Atomic Shrimp Advent Calendar - 9th December 2024 - Find Calm
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- This is part of a series of simple, sometimes-festive but always-cosy videos to take us all the way through December, up to Christmas Day.
Join the Atomic Shrimp official Discord server for FREE early access to videos!* - / discord
Atomic Shrimp subreddit: / atomicshrimp
(*Except this advent calendar series, which is not on Early Access, because advent calendars need to be a surprise!)
The advent calendar graphic is based on one designed by Freepik - www.freepik.com
Intro music is Christmas Village by Aaron Kenny - from the UA-cam Audio Library
Thank you, this video has helped me stop worrying about recovering the John Warosa legacy fund ok
🤣🤣🤣 the “ok” at the end makes this comment. Brilliant mate 🤣
OK
Okay dear. 😂
Yes, but what about John Barosa?
I beg you don't tell me anything about the soul called Mr. Barrister John Warosa
As a mental health worker, I can confirm what you're presenting to us is grounding. You're spot on that our brains only have a certain capacity, we can crowd out thoughts or emotions when we try something like this.
Thank you Shrimp!
Best advent calendar ever
truly
Yeah, but chocolate is pretty nice as well
Yes! Been looking forward to it every day!
I totally agree 😊
I didn't even know what an advent calendar was. I'm loving this one!
This reminds me of "grounding", where you distract yourself from your anxiety by tuning into details of your surroundings. Very nice- sorting it out.
Mr. Shrimp, your soft, calm, reassuring voice is a healing meditation itself, thank you for another great video.
I love that no matter how long I watch, you always manage to bring something fresh , new, and positive
Regarding the "mental health" disclaimer, you did a video a long while ago about appreciating small things, e.g.: drinking a nice beer, and taking time to appreciate the taste/feel/temperature/aroma. I've found myself do that a lot with small things I appreciate, and it's remarkable how calming and grounding it is to one's psyche.
Mindfulness is such a simple concept yet gets forgotten much too easily. I'm always glad to be reminded of it. It has to be practiced constantly.
A large part of that is living in the moment. One of the reasons so many of us are anxious is because we're always focused on what happens next or in the past rather than what is going on now. I have tried to cultivate the mindset that my worry can't change the past and can do very little if anything about the future, I find I can enjoy the present much better.
Bravo to you. It takes a lot of effort to choose to find one positive thing in the chaos of every day life. Even a good day is full of other people’s opinions and input, noise and movement. I started looking for one thing that brought me joy every day and honestly, I couldn’t do it for about a month. Sometimes I still struggle now. But today, my moment of joy was drinking a coffee, brought to me by the person I love, at the absolute perfect temperature. I hope you had a joyful moment today!
This was so refreshing to watch. Despite a busy life I take time every single day to get out for a long-ish walk (having a dog helps). I usually find somewhere away from main roads, preferably among trees and take the time to listen to the sounds of nature, take in the sights and colours. Even the smells are calming (and some evergreens give out chemicals that can help lower your blood pressure and increase white cell counts in your blood). I share some of these walks on my own UA-cam channel because people don't always have the same luxury of time and green space and the comments tell me that people value walking with me - even if it is virtual. That's why I love watching Mike do his slow TV videos on this channel. The man is a national treasure x
Did anyone else get a chuckle from seeing the guy walk past with a bag saying "No time to waste"? Broke my admittedly limited concentration, but it seemed somehow apt in a video about taking time to relax and unwind under difficult circumstances.
Thank you. And also, thank you for saying this won't help everyone. I get so sick of being told online that something or other WILL WORK. This is so much more kind and reasonable.
Never thought I would be relaxed listening to traffic sounds but here we are. The exercise was great to do while diamond painting and the narration was fantastic, relaxing in itself. Very soothing voice and appreciate another tool in the kit to try in times of overwhelming, pervasive thoughts or highly distracting environments.
I will replay this when I finally get around to do a painting that I have been finding difficult to even start.
@@artistknownaslisa We all have at least one of those in the stash
Please make a guided meditation video, your voice is ideal for it! Thank you for this and all your videos :)
Wow! I never thought I would enjoy this sort of video but it’s actually turning down the volume in my hyperactive brain. I like to think if it more as “intentional listening” rather than meditating, but whatever you call it, it’s calming before bedtime. Thanks!
