Intro:
How do we get the time and the space that we need to connect with our deep, inner sources of resilience? Is it possible that the most exhausting parts of modern life come not from life itself, but from the simulations we mistake for life? What happens when we deliberately step out of the digital noise and let our minds reconnect with the world that actually exists?
Topic to be discussed:
In this podcast episode, Michael Glavin discusses disconnecting from the noise and finding sanctuary.
Summary:
* Hyperreality and the illusion of urgency
* Breaking out of hyperreality can be difficult
* The environment around you shapes your mind
* Reclaiming presence through sensory grounding
* Your action item for the week
Show notes:
Hyperreality and the illusion of urgency
How can we intentionally create the space that we need to connect with our deeper, personal states of resilience?
Michael opens by naming a problem many people feel but cannot articulate: we are pulled into states of stress, distraction, and overwhelm by realities that aren’t real.
We can connect with others … through love and through service, but we can’t do any of this unless we disconnect from the immediacy, the day-to-day, the urgency of the ‘now’ … We need to create a little bit of space.
(Michael Glavin)
Michael emphasizes that the nervous system cannot distinguish between a real event and a hyperreal trigger, which is why people experience stress from things that never actually happened to them.
Hyperreality is a simulation of reality that’s more intense … He calls the simulation [of fake reality] the hyperreal, and we can see this not just in theme parks, but all over.
(Michael Glavin)
Breaking out of hyperreality can be difficult
While we understand on one level that virtual reality is fake, disconnecting ourselves from it is still no easy task.
It’s so easy to get seduced into the shadows and the puppet-play that we see online in the virtual reality, and we start to think that that’s true, that it’s the reality, and then to break out of it is painful.
(Michael Glavin)
However tough it may be initially, it is worth the effort, because on the other side is genuine peace, rest, and the truth of the situation.
On the other side of hyperreality, we can rest, have grounded nervous systems, and engage with the world in calm rather than agitation.
The environment around you shapes your mind
Drawing on the concept of the extended mind, Michael explains that our cognitive states are not contained in our heads - they are co-created by the spaces, stimuli, and contexts we place ourselves in.
He notes that certain environments can naturally induce calm, focus, or creativity without effort.
Our mind doesn’t just exist inside our brain. A better way to think of it is our mind [is] existing outside of our body, drawing on our brain, body, and environment, and the things in our environment … Everything in our environment affects how we think, what we feel … Our mood, and our mental state.
(Michael Glavin)
Investigate which surroundings help you to think clearly and which ones distract and fragment your attention.
Reclaiming presence through sensory grounding
Michael explains that one of the fastest ways to exit hyperreality is to anchor yourself in direct sensory experience and to be intentional about the shift between doing something and relaxing. This pulls you out of the simulated world and back into the real one.
Try these three things:
1 - Purpose: What is your purpose in this moment? For example, relaxation, sleep, or being active?
2 - Location: Tie the purpose to a location. For example, where you relax should not be where you do your hard work.
3 - Transition: Can you instill some transitional rituals so that you can move your body and mind in unison between different locations and purposes?
That’s what I want for you, is to set up a “stress-place” where you do your stressful things that you need to do to get that information you need to take effective action in the world … And then create a space where it’s just relaxation.
(Michael Glavin)
Your action item for the week
Spend 10 minutes each day in a non-digital environment (a park, balcony, quiet room, garden, or street walk).
Go be in nature, go for a walk … for 10 minutes and come back, and start to imagine [it] as a ritual, that’s great, [because] that’s then part of your reconnecting with the truth of your real life, not the hyperreality, not the fantasy.
(Michael Glavin)
Try observing three sensory details you normally miss - a texture, a sound, a pattern of light - and notice how your mind shifts when you engage with the real world rather than a simulated one. This is a cornerstone to building your resilience.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Annie Murphy Paul - The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain
Useful links:
