Constant hustle and trying to keep up with responsibilities and deadlines can wear us down. Finding pockets of escape can help recentre and bring us back to what really matters. In conversation with Jay Shetty on his podcast On Purpose, Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt opened up about a simple activity that helps cheer her up on bad days.
“Very often what I do, especially when I’m having a bad day, I have this little balcony at the back of my bedroom – it’s very small, sort of like a fire exit. I just go and stand there, and watch people. In Bombay, especially, there are a lot of buildings that are together. So this might sound a little creepy, but when I go and stand there, I just have a wide view of activity in different people’s homes,” recalled the Jigra actor.
“Somebody is walking with clothes, somebody’s watching television. I’m not looking into their bedrooms. But it just gives me a sense of life existing whilst yours is. And it just puts a lot of things into perspective,” she further explained.
Why is people watching impactful?
Rima Bhandekar, Senior Psychologist – Helpline at Mpower, Aditya Birla Education Trust told us, “When we watch others going about their day, it creates a sense of empathy in the observer without any actual interaction. It brings us back into “now” through just noticing life as it unfolds without a word. It forces our brain to focus on others rather than oneself, away from overthinking, anxiety, and stress, to feel a sense of ‘calm’ in the moment.
According to her, being surrounded by a group of people in public spaces such as gardens, shops, and public transport reconnects our brain to the real world around us. Most thoughts generated in our brains are repeats of our ongoing worries, hectic schedules, and self-judgment. When the mind shifts from internal chaos to external rhythm, it could be helpful for people prone to anxiety.
Alia likes to people watch (Source: Instagram/@aliabhatt)
Bhandekar added that when we see new faces, people from all walks of life move around, interacting with the environment, it sparks curiosity and lifts our mood. When we see people having a good time, it also fills our hearts with warmth, and we smile unknowingly.
There can be multiple reasons that sour your mood. Often, one minor mishap, if not addressed promptly, can set off a chain reaction of negative events, ultimately derailing our entire day. The domino mindset is a term given to the profound impact that small setbacks can have on our overall well-being and productivity.
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What else can you do to cheer yourself up?
According to counselling psychologist and mental health advocate, Sohini Rohra, there are many lines of treatment that a clinician or psychologist can use to address the domino mindset of overgeneralising, but a few steps that the individual can take to save themselves from emotional turmoil are as follows:
*Try to make a list of evidence and facts to support the thoughts that are driving you to conclude the worst.
*Are you being guided by feelings or evidence?
*Make a list of evidence that might prove your conclusion to be false.
*Make a list of the pros and cons of your way of thinking.
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*Is everyone around you in agreement with your conclusion
*Try to step outside of yourself and see if you would come to the same conclusion if your loved one were in your shoes.
*Learning to form individualised and situation-specific judgments rather than global judgments.
*Recall specific events where you have succeeded in proving yourself otherwise.
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*Learning to set expectations that are not overly optimistic but, in fact, realistic.
