This week your challenge is to rest for thirty minutes every day.
I know, I know, you’re busy. You don’t have time to rest. It’s all on you to get everything done. If you don’t do it, who will?
Maybe you were raised in a culture that views rest as a waste of time. Being “lazy” was a bad word. A no-good layabout. Being busy was valued and rewarded.
Let me ask you this: have you ever had the flu or a bad cold where you’re not “go to the hospital” sick, but you’re too sick to lift your head off the pillow? Everything you had planned – work, school, fun stuff, travel, was cancelled. Remember how the earth continued to rotate on its axis despite your not having done any of those very important things?
Can you view a scheduled rest from this lens? You can pause. It will be ok.
By rest, I mean nap, close your eyes, put your feet up.
Meditate, sit and stare out the window, watch the birds and squirrels. Yes you can read a book, or listen to music. My definition of rest would not include watching t.v. or scrolling on your phone.
Give your mind and body a rest.
To prep for this week, I read “Rest Is Resistance” by Tricia Hersey AKA The Nap Bishop. She writes about rest as a form of protest against our capitalist culture. Want to stick it to the man? Take a nap!
“All of culture is collaborating for us not to rest… We are sleep-deprived because the systems view us as machines, but bodies are not machines. Our bodies are a site of liberation. We are divine and our rest is divine. There is synergy, interconnectedness, and deep communal healing within our rest movement. I believe rest, sleep, naps, daydreaming, and slowing down can help us all wake up to see the truth of ourselves. Rest is a healing portal to our deepest selves. Rest is care. Rest is radical.”
~Tricia Hersey
Maybe you view rest as something you do once a year on vacation. Or rest is a reward for working really hard, not something you deserve, just because.
I’m sure you’ve experienced this – you have a big deadline at work or a project or event you’re in charge of. You work and work, staying up late, putting in long hours. Then the second it’s done, and you can finally relax, you get sick. Your body has been running on straight adrenaline and caffeine and the exhaustion has you plum wore out as they say.
This idea that we have to be busy is an illusion. When you give yourself rest breaks, you’re actually more productive than when you pull an all-nighter. You deserve to rest.
You are worthy of rest, right now. You don’t have to earn it.
Rest allows your mind to soften and open to creativity. Ever been in the shower and thought of a brilliant solution to a problem, or just the right thing to say to someone? Thats because you weren’t actively chewing on it. Your mind was resting.
Rest is not a luxury, it is your right!
Now that I’ve convinced you of the benefits of rest, how and when do you actually do it?
- Schedule it. Book a blank spot in your calendar and treat this as a sacred space. Despite your or anyone else’s efforts to fill it with something, don’t! Protect it at all costs!
- Get it when you can. Don’t have 30 minutes to nap? Take 5 deep breaths before the start of your meeting. Savor your coffee or tea in the morning, feel the warmth of the mug, notice the flavor. Close your eyes for 5 minutes after lunch.
- Attach it to something. Rest after you complete a task. Rest after a meal. Rest after your workout. I’ve been doing this version of constructive rest with my legs on the ball after every Pilates class.
How do you feel about being asked to rest?
Please reach out to me if I can help you this week. I am here for you!
503-705-4762
I’m now booking in-person movement and or massage sessions here in Vancouver on Fridays and have these times available in October:
- Friday October 3rd at noon
- Friday October 10th at 1:30 or 4:30
- Friday October 17th at noon
Anne McCranie is a Vancouver, Washington-based personal trainer and licensed massage therapist. She shares lifestyle tips with you so that you can look and feel your best.