It might not work for everyone but a free (if you're in the UK at least) option is the new BBC Radio 3 Unwind channel. It's basically designed to help you sleep/ relax and is a mix of classical music, nature sounds, waves etc- sometimes Neil Nunes reading the shipping forecast, all played without ads and presenters inbetween. I've found it's really helped me relax for the past couple of weeks since it launched and I have it on all night now.
I wish we had that in the US!
I love how we never know what we’re going to get, and I particularly appreciated this video. ❤
What a beautiful voice shrimpy has to meditate to. 👍
Thank you! That was wonderful and helpful.
I know those types of mindfulness/meditation techniques from many years of therapy.
But the thought of allowing the intrusive thoughts back into my head (because oftentimes you just cannot lock them out for good) yet picturing a bird cage for them to sit in... helped me. I think I will use this.
As someone with built-in elements of autism I used to have a hard time walking down the street and not getting overly alerted by all sorts of human made noises. It did wear off during the years though and trying to find 'harmony' in noise is easier. Interpreting cars as the sea or wind is easy enough, but 'explosive' sounds like barking dogs, motorcycles or shouting children will always be a thing. I'm happy I'm not as triggered about it as I used to be, though no active method of trying to deal with it helped for me. Getting older did.
I found my tolerance for the noise of being out and about has reduced as I've aged. Noise-cancelling headphones are a must when I leave the house now. Your method is much more sustainable though :)
Well I tried headphones (both in-ear and over-ear) but my ears don't respond well to them after an hour or so. Feels like they're full of water when I wear headphones for too long and it's also a bit of a hassle to carry them with me all of the time. But if your ears don't complain it's definitely a useful tool to keep the outside volume low
The sound of the traffic flow was somewhat reminiscent of waves on the beach.
Very true, can you remember the quietness outside when the covid lockdown was in place. The birdsong was amazing.
I love a bit of traffic noise from 'just the right distance'
I've never been without it
Good video. I am in the opposite camp though. Because i am housebound, and I live alone and cant go out, i can always hear myself think. I truly miss being able to go the Cheltenham high street, especially at Christmas and watch the people frantically shopping for their last minute Christmas gifts, misding not needing to buy gifts anymore. Or dogs barking at other dogs expressing their seniority. But, watching these videos does help. Even though i am going to be alone on Christmas day as i have been for the last 9 years,i cann binge watch these, snd know at leat i would have learnt something. Merry Christmas Mr. Shrimp.
I’m in the same camp but I find that reading books helps a lot. While watching tv my mind tends to wander, but when I’m reading I have to fully engage in another world and it gets me out of my own head.
@@Terrelli9 I've tried reading books, but I cannot concentrate on them at all. The last book I read was the first Harry Potter, and then I never finished it. I stick to video games and UA-cam. They are my main source of entertainment. But, thanks for the suggestion.
May I suggest trying audio books.
It’s interesting to me how I’m also housebound and sometimes miss socialising but am the opposite of you. My autism makes it so noises are physically painful so hearing cars go by from my room is enough to cause a meltdown let alone going out shopping. I pretty much always wear ear protection or use noise blocking in some way and it’s still often not enough. (I hope you don’t take this as me comparing or saying I’m “more” disabled than you, I genuinely just love thinking about how other peoples lives are so different to mine even if we are so similar)
@@juliajacobs1848 if you have any good suggestions I am down to try anything. I would love to listen to the hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy, or something by Terry Pratchett. Something in that vein. Thanks again for the suggestion.
