Slowing Your Mind Down

There’s nothing wrong with having an overactive mind. You just need to know when to slow it down

- Chelsea Tang

I remember lying in bed, snuggly tucked under soft sheets in my dorm in Lugano, Switzerland four years ago, with just one thought racing through my mind: Why can’t I seem to fall asleep?

Back then, I was an exchange student in Switzerland, and those six months there was the first time I realized that I might have an overactive mind. The pace of living was slower than I was used to; the Swiss walked slower, talked slower, and basically just lived life to the groove of American singer and songwriter Khalid’s Talk.

It took living in a much laidback environment to realize that I was actually as high-strung as Amy Santiago (one of the main characters in the US sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine).

But back to bedtime. It wasn’t as if I’ve had caffeine in the night, or accidentally OD-ed on sugar, or did anything that could potentially cause my mind to go into overdrive. In fact, I’d spent a good part of the day hiking up the 925-metre Monte Brè, a small mountain east of Lugano. I’d made it back to the city before stores closed at 5pm to pick up groceries for the week, and made dinner —spaghetti bolognese — for myself and two dorm mates.

I should have easily fallen asleep — it had been a long day. I had been awake since seven in the morning, and didn’t turn off the lights till 1am. The weather was perfect; fall in Lugano meant nights were comfortably chilly — I even left my window slightly opened to catch the cool night breeze. Sleeping under such optimal conditions should be a luxury, but there I was — lying on my bed, in complete darkness, with a mind that doesn’t want to STFU.