Experience: I am the world champion of ‘doing nothing'

The Guardian

3 days ago

From an early age I worried if I was doing enough. Growing up in Hong Kong, a city where competition is keen, I wanted to do well. That brought a lot of anxiety.
I started to practise mindfulness in 2012. It helps a lot with my emotions, and I can think more clearly. As an educational psychologist, I see lots of mental health issues. I think bringing mindfulness into our schools is an important way to find moments of calm, especially in the fast-paced city of Hong Kong.
That's what drew me to the Space‑Out competition – a contest about doing nothing. I saw it advertised on social media last year. The founder, Korean artist Woopsyang, has said that there's a lot of societal pressure to always be productive, so it's important to appreciate downtime.
Woopsyang started the Space-Out competition in Seoul in 2014. It was a performance-art piece that involved people competing to effectively do nothing and 'space out' for 90 minutes. There have since been competitions all over the world, held several times a year.
I entered one in Hong Kong last October. It was a hot afternoon and the event was held in an open space inside a busy mall in the centre of the city. There were many spectators chit-chatting. About 100 people took part, each sitting on a yoga mat that had been laid out neatly on the square.
We were guided through a series of stretches before we settled down for the 90 minutes. You have to sit there without any significant movement; you cannot sleep, make any noise or check your phone.
After the time is up, the final 10 participants are voted for by the spectators, likely based on our statements about why we joined the competition, and our expressions over the 90 minutes. The finalists' heart rates are measured throughout – the one with the steadiest is the winner.
Every 15 minutes or so the judges come to measure your heart rate. These approaches make you nervous. I could feel my heart beating faster, but I tried to see it as a way to practise acceptance – to notice those feelings of tenseness, and try not to force myself to relax.
We all have wandering minds – my thoughts jumped from my family, to the sound of the wind in the trees, to the fan humming around us. But you just take note of them. You observe it, like seeing the clouds up in the sky and how they come and go.
I paid attention to my breath, to the feelings in my body, and my thoughts and emotions. I focused on the sensation of the breeze across my skin, noticing subtle changes in the environment and how they affected my body. Though it was a 'space out' competition, I was doing the opposite: actively practising mindfulness, observing my mind and my breath.
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After about 30 minutes, I remembered we were being judged by the spectators, so I tried to imagine what being spaced out would look like. I dropped my glasses down my nose and sat like that for the next hour.
When they announced the competition was over, I wanted to sit for longer. I have a busy life – alongside my job, I am studying, and have two kids, aged 11 and nine – so having this space was a luxury, especially in this world where our minds are stimulated all day long. Often we can get through a day and our mind might not have settled for even a second.
I was surprised when I was announced as the winner. I understand that, for many people, sitting in silence for 90 minutes would be a nightmare, but I found it very enjoyable.
I think it's vital to take time to come back to ourselves. In many parts of the world, people live day in, day out, never stopping – it's as if stopping is a kind of laziness. Although the event was just for 90 minutes, it gave us a way to just be ourselves, and I hope it reminds people that productivity isn't always the most important thing.
The trophy I won is based on Rodin's The Thinker statue. It sits in my living room, and I see it as a reminder that we should all spare at least a few minutes a day to allow ourselves to do the things that nourish us, or just to have the space to do nothing. That is a gift.
As told to Naomi Larsson Piñeda
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