Liming - The Beauty of Doing Nothing

by Louise Gillespie-Smith, Lifecoach at Create Yourself

How often do you get a chance to just hang out? Hang out with no agenda, no purpose but just to chat, share stories and have fun with friends. Not thinking about what you are doing next, not keeping half your attention alert towards your mobile, not waiting for anything, but purely enjoying the present moment.  Just simply liming.

In everyday life these moments can be quite rare. We have things we need to get done, emails to reply to, deadlines to hit, exercise to fit in, shopping to do, before we know it our days fly by in a blink of an eye.

This is one of the reasons why we love and need holidays so much, a chance to escape, switch off and relax. I was lucky enough last year to spend time on the beautiful islands of St Vincent and The Grenadines running a digital detox retreat, where all the guests handed in their technology fully switching off for their entire trip.

We snorkelled amongst sting rays and turtles, enjoyed a champagne picnic on a secluded beach, had time to reflect over our lives and made the most of the time away from it all to lime. The remote feel of the islands, the natural beauty, the gentle lapping waves and no external distractions made it very easy just to hangout, get to know each other and not really think about anything else at all. Liming really is the beauty of doing nothing and the benefits for us are tremendous.

So often our minds are caught up in the past or the future which can lead to worry, fear, regret, guilt and ultimately stress. In everyday life our minds are spinning especially if our work leads us to spending lots of time in front of a computer or permanently attached to our smart phones.

Our body, mind and breath are all inextricably linked, when our mind is stressed our bodies tense and our breath shallows. Tension in the body can lead to dis-ease, mentally and physically. Our health, emotional states, relationships and life balance can all be affected.

Just allowing yourself the time to get away from it all, switch off fully and to be one hundred per cent with the people you are with will help your body and mind to relax, to get life into perspective and feel a sense of connection, which is one of our basic human needs.

Simply laughing will change the physiology of your body leaving you feeling happier, energised and alive. When you are liming the laughter just flows naturally.

I heard a great quote the other day from a yoga guru Swami Vishnudevananda; 
“Life is rich when you are simple and humble”.

Our lives in the busy western world can make things complicated; our lists of external desires and needs can take over, leading us to a life of striving and force. We can easily forget what is really important to us. Taking time to just be fully in the moment with friends, or new acquaintances, helps bring us back to the simplicity of life and the joy of connecting with others.

The funny thing is the times when I have stopped, relaxed and just focused on doing what I love are the times when I have attracted what I want most into my life.

So go on, allow yourself time to lime! Do you really need an excuse?