I often really struggle with sensory issues from my autism, the cars in my neighbourhood being a huge one that causes meltdowns and lost sleep, I also avoid going outside even with anc headphones. So I definitely understand and appreciate the note at the start that sometimes it’s not the right thing for every individual to just “power through” or try to turn noise into meditation in a busy environment. It is very interesting to hear the kinds of birds you have local to you, something people get used to and don’t pay attention to but I find intriguing to think about. I tend to not go outside as I’ve associated it to physical pain, exhaustion and germs. Pain and physical exhaustion because the act of me going out, even for a small amount of time often flares my pain and I’m stuck in bed recovering the next few days and being nonverbal means I need to take extra steps to communicate to my career and strangers. Germs because of COVID is still something that could potentially kill me if I caught it and people have stopped masking to protect vulnerable people like myself. I also often struggle with getting “stuck” as I call it on unresolved thoughts and tasks but meditation often makes them worse for me, and I often start thinking about my trauma or dissociating. Instead I love to distract myself with something engaging but not too emotionally taxing like video games, UA-cam, a nice show, music, or if I have more energy talking to friends (online or in person) and some crafts. When I go in the car or go down the street I often look at plants and try to identify them as part of distracting the cycling thoughts
Dear fellow autistic stranger from the Internet, I can relate to a lot of what you said so much.
Getting through this world that isn't made for us, just the pure feat of existing... is sometimes all we can manage in one day.
It feels good seeing that there are other people (neurotypical or neurodivergent) that just "get" that sometimes you need a little help or encouragement coping with all the "stuff" that we didn't choose to live with but were forced to.
I wish you a good day and may you enjoy the rest of Mr. Shrimp's advent calendar as well as today's "door".
Dear Fellow Autistic Strangers on the internet,
So nice to hear your thoughts and hear your articulate things similar to my own experiences so clearly.
My current situation….
There is a dehumidifier and two powered ventilated chemical cabinets next to my workspace in the lab that will have been commissioned by the time I go in next week. They are drowned out only by the fume extraction system.
Unfortunately I can’t tolerate headphones or noise cancellation systems for long. So glad I don’t work on that site every day.
And then I had to get on the bus for an hour to get to where I parked the car. It’s like the perfect torture session of a day.
Yeah, but meltowns do no one any good.
I am an earplugs wearer.
"I’m in a huge crowd of people right now and all of them, without a single exception, are screaming" is now a form a meditation. Wonderful!
Charming little video, thanks for this
I frequently have trouble shutting off the brain to sleep so I use sleep story podcasts. And often, a Shrimp video (with pic turned off) due to Mr Shrimp’s calming voice. I know I’m not alone.
in the past few years, I have become very appreciative of noise in my surroundings - I now love the sound of heavy construction: the shoveling of gravel, the hammering of drills, the beeps of trucks backing up. the texture of it can be so amazing. it is strange to me that people find the sounds of waves crashing on the shore to be soothing, yet they will be upset with the sound of traffic - both are essentially the same intermittent white noise.
I get very easily distracted, so it has been empowering for me to take something that might seem distracting, and instead turn it into a source of appreciation and joy instead of frustration.
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. ❤
Desiderata. Poem by Max Ehrmann
Thank you for the most wonderful advent calendar. X
I got to watch this while listening to birds chirping in semi-jungle outside of my wife's dad's condo on the Straits of Johor, overlooking Singapore. Bit more relaxing than Dorset traffic!
This is very mindful. Very demure.
Sorry i couldn't help myself. This meditation is part of mindfulness. That is how i got to very mindful - very demure.
Thank you for quiding us through this process
A great piece of advice for a Monday morning ❤️👍❤️
And to keep in mind for the rest of the week
A great video, thank you. It's good sometimes to stop and do this. I call it recharging my batteries. I have often sat watching large snowflakes falling in the quietness that snow brings and picked individual flakes and watch their gentle fall to the ground, very soothing. Also in the summer when it goes dark I often just sit beneath the stars and in the silence, I can sometimes hear small living things munching plants. 'What of this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.' -W.B.Yeats) My day starts with these videos. I, and many others are going to miss them after the 25th, thank you for taking the time to make them and put them up.
By W.H. Davies. Welsh, not Irish. But every bit as wise.
You have a really calming voice and thank you so much 😊🙏🏻Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you & your family 🤗🎅🎄
It's so nice to hear this process into words. I only ever sometimes manage to do this to help sleep but keep forgetting to do it.
