Solitude can be self care

0:03 Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that solitude can be self-care. A little time alone can help you feel more grounded and refreshed. Today's tip comes from Emma Gannon, author of the book, A Year of Nothing. She was recently a guest on the Happiness Lab podcast. Gannon said solitude is part of what she calls her mental health toolkit. This makes sense because, as another expert on the podcast explained, time alone is emotionally deactivating. Your positive and negative emotions become less intense when you are alone. Your excitement fades a bit. Your anger also becomes less intense. Your anxiety eases up. Being

1:07 alone turns down the volume on your emotions. What's more, when you're alone, no one is asking you to do anything. So you can notice and meet your own needs and desires instead of someone else's. This can be really helpful as self-care during busy times of life. So how do you get time alone? I know this can be hard for many people. One big idea. Consider a solo trip or just a night in a local hotel or even at the home of a friend who is out of town.

1:47 If you are in a phase of life where you are constantly reacting to everyone else, being on your own in a new space for just 24 hours can be incredibly restorative. You might even ask for time alone as a holiday or birthday present. It will probably be better for you than a sweater. Now, that's not always doable, and there are other ways of finding solitude too. You can take a solo drive, walk, hike, or bike ride.

2:21 If you commute solo, there is some solitude right there if you treat it as such. On occasion, you might even commute in silence to see what you think about. You can find a spot in your house where no one else goes. Maybe you can find solitude in your basement, your walk-in closet, a little used guest room. If you have little kids, put another adult in charge of being the first line of defense for a while. If you have been home with little kids all day, the first few minutes when your partner gets home from work might be a good time for this. You get 10 minutes of solitude, and then you emerge much more able to deal with everyone. While you are solo, stay off your phone and computer. Let yourself get lost in thought. Focus

3:12 on your breathing. Meditate, stretch, daydream, read. It's easy to feel like there are demands coming at you from all sides, and like you never get a moment to yourself. but you can try to engineer some time alone if you are strategic. Solitude can be incredibly powerful for maintaining a sense of resilience and perspective. So grab a day or night away if that's at all possible. Otherwise, take your solitude as you can. Even 10 minutes of deep breathing in a comfy chair in your walk-in closet could change the course of your day if a lot of people have been asking you for things. You return a little calmer.

4:01 No matter how busy you are, 10 minutes tends to be doable. And it may be incredibly transformative. It's worth giving it a try. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening. And here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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