Our Mental Immune System

Coming back into balance

One of my favorite concepts for understanding our natural resilience, is the idea of a mental immune system.

Our bodily immune system is relatively familiar to us. We expect that it will get comprised and that we’ll experience various symptoms as the body works to restore health.

There’s a common understanding that it’s helpful to slow down and to rest. We know to adjust our behavior, to support our body in naturally coming back into balance. We might be uncomfortable, but we also trust the body is working towards well-being. That this is part of its intelligence. 

What if we could we see our mental well-being in a similar way? 

Just like our bodies get out of balance, our minds do as well. We have dips in our moods, waves of negative thinking, experiences of stress or worry or judgement.

Often in these moments we feel compelled to dig in further. To think more about our concerns in an effort to find relief.

But what if this was the equivalent of going for a run in the rain with a fever?

We understand it’s not a great idea to push our bodies when they are under strain. But this is often more difficult to see when it comes to our mental experience.

It looks like doing or thinking more is the path to clarity or relief.

But in fact our minds have the same intelligence as our bodies — they are designed to come back into balance and health. We can support this process by slowing down, backing off the subject at hand, or changing the focus of our attention.

If we take the conventional wisdom "let me sleep on it," we see this truth at play.

With some distance and space, our concerns and burdens naturally shift, and we are met with fresh thinking and new perspectives. 

Like a snow globe, if we stop shaking it, it comes to rest. And we do too.