10 ways to fall back in love with your brain

plus: does thinking count as cardio??

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June 3, 2025

If your brain has been moving at the pace of a government office printer, this is for you.

If you’ve been rereading the same message on WhatsApp wondering whether “hmm” means passive aggression or just low battery, this is for you.

If you’ve been waking up with the mental clarity of someone who ate biryani at midnight and fought with a cousin in their dreams, this is for you.

At some point, usually when you’re stress-eating namkeen straight from the dabba while looking at flight tickets you won’t buy, you realize: your brain is fried. Over-boiled. Slightly burnt on the edges.

But you don’t need to move to Rishikesh or give up carbs. You just need some easy, slightly odd rituals.

Here are ten small ways to love it again:

1. compliment it.
   say something kind to your brain like your nani would.
   laugh a little when you say it. maybe even blush. it’s weird but it works.

2. give it a treat.
   sure, have your almonds soaked overnight. but also let it eat that biscuit you said you wouldn’t. if your brain made it through the day, it deserves sugar.

3. let it stare into nothing.
   sit by the window. look at trees. or a pigeon. or the corner of your ceiling. let your brain do nothing and not be scolded for it.

4. interrupt the spiral.
   when your thoughts start playing the greatest hits of your failures, say “not now yaar.” then play literally anything else. even an ad jingle will do.

5. be bad at something.
   draw a flower that looks like a fried egg. hum off-key. write a poem about lettuce. your brain needs to know it’s safe even when it’s silly.

6. rewatch what comforts you.
   a scene from kal ho naa ho. the youtube guy who interviews celebrities. your old tumblr. this isn’t regression. let your brain come home.

   

7. use a fancy word.
   drop something like “existentially perplexed” into a rant about traffic. or call your overthinking “a blasphemy.” it makes your brain feel expensive.

8. nap.
   not scrolling. not meditating. just old-school desi nap. fan on. daylight. ten minutes or forty-five. let your brain reboot like a sleepy old laptop.

9. turn your thoughts into characters.
   the one telling you to panic? maybe she’s a tired aunty in a tight saree who just needs a snack. the one spiraling? a melodramatic side character from a daily soap.
   give them names.

10. say thank you.
    to your brain. for waking up. for trying. for carrying all this emotion, memory, language, logic, nonsense.

i love you,
even when you're glitching
mo 🧡

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