There are countless ways to curb stress, but so many seem to require long-term commitment -- ongoing routines, schedule shifts, daily activity. For some, the idea of implementation is just an added strain. That's why when Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently revealed one of his pandemic-era techniques for keeping stress at bay, ears perked up.
There are countless ways to curb stress, but so many seem to require long-term commitment -- ongoing routines, schedule shifts, daily activity. For some, the idea of implementation is just an added strain. That's why when Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently revealed one of his pandemic-era techniques for keeping stress at bay, ears perked up.
It's not meditation. It's not diet. It's not journaling.
It's a collection of non-sleep deep-rest (NSDR) podcasts.
Business Insider took a deeper dive on NSDRs, a term originated by Stanford neuroscience professor Andrew Huberman. According to Huberman, NSDR involves "self-inducing a state of calm" and "directing our focus to something."
More specifically, Huberman calls out two critical components of NSDR: yoga nidra and hypnosis. The first puts you in a static physical state and prompts you to focus on a part of your body or its natural rhythms -- your breathing, for example. The second is, well, exactly what it you'd imagine -- translated by Huberman as "eliminating the surround [to achieve] a state of high focus."
Easier said than done, especially for busy C-levels who spend their day constantly in motion, juggling a million and one tasks.
The key is to pair NSDR with an activity you might already do, though after some trial and error myself, I recommend you keep it to something that is rote and requires minimal mental effort -- like washing the dishes.
For some, these activities can be Zen-like even without the help of NSDR, but if you need an extra level of calm, NSDR can actually help get you there quickly. Here's why, in my experience:
Because both of these benefits can be enjoyed at any point in the day -- and, if supported by NSDR, become second nature -- they can quickly mirror the benefit of morning or evening routines without the time-intensive hassle and schedule changes that usually go with them.
To be sure, there are countless relaxation and stress management techniques, and there is no one-size-fits-all. However, I believe the more we learn to manage our stress in the moment, the less need there will be to compartmentalize our "relaxing/unwinding" and our "doing, doing, doing." We'll be able to function in a state of calm whatever our harried schedules demand.