I find that a good way to deal with circular thinking is to plot it down on a piece of paper or as a note/memo on a device of your choice. That way you can stop worrying about forgetting it and revisit it at a later point. I also find that using another sense can be useful when you're stuck, like saying a question you're thinking of out loud. I'm sure lots of you reading this has had that moment where they ask someone a question, and the second you said it out loud you instantly realize what the answer is.
I'm enjoying the advent calendar Shrimp, it's been a lovely and weird experience so far. Hope you guys are having a good holiday! =)
I love this!
It’s soo nice every day!❤❤❤
Just by listening to your voice is soothing💕
And I thought it was just me. I have been doing this for literally as long as I can remember. In fact, some of my earliest memories of places (holidays for example) are based on just this "technique". As far back as I can go, I have always found the time/opportunity to just close my eyes and "feel" the soundscape, examining each and every element in turn, near and far. It's very much how I experience new places and relax in familiar ones.😃
A very philosophical yet also introspective video today Mike.. I think that when you release videos similar in tone to this it is very likely some of my favourite productions you release, in similar vein to the one that you released just sitting by a river watching the insects and trying to spot any wildlife in your vicinity. Although I have only just awoken from a fitful sleep I am feeling very refreshed by your video and I am more ready to face my own day. Thank you Mike for a most amazing start to my day.
The experience of being stuck with invasive or unwanted thoughts, particularly that rumination on a key issue that winds up interfering with doing anything else, is an experience I can definitely relate to, and it's very common among neurodiverse people. Since it's somewhat fresh in my mind it reminds me of Dr Ned Hallowell's talk of the Default Mode Network's role in rumination and how actively refocusing on a cognitive task can be helpful to interrupt such ruminations when bothersome. Important to note of course that this is one aspect of neurodivergence that can of course be present in others, and is not universal among neurodiverse people either, it's just a nice framework in which to understand rumination when it occurs to a distressing extent.
Not as indepth as this but listening to history podcasts fills this role for me at night. Something to docus on but not too engaging, stops the whiring mind to let me sleep
I got a huge amount from this video. Those cyclical thoughts were perfectly explained and although I wouldn’t wish them on anyone it was good to hear that I’m not alone in having them. Thank you (lots)
I was trying to explain this channel to a friend: about quiet walks, and plants, and mushrooms, and fossils, and pleasantly round rocks, and accidentally said the following: "I would absolutely apprentice under this wizard". So there you have it. The Atomic Shrimp was promoted from a youtuber to a figure of Merlinesque stature 😅
I'm loving this and I have to compliment Mike on just how varied the content of the videos has been.
Incidentally Mike, did your property suffer any problematic damage during the storm? Did your power stay on? Hope you, Jenny and Eva are safe and well.
Wonderful. Thank you Mr Shrimp.
this is exactly how im able to sleep at night. i like to listen to street noise and thunderstorms on spotify and its sometimes the only way i can quiet my mind ♥
Being more present is something I aspire towards, but I haven't been doing it so much of late. Sometimes life just seems like the thing that takes place in between appointments, events, work or school, but it's in those "in between" moments that we can benefit most by connecting with our senses and surroundings.
Anyone else got a crush on Mike? Dang it! 😆. I’m loving this series xx
This “crowding out thoughts” is something I’ve experienced whilst motorcycling or climbing. With those activities you have to concentrate on what you’re doing, here and now. I think that’s why motorcyclists often say motorcycles save you money you’d otherwise need to spend on therapy (it’s a tongue-in-cheek saying, but I think there’s truth there)
Yeah, I think there are probably many ways to do it - the brain is a weird thing and it's easier for probably most people to replace one thought with another than it is to just stop thinking a thought.
The key part that's maybe not obvious to everyone, is that you get to assert more control over that first thought when it wants to come back.
I am really enjoying this advent calendar - thank you!
I hope this becomes an annual event 👍x
I have always been able to 'filter' out extraneous noise. I don't know how I discovered how to do it, but I found that, if listening to music, especially orchestral, I could focus on one particular part. I've always done noisy jobs, and being able to focus on someone talking, rather than the roar of trucks, is very useful. I have, before now, managed to sleep in a chair in a noisy nightclub. Not that I go to those much, nowadays. When I used to work at night, I could always sleep during the day, by filtering out the noise of normal life. I even managed to sleep soundly when my house was having new double glazing fitted. It can be done - it just needs practice.
