Yes, would you believe it, but even Bupa (other private healthcare providers are available) is on the Muße trend.[1] Just that they are using the Dutch name for it and in this case Niksen beats Muße to it. Their advice is:
[t]aking a break, slowing down, breathing calmly and being comfortable in our bodies and surroundings. And importantly, taking the pressure off ourselves to always be ‘switched on’, productive and achieving all the time.[2]
The problem is that wellbeing in form of yoga or mindfulness feels like just another thing on the to-do list. And not only do we have to do it, but also evidence it in some way, so we can prove we have done it. The important thing is to remember that Muße is not the same as downward dog. Even popular wellbeing advice has caught on to that.
Doesn’t ‘taking a moment out’ just sound a little bit like mindfulness? Well, it’s actually quite different. When practising mindfulness, you are encouraged to become aware of your body, and what’s going on around you. But ‘doing nothing’, on the other hand, is a time to let go of any pressures, and to allow thoughts to pass through your mind. No breathing exercises, stretching, awareness, or counting required.[3]
It means doing nothing needs nothing. It does not need to be planned and arranged. And it certainly does not need to be evidence. This means we cannot take part in Muße in the same way as we would go to a yoga clas.
There are things that we cannot do “in order to . . .” or “so that. . . .” Either we do them not at all or we do them because they are right in saying that lack of Muße makes for illness. But just as certainly it is impossible to attempt to engage in Muße for health’s sake.[4]
We have to keep in mind that Muße is not leisure and it is not mindfulness. It is not something we do in order to become healthy. It is something that is essential to have in our lives in order to not become ill from a lack of it.
[1] Disclaimer: I have not received any incentives or payments from Bupa. I only mention them as an academic reference.
[2] Caroline Harper, Niksen – the art of doing nothing, Bupa, < https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/niksen-art-of-doing-nothing> [Accessed 10 May 2021]
[3] Amy Hunt, How Niksen – the art of doing nothing – could be the perfect way to switch off from the world, Woman and Home, < https://www.womanandhome.com/health-and-wellbeing/niksen-art-doing-nothing-benefits-340476/ > [Accessed 10 May 2021]
[4] Josef Pieper, Leisure as the basis of culture / The Philosophical Act, (Random House, 1963) Kindle ebook