Solitude improves mind health

In today's always-on culture, we don't value being alone. Even more so, as we are always connected, we have become afraid of loneliness. However, being lonely has exceptionally little in common with solitude.

Solitude and loneliness are different. While loneliness is associated with negative feelings that often sabotage your self-worth solitude refreshes and boosts your wellbeing.

Solitude is appropriate for calming down and allows self-reflection. We can look at solitude as a time for recharging ourselves and this makes it supportive of mind health.

What is solitude?

Solitude is spending quality time alone without feeling lonely or needing anyone else to validate you.

You choose solitude consciously because you value your time and energy and desire to calm your mind.

Choosing to be alone from time to time in a state of inner peace allows self-observation. This permits you to reflect on various inner processes and also figure out your priorities without any external pressure. Seizing such moments cultivates inner wellness.

Meditation is an example of peace restoring solitude. However, you don't need to meditate or stare at the ceiling. You can just sit in quietness or walk in quiet nature and allow silence to calm your speeding thoughts and calm your emotional turmoils.
 

When do you need some time alone?

We all need time away from others, social media and external events. How much varies, some people might need more of such time, some less. However, we all should enjoy our own company and downtime as it restores our mental wellbeing.

Spending alone time allows us to unwind and relax.

You don't necessarily need to withdraw for a week or go on a holiday alone, but you do need some quiet time. Taking just one hour or one day is a good starting point!

Being constantly busy causes stress and burnout, thus we need moments away from responsibilities and social interactions. Constant on mode can be draining if we don't take some quality time for ourselves.

Solitude helps when you start getting irritated about small things or feel fatigued or stressed. Taking a pause can be seen as taking a pit stop to refuel. We shouldn't consume external fuels like drugs and alcohol, as those cause more fatigue and are not restoring our wellness.

Instead of using external fuel, we should reconnect with our core essence – with our silent True Self. Inner calmness is our superpower.

Solitude cures overwhelming emotions and thoughts and improves the ability to focus.

Solitude ends overstimulation and it has the power to reduce burnout risk that originates from stress and inner reactivity.

Why is solitude important?

Solitude can uplift your mental wellness and allows you to look within yourself.

Only in solitude, you can discover what worries you or keeps your mind busy.

When you step away from constant external noise, you can see that some of it still sticks with you. You may repeat some sentences, worrisome thought patterns, or words from a song you love. This sets the tone. That is why getting rid of the noise within you matters as I reveal in the video below.

Giving yourself time away from others and external noise allows for reducing your mental pressures.

Solitude allows you to be who you are, in solitude, there are no outside influences. Taking time alone periodically permits you to become comfortable with your own company.

What you do in those solitary moments is up to you.

You can just lay on your back and observe the clouds or close your eyes and relax. You can find a comfy sitting pose and calm down your breathing. You can take a cup of herbal tea.

And if your mind doesn't calm down and keeps racing, you should read some books about consciousness. Knowing what consciousness is, allows you to discover new qualities within you. An excellent book to start with is Ingvar Villido's "Practical Consciousness". It includes effective techniques for releasing negative emotions and quieting your thoughts!
 

Benefits of solitude

Solitude graciously permits intrapersonal exploration. You can look within your inner domain and discover your mind has various processes. It isn't a lump or thing on its own.

You discover, instead of an abstract mind, there are thoughts, imaginations and feelings. You genuinely need to observe those inner processes and lead them at will. Learning to properly separate different inner processes intentionally allows self-leadership improvement. Of course, learning awareness-based intrapersonal skills boosts it further.

Peaceful solitude also permits you to work through ongoing processes at your own pace and without perceived judgments from others. You and only you can intuitively grasp what is best for you and in solitude, such insights can naturally appear.

After a while, you probably discover it's freeing to be on your own. When focused on your inner domain, you can work toward being the person you sincerely want to be and decide what you cherish to achieve with your life. You can intentionally set your personal and work-related goals.

Solitude offers a chance to discover your unique path without external pressures.

Supportive activities in solitude

You can use solitary moments also for reading, walking in nature, meditating, painting, drawing or playing a musical instrument. You can also go to the sauna or enjoy a long bath. Your time, your choices!

You can look at solitude as investing in yourself. The actions you undertake alone should destress you and improve your inner calmness. So make up your own rules.

Employers should encourage such time as a tranquil mind can easily access intrapersonal skills, like creativity, intuition and insights. All those demand inner calmness and quietness.

Different scientific papers amply prove, being alone can help boost your creativity and improve your concentration.

One key recommendation with active alone time is – you should pick an activity that you genuinely love and stick to it until flow appears. This flow is consciousness. Mastering your awareness allows you to focus on the tasks. Being good at this comes in handy at work!

Solitude boosts mind health

Solitude boosts your wellbeing. Solitude provides you with the space to exist without the social expectations that come with work, family or friends.

When we always perform what others expect and neglect our own inner wellness, we become depleted and stressed or anxious. While loneliness as negative emotion may trigger anxiety, being alone and loving it reduces it.

Solitude isn't an emotion. Solitude is inwardly quiet time alone.

Loneliness, on the other hand, is a negative emotion associated with a higher risk of depression. While the two appear outwardly the same, they are inwardly different.

Awareness-related studies prove that time alone and practicing self-compassion has the power to decrease anxiety and depressive thought patterns. In addition, it reduces stress and burnout risk. In solitude, you have time to observe your thoughts and notice what is going on with your emotional state.

This observation sooner or later reveals that all your inner problems are up to you to solve, And for solving them you need intrapersonal skills.

Make solitude enjoyable

If you require pleasing results from your solitude, disconnect from phones and (social) media as much as possible so you can truly restore your inner wellness.

The solitude will work in your favor if you genuinely enjoy it! Permit yourself to read a book or painting or play an instrument or even listen to an album from your favorite artist/composer from the start to the end.

We highly recommend nature walks alone as spending time in wild nature restores inner quietness and improves mental wellness. It is a win-win start and doesn't feel awkward. Once you detect the calmness that follows, you perceive the true deep value of solitude.
 

Conclusion

Choosing solitude can be challenging if you aren't used to investing in yourself.

If you aren't used to solitude, figuring out where to start can take a while. The key here is the same as with any project, take the first step.

Embrace solitude and maximize your alone time. Deliver such an opportunity to your loved ones and colleagues. For example, setting up a quiet room in the office or encouraging lunchtime walks in the park nearby is also a clever idea for employers. After all, even short time solitude boosts wellbeing. Short moments are not identical to solitary hours or days or weeks that truly can boost your mental wellness.

.... and let us remind you, mental wellness boosts productivity and employee engagement!

And one last thing! Remember to let people know you consciously take time for solitude, this reduces external pressure.

Your loved ones and colleagues gladly give it if they observe you returning after it with more energy and inner drive!

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This blog post is by Kaur Lass