This was very calming, thank you.
Just listening to your voice is calming😊
I think this mindfulness approach focusing on sounds and silence works very well indeed. As I get older, my generalised sense of impending doom is growing, and it is hard to control that unless I move my brain to think about something smaller and more pleasant. Anxiety, is, after all, just a feeling of fear about something or somethings in the future, but taking time to understand it can be very helpful to contextualise and let go of the anxiety. It doesn't always work when overwhelmed by something, but grounding yourself like this is never a negative thing.
Wonderful little video, brother. Thank you.
I slept terribly last night, being obsessed with (of all things) Strandbeest construction. I think I will try this out if happens again. I also find that sometimes, the worry that I will forget something I'm thinking about at night will keep me from sleeping. In those cases, I find that writing it down (in my notes on my phone or a sketchbook) really helps with that.
Quality video, in terms of content and delivery. Your videos are always so soothing, i often use them to drift off to asleep (in the most positive way...i do watch them in their entirety over a few reruns).
I do this at work with UA-cam videos. I’m in a job where we can have headphones and listen to whatever, and it’s more controlled than the industrial noise I’d spend the day listening to otherwise. My job requires little to no thought, and I would find myself chasing the same thought which for me is never productive. If I’m stuck on a problem, I’ve got to put it down and walk away and come back later to try something else. It’s lead to some big improvements in multiple areas of life by allowing me to reset and come back to a problem and figure it out.
Mr Shrimp, your attitude, the diversity of your content is really appreciated in the madness of the current world. This advent calendar obviously took a lot of time and thought, and to temporarily revert to my 1990’s self it’s bang on! ETA this was really calming.
That’s got to be one of most funkiest looking KFC’s I have ever seen.
This was an awesome door to open in the advent calendar! Thank you for providing such interesting, varied and often useful content. I'm going to try this next time I can sit outside without getting drenched. Maybe I'll try it inside while the wind whips rain against the metal walls of the warehouse....
This was wonderful, thank you! I find your approach to this sort of thing refreshing and it feels more grounded and approachable than similar forms of mindfulness/grounding that I have found from apps, etc. This was a wonderful surprise, and I was surprised how much it helped my thoughts, so I would encourage you to do more of these (perhaps in some of your 'slow tv' settings).
What a brilliant video, Mike! You are so empathetic. Be very proud of this video, above many other videos you have created!
loving this series shrimp, every day it a pleasure relaxing and having a surprise with out the thumbnail or the title to spoil what the video will be about, thank you so much ❤
Thank you for this, I have a similar mind and thoughts about "having to do the thing or else..." sometimes cause me to miss sleep. I do something like that on my bus commute, but combining both visual and auditory senses. I just stare out the window, looking at the world passing by, thinking about every little detail and sound around me. It's a super noisy environment, but it's also super calming for me and really does soft-reset my brain.
My father passed away very unexpectedly about a year ago. One night, not unlike any other night, he just had a massive heart attack and died, only 58 years old. Since then, I have not felt right, haven't been able to think straight sometimes, feel kind of detached, feeling of impending doom. This led eventually to illness anxiety and bouts of generalized anxiety. I don't want to be put on medication and for legal reasons in my state I can not seek therapy without having one of my rights restricted, so I have avoided seeking professional help. What helps me the most is going for walks. I don't know what exactly about the walk to attribute the reduction in anxiety to. I definitely recommend walks though, especially if you don't feel like going for a walk, as that's usually when I need to go for a walk the most. Could be down to the corner of my street and back or across town, just depends on how much I want to walk. If I'm sitting in my apartment and start to feel uneasy due to incessant thinking or whatever, going for a walk seems to cure it every time or at least make it bearable by the time I get back. It beats sitting around having a panic attack over the latest dumb scary nothing my brain served up and fixated on.
Wonderfull! Marvellous video! For many people finding something close to peace of mind feels impossible. Having a tool to wipe the board clean and have a fresh start can be so much more than not thinking about a specific thing. Also it can help solving a problem you had because you're less preassured and may find a differend angle to takle the issue. But, calming yourself down and taking a step away from yourself can feel like a large weight has been lifted off of you. I've made the same experience.
