“Receive Mode”: An Easy, 10-Minute Practice for Guidance and Stress Relief

It’s been almost exactly a year since we moved from our house in Phoenix, AZ to our apartment in Sacramento, CA. As I recently reflected back on that move, I was reminded of an important personal development tool that helped get me through that stressful season. I’m reposting what I wrote about the practice during that time in hopes that this will be helpful to you. Read on – stress relief and guidance are only 10 minutes away!

We’re moving to California, and I was feeling the stress. After months of going back and forth between our house in Arizona and an apartment in Sacramento where our son lives, we’ve decided to take the plunge. We’re trading a big home in the suburban desert for a smaller place in a tree-lined, walkable city.

It’s a big change for us, but we’re excited. Along with that excitement, however, comes stress. Moving to a new state after fourteen years in one place is a logistical challenge. Completing the planning, organizing, packing, cleaning, decluttering, and neglected home maintenance projects, all while keeping work and the normal responsibilities of life going, has been a struggle. A few days ago, I was succumbing to the pressure. My mind was whirling with all the things that needed to get done, and I was feeling moody, anxious, and overwhelmed. 

Then I remembered something I read in a book my accountability partner gave me, Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. The author talked about the value of regularly going into “receive mode,” where you stop striving or doing or planning or moving for ten minutes and put yourself in a position to hear something. Receive something. Gain some guidance. Some clarity. Some perspective. From God, from the world around you, or from the recesses of your own cluttered mind.

My honest thought in the moment was, “I don’t have time for that!” The irony was not lost on me. It is precisely for moments like this that the practice was developed. I realized I couldn’t afford NOT to do this. So I set a timer on my phone for ten minutes and lay down on the bed. I made myself breathe deeply and just let my mind wander. Gradually my swirling thoughts slowed, and I felt myself start to relax. I gently opened my mind to receive whatever God or my own brain chose to bring up. 

When the timer went off after ten minutes, an amazing thing had happened. I was calm. I wasn’t moody or anxious anymore. My perspective had been reset. My to-do list no longer seemed so overwhelming and had diminished to an appropriate level of importance. And most surprisingly, a clear plan for a more efficient way to accomplish the tasks ahead of me popped into my mind without effort.

This counterintuitive “receive mode” practice isn’t new. You may have heard the axiom “Don’t just do something, stand there” applied to long-term investing. Or the verse from the Bible that says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10). Or your parents telling you, “Just sit still for a few minutes, and you’ll think of something to do,” when you complained of being bored as a kid. However you look at it, the effectiveness of this simple technique has stood the test of time.

So how about you? Are you feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Too much to do and too little time? Take a moment to pause. Go to your favorite chair. Lie on the bed. Sit under a tree. Embrace the silence. Breathe deeply. Let your thoughts wander. Listen to what God or the universe or your subconscious has to say. You may be surprised by what you hear. Invest just ten minutes of time to recenter, refocus, and refresh your mind by putting yourself in “receive mode.” If you do, you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.

(originally posted September 2, 2018)