The mind also needs vacations, why?
Holidays not only help us to be happy, but they are a powerful tool for personal growth. Both the body and the mind need a vacation and get rid of the fatigue accumulated throughout the year. There are some keys that explain the close relationship that exists between individual well-being and leisure time and how, at the same time, some people can generate stress and anxiety during the holidays. A bad known as "holiday stress" and that appears when our mind does not know how to interrupt the routine.
The body asks to stop, the mind to disconnect
When we reach the end of spring, the weight of the course, it shows. Being constantly attending to a multitude of stimuli makes us react with stress and anxiety, so we need to learn to stop to get emotional balance. "Our mind needs to stop just like our body, in fact, the brain is the organ that consumes the most glucose in our body, so it also needs vacations from time to time," explains psychologist Jesús Matos.
The benefits derived are practically automatic since, during travel and holidays, leisure time is longer than day-to-day, which allows us to enjoy more. "The holidays are usually accompanied by a rise in mood, because there is a direct relationship between the performance of pleasant activities and good humor," says Matos. However, according to him, holidays teach us something more than to relax, disconnect or have fun and can enhance our personal development for life.
Travel, source of learning
Although there are many ways to travel, there are some common elements that are usually present in the break periods and that are a source of knowledge. "We usually have time to reflect and we usually live the present moment with more intensity than in our day to day. When facing new situations, also, we learn to know our fears and limitations better", exposes Jesús Matos.
Patience, organization, cognitive stimulation, problem management, relativization ... the skills that travel brings us are many, although there are some that stand out above others. "Traveling opens our minds, it helps us to know other ways of life and to relativize our daily worries. We can say that traveling lightens the luggage of problems accumulated during the year, "he adds.
In fact, according to a recent study of the American Psychological Association, it has been proven that traveling or doing it frequently helps manage the stress of everyday life, namely coping with crippling situations and environments or facing obstacles and unforeseen events, whether traveling alone or accompanied.
The mantra to repeat to avoid holiday stress
On the other hand, there is a narrow relationship that also exists between routine and anxiety and how bad management can trigger holiday stress. "The human being is an animal of customs and as such, interrupting the routine or habit is a moment that does not stop being destabilizing," he says. "The reality is that almost nothing ever happens and when it happens we usually react effectively.The majority of concerns are never met.The key to gaining safety is to throw yourself into the pool and learn that nobody is essential," adds the psychologist.
Face it from the illusion and not from fear is key to not spend the holidays trying to disconnect until the last day. "Normally when we expose ourselves to new situations, our deepest fears usually come out. The fear of not being contactable, for example. It is an emotional response of anxiety. Launching ourselves to this will help us overcome our fears and insecurities, "he concludes.
Jesus Matos. Psychologist and founder of In Mental Balance