Practicing being in the moment is always a good use of one's time.
Atomic Shrimp has been my favourite channel for some years now. Merry Christmas, or whatever other holiday you may or may not subscribe to. 😊
I guess turning it off and on again works for brains too!
I look forward to these videos every day. The holidays can be a mixed bag of joy and stress, and its so nice to focus on simple, attainable pleasures. There are a lot of things in my life that make me happy, it just takes a reminder to slow down to realize it!
The focus activity you showed in this video reminds me of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center's guided meditations that they offer on their site. I highly recommend them to anyone, as they focus on keeping your thoughts rooted to your present experiences, just as you did here.
Thank you for the wonderful videos!
This works, listening to many sounds and then picking to listen to each one separately for a moment. This works in restaurants, forest, train station or just in your garden. What's even better, you can get better at it the more you do it. Just like you can pick out more detail and different instruments from a piece of music after a 20th listen compared to the first. You can learn how to identify bird songs, different kind of motors, airplanes or even weather. Fog makes sound travel farther, so you can listen to the difference of for example railroad or highway on clear vs foggy day.
btw your narration after 8:30 reminded me of Stanley's Parable. a video game that you would probably appreciate even though you are not a video game player.
I have found something like this to be helpful by accident. Similar, but, wearing hearing protection muffs. Hearing everything at a very quiet volume helps me focus on it rather than just be overwhelmed.
The little book of calm from Black's Books comes to mind
I needed this right now having just got home from a hectic day at work.
I do something similar when I'm on walks and realize I'm not paying any attention to where I am because I'm overthinking.. I stop and pick a single color, say "blue" and then I start looking around me for every example I can find of the color blue. This instantly gets me out of my head and back into my surroundings. But I am going to try your way too.
Oh, I like that. That's good!
Sometimes when my thoughts prevent sleep, I listen to white noise on UA-cam. The sound of a fan or an airplane cabin. This gives me something to focus on, helps to block the extra thoughts.
I'm terrified of needles. If I look at it, my mind freaks out because there's a needle in my arm, but if I look away I imagine an enormous cartoon ACME syringe in my arm. Last time I asked the nurse some questions about the syringe and needle and tried to do the math in my head to figure out how long it would take. This helped me to accept the presence of the needle while drowning out the emotional danger response. I was back into the waiting room before I could even comprehend that I don't know how to calculate the flow rate in my head.
Brilliant! You have described how my brain works so perfectly and I am definitely going to give this a try!
This is simply wonderful! ❤
I read recently an internet post about Self Affirmation, something which I've always brushed off as a bit of mumbo jumbo for me. The writer mentioned how we wouldn't think twice regarding Negative thinking about oneself; and how damaging that would be, so the reverse would logically hold, that positive reinforcement should be a good thing. I try to be kind to myself. In the same way I think generally positive things about people I like, why not do the same for Me!
When it comes to an overactive mind, mine usually kicks into gear when trying to sleep. My method of ignoring/overruling it is to play out a scene in my mind. It doesn't matter what, something from a movie or tv show, or something entirely made up. The key is to make it as intricate as I can, in every way. It tends to help me drift off before I've noticed it!
Brilliant, thank you.
I thought throughout: I could do this, but would much prefer doing it whilst sitting on a fallen log in a woodland, focusing on birdsong and scampering mammal feet, maybe burrowing worms in the soil.
Then you went there. 💚
I used to do this in my lunch break when I worked in the city. It was unbelievably noisy, yet I was able to block it out by concentrating on my breathing. After a short while, the noise separated into layers, like the rings of an onion. P-S I absolutely LOVE the sound the seagulls make, so different from the seagulls in Australia.
As I watched and listened to this, I also peeled a clementine and watched my cocker spaniel (notorious for selective hearing…) under the table to see how long it would take for the tearing sounds of the peel to permeate the fur… about 6 sec…. or was it the smell released by the ripping of the peel releasing the oils? I don‘t know, but it she got her little section of the clementine anyway! Being observant is a skill that can be learnt, for sure, by mindfulness like this.
