[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″]

Dear Tim,

Thanks for telling me about your burned out feelings, bro. Been there; done that. Sounds like nighttime acting workshops and daytime barista work are more than you can handle. You have to be careful not to multitask yourself into a state of nervous exhaustion. When you stay busy all the time, your mind cannot rest. When you don’t get enough rest, your physiology eventually shifts into emergency mode. Nobody can operate that way for too long.

Have you paid attention to your breathing? Is it shallow, like you’re not taking deep breaths, like you’re half out of breath all the time? When you do that day after day, your brain experiences some oxygen deficit. Then you can’t concentrate on what you’re trying to do. Your mind gets tired easily, and you keep jumping from one thought to the other. It’s like having ADD, except without any energy! You get anxious and depressed, and you start to beat yourself up. It’s your neurotic, nonstop ego that keeps telling you to go, go, go all the time. It’s like whipping a tired horse.

I warned you about this when we practiced Buddhist anapanasati breathing and vipassana meditation two years ago, but it sounds like you’ve drop those from your daily schedule. I get it; you think it’s more important to be busy accomplishing something tangible that promises a more immediate payback. Anapanasati and meditation will relax you fast, but to get their long-term neurological and spiritual payoffs only come when you practice them regularly.

I’m not criticizing, just reminding you to take a close look at where you invest your energy. You go to bed late, sleep fitfully, wake up still exhausted and immediately jump into a busy all-day schedule. You’re starting to live that lifestyle you promised never to let happen to you. You know what I mean – stressed all the time, living on caffeine and PowerBars.

Please don’t keep going at this frantic pace. You said it yourself. You can’t concentrate on what you’re doing, because you worry about what else you think you should be doing. It’s nuts! You’re young and healthy enough now, but take from a senior citizen in recovery from burnout himself, your mind and body will start running on empty if you don’t chill.

What concerns me spiritually is that you’re never just being right here, right now. You don’t seem to be enjoying the present moment, ever. When you don’t have enough enjoyable present moments, you start adapting to the neurosis of busyness and quit seeking that simple happiness. Some people end up living their whole adult lives in anxiety about the future and regret over the past. You could become a victim of the urban scene’s 24/7 nightmare. Look at some of the spiritually ignorant people around you, and you’ll know I’m right.

Since you asked me what to do about all this stress, I’ll make it simple. You need to re-train your body to breathe and your mind to meditate. I guarantee if you do, your anxiety will diminish, your sleep will improve and you’ll perform better both on the stage and in the coffee shop when you ‘re making lattes.

Start every morning with at least 10 minutes of the anapanasati breathing followed by 10 more minutes of vipassana mindfulness meditation. Let nothing interfere with this discipline. When you focus on your breathing, you’ll be right back into the here and now. You’ll get a strong dopamine response. Your stress cortisol levels will drop along with your blood pressure and resting heart rate. Your brain’s prefrontal cortex, where all your thinking and feeling happen, will start to function more efficiently.

Repeat the 10 x 10 minutes at the end of your day, and you’ll get the same effects again. This means starting and ending the day with a little taste of nirvana! It’s like putting mindful bookends on both sides of your day. Ram Dass and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi told my generation to do this in the ’60s. I was one of those people who finally followed their advice, and I’m still grateful.

I had an anxiety problem similar to yours. I was a 20-something advertising copywriter during the day and a wannabe novelist by night. Sometimes I couldn’t write a whole sentence, without getting frustrated and panicky. I wondered if my style was unique or whether I was just cloning Richard Brautigan or Henry Miller. Was I an authentic stream-of-consciousness writer like James Joyce? No, but I wanted to be. Maybe some more Irish coffee would have helped, but I wasn’t a drinker. I spent hours driving up and down Pacific Coast Highway listening to The Doors, hoping for inspiration.

Trust me on this. I know using relaxing techniques to make yourself ultimately more productive is counterintuitive. In a multitasking culture like ours, drenched in media, caffeine, sexual images and advertising that plays on our dissatisfaction, it’s hard to make the choice to just sit down and breathe. But you have to do it; the alternatives are career trouble and chronic poor health, or worse. Most people escape into pharmaceuticals, street drugs, alcohol or any of the dozens of other addictions that plague them but I know you’re smarter than that. I believe in you.

Escape the neurosis. I get that you’ve been upset, and I am honored that you’ve asked me for counsel. I’ve told you what I know to be true from my own experience. You have to turn inward, not outward, to experience the joy of the present moment. Be here now. Breathe. Meditate.

Your friend,

Michael

[/vc_column][/vc_row]