What does “abschalten” mean in German?

When the speaker says autogenes Training was her go-to “wenn ich mal abschalten musste,” she doesn’t mean turning off a device. “abschalten” here means switching off in your head: letting go of your busy thoughts so you can finally relax. She used it to step out of her own thinking and calm down. People say it about ending work, putting the phone away, or just resting their mind for a while.

She says: “Besonders am Anfang war das so mein Goto wenn ich mal abschalten musste, wenn ich aus meinen Gedanken raus wollte.” — “Especially at the start that was my go-to when I needed to switch off, when I wanted to get out of my own thoughts.” “Abschalten” can be literal (to switch off a machine), but with people it usually means to mentally unwind and stop thinking about stress. More examples: - “Nach der Arbeit kann ich schwer abschalten.” — “After work I find it hard to switch off.” - “Im Urlaub will ich einfach mal abschalten.” — “On holiday I just want to relax and clear my head.” - “Hilft dir Sport beim Abschalten?” — “Does exercise help you switch off?” Note: said about yourself, it means relaxing your mind. The same verb can also mean switching a device off, so the rest of the sentence tells you which one is meant.