failed. Maybe I wasn’t persistent enough. Maybe my 4 weeks of using the app wasn’t enough. But I did find something else that worked — breathing!
Yeah, it is a big deal. Wim Hof, a crazy Dutchman, who for many years held the world record for being submerged in ice water, has, among other things, devised a breathing method that I really like and treasure. It takes 15–20 minutes in the morning, and gives me a calmness of mind and a mental state that I can revert to at any time during the day if I feel stressed or overwhelmed. Yes, I know what you are thinking. But VCs also feel stress and can be overwhelmed at times, not just entrepreneurs. The breathing routine in the morning kind of “imprints” your brain with the calmness state, and it is there, available to tap into, at any time during the day. I also believe it has several auxiliary health benefits that will serve me well over time. Using Wim Hof’s method, I finish my shower every morning with 1 minute under ice-cold water. It really brings my system to life! And this is not just because I am a Scandinavian Lutheran who is supposed to suffer. It really does make you feel great. Afterwards.
Now, what does all of this have to do with the nasty creature I described in the beginning? That nasty creature is something we all carry with us; it has been popularised as the “reptilian” brain — the oldest, most instinctive part of our grey matter. It controls our flight, freeze, or fight response. It releases enormous amounts of adrenaline when triggered, and overrides any other sensible parts of our “thinking” brain in the neocortex. However, there are also perceived health benefits to activating systems in your reptilian brain, and part of the Wim Hof breathing technique is designed to activate these systems.
So, stress activates a lot of functions in your reptilian brain, but it shuts down your neocortex, making it difficult to think clearly and address difficult situations and circumstances in a proper way. However, the good news is that by deliberately activating or deactivating the reptilian brain with breathing techniques, you can put yourself back in control, or rather put your neocortex back in control.
Breathing — it has worked for me. If you have tried mediation but have given up, try the breathing techniques of Wim Hof. They just might work. And you don’t have to do the ice-cold shower; that is optional.
Be mindful, take control of your mind — and BREATHE!