If 2025 could bring me 1 thing, an @Ashens and @atomicshrimp collab would sure be awesome
Man, that was beautiful. Frisson inducing, at times, probably mostly because of the calmness of your voice - what a beautiful piece of work!
Did you ever look into those body-scan meditations? Where a voice guides you through feeling every little detail of your body, from your toes up to the top of your head. I can imagine you reading out one of those "scans" and absolutely lulling me to sleep 😆
It works for me either with my eyes open or closed. Usually, I go outside to either the city centre, beaches, or near a busy road, sit down, and watch the surroundings to pick up what's unique around me. Sometimes, I make a different scenario based on what I've seen or experienced in my mind. I was gonna called it "Peacefulness in Chaos/Noise", but I think it's used for a different meaning.
What you've done here is a mindfulness exercise that I was taught in therapy.
I was wondering through most of the video what the goal of the exercise was, then at the end it all became clear when I recognised what you said about filling up your entire attention to work as a soft reset. I'm definitely not someone for whom this technique would work, but I was interested to realise that I get exactly that same effect from rehearsing/gigging with my metal band
Thank you for everything you do. You have helped many of us over the years ❤
i frequently need to do this because the world is on fire and i cant stop thinking about it
I agree. I try not to let it get in my head too much, I have adopted the concept that I can only worry about what I can do something about. That is the little 'bubble' of family and friends in my inner world, I concentrate on that. If I can contribute or do something to make a difference in the outer world I will, but if not I concentrate on my 'bubble'. Do what you can, when you can, for who you can.
This year i dont have an advents calendar, but this is surely the best one i had, and its free. Much love
This is very ASMR-ish and super relaxing
I love to listen to the sound of waves breaking on the beach it clears my mind and relaxes me
I use something similar when I'm about to go to sleep. I make up a detailed story in my mind, and I let my mind focus on that, which helps me push out other thoughts. I know it's not the same thing, but it helps me to sleep. I guess it's like reading a bedtime story. I know it's not related to sounds, though.
This kinda feels like something I do or at least try to do when trying to sleep and that's try to watch a movie purely from memory.
Oh, that sounds good! One thing I've done before is to try to become aware of each of my joints in turn - so trying to determine by movement and feeling that I can sense each one of my toes, then each ankle, knee, hip, etc. Works best if you don't have joint pain, obvs.
Thanks! This is a helpful approach.
Thank you
Seeing other places is so interesting. The sawtooth white lines painted on the street and the KFC that looked like a school or professional building were wild.
The sound of your voice definitely adds to the calming effect
I love the rain for this exact reason. Sometimes I'll just sit and watch the rain thrash my window and fall on the ground to calm me down. I wrote a poem about it. It's called Pluviophila and it goes like this:
There is something about the rain
That I find peaceful
Where others, in a similar vein,
Find miserable.
It's mellow mellifluous chatter
Clears my mind,
Of all worry,
Of all woe.
To me, rain is more than weather;
Rain is meditation,
Rain does not blether
With its aetheric instrumentation,
My very essence, drawn to lucidity
By it's tempestuous volley,
Gazing upon the halcyon storm:
I sit, in awe, without trouble.
But as the drops dwindle down
The inalienable torrents of despair flow back
Yet, I am content, as the rain did drown
All I had, even for a crack.
Thank you, Atomic Shrimp, for always bringing us such wholesome content.
Loving this series. Meditation / mindfulness is absolutely not for me but I like the idea of finding calm amongst the chaos of noise. Thanks for the heads up at the beginning of the vlog.
I think one of the interesting things here is that this approach is very much different to the classical "empty mind" popular understanding of the term meditation,* and is more akin to active refocus. The disclaimer absolutely still applies, it's just worth noting that mindfulness and meditation aren't monolithic and some approaches to them can be actively harmful to some people even where others might be very helpful or neutral, particularly for those of us with brain styles/thought patterns that don't quite match the "norm" that society assumes most people fit into.
*I think this distinction is particularly important because the assumed approaches to mindfulness often amplify rumination in those of us prone to it, whereas Mike's stated goal here is specifically to interrupt rumination.
I love your videos, this one in particular is very calming, always relaxes me 🙂