Finding Balance – A Journey Back in Time

This is Clive the caveman, he lives with family and friends in a large cave. They are hunter-gathers and spend much of their time each day hunting for food or working on their tools and weapons. 

 

No, I hear you thinking what has this got to do with me. Well, stay with me and you will discover the secret to finding balance in nature. So, back to our story… 

 

Today Clive and some of the men are going out to hunt for food. They have been looking close around where their cave, but they haven’t killed anything. Reluctantly they know they have to go through the ravine to get to the big plains where there is should lots of food. 

 

The reason they are reluctant to go through the ravine is because last time, a Sabre Tooth Tiger leapt out from behind a boulder and killed of their men, George. Stress levels are high, but they have no choice. 

They are lucky, the do not see or get attacked by the tiger and they kill an animal that will give them food for several days. Once back in their cave they breathe a sigh of relief and set about cooking the meat. 

 

Later that evening they enjoy the meat they ate and settle down to relax and watch the flames in their fire. All is well with the world, at least for now. 

I want to now fast forward to modern times and caveman Clive’s ever so many great grandsons Clive. Let use see what his day is like… 

Modern Clive’s life is very different to his ancestors. For a start he lives alone in a centrally heated, comfy flat in the suburbs and travels to work by car. He works on a computer in a big office in the city and gets his food from the supermarket or orders take aways. 

 

Of late he has been sleeping badly, probably due to the big project he is working on at work. It is taking him longer than is should and his boss is being difficult. He set his alarm as usual to make sure he woke up on time, however after a disturbing night he was even more tired. So, when it rang to wake him, he hit snooze to have a few more minutes in bed. 

 

Unfortunately, he hit the off button, so when he woke 30 mins later, he was running late. Just what he didn’t need! He leapt out of bed, dressed and rushed out of the house not stopping for breakfast. When he stopped for fuel, he bought a strong black coffee and an energy bar. 

 

His journey to work was a nightmare, delays, slow drivers, no parking spaces. He finally ran into the office 10 minutes late, hoping the boss wouldn’t see him. He got busy on his computer and only stopped to get another coffee mid-morning. His boss came round and told him it must be done by tomorrow morning. Clive promised it would be. 

 

He worked all day lunch was another energy bar and coffee so he could work through his lunch hour. All afternoon he worked on, but he seemed to be making lots of mistakes and hitting the wrong keys. Finally, 5pm was approaching and he wasn’t finished! 

 

He decided to take the work home with him and finish it there. It was another horrible journey home, so he ordered a takeaway to be delivered. Then he would waste time cooking, instead he could work and still have time to relax. 

 

Eventually, having eaten while he worked, he finished about 9ish. Done! There he thought now I can relax and do what I want. He watched TV for a while and then played a game on his computer and rolled into bed at midnight. Only to have another disturbing night, followed by a bad day. 

 

Now, you may be wondering how these two stories connect and how they apply to you or your staff. Well, when we look at caveman Clive he had a very stressful day. Worry over finding food, having to pass through the ravine twice, remembering about what happened to George. 

 

All this triggered his brain to release what are called stress hormones, these are designed to help us deal with the stress. For caveman Clive, this would be to fight or flight if they saw a tiger. Either way lots of energy was used up and that burnt off the stress hormones. 

 

Then upon return to the cave he relaxed by the fire and without knowing it meditated. Firs meditation is the oldest known form of meditation, if you have even spent time watching the flames you will know how relaxing it is. This is how we were design to have some stress in our lives and to deal with it by using energy and then relaxing. 

 

When we look at modern Clive, his brain is virtually the same as his ancestors at the instinct level, he just knows more stuff. Modern Clive’s stress is not the tiger it is… 

All day he looks at a screen, to relax he looks at other screens, this is stressful for our eyes. He gets no exercise, doesn’t burn of energy or relax in a natural way. His diet is poor and he spends no time in nature. The result is his brain releases stress hormones in response to the triggers from his eyes, he does nothing which makes him tired and more hormones are released. 

 

It is a vicious circle which, if not dealt with will result in him being overwhelmed and have a breakdown. Bad mental health due to stress is now affecting 1 in 4 adults in Britain, and that is only the reported ones. 

 

This affects quality of life as well as both mental and physical health. It affects the economy and holds businesses back due to high absenteeism and low productivity.