The Importance of Rest
Do you need a break from life?
Are you tired of doing, doing, and more doing?
Are you feeling run down and still pushing forward?
It may be time for a rest.
Many people keep on running and doing and never actually rest. Even their vacations are action packed. I’ll bet you’ve heard people say, “I have to go home to rest up from my vacation.” The whole idea of taking time out of your daily life is to give your body a chance to rest.
Think of a machine constantly running at a high speed and never stopping. It eventually burns out. Our bodies are the same. Adrenaline is the hormone that is keeping us at that high speed and will lead to the body breaking down. The solution is rest.
Think of a broken leg. If you don’t rest and continue to run around on it, you may think of yourself as a boss. However, there will be consequences down the road. This is when the body breaks down.
If you never rest, any thoughts, feelings, injuries, illnesses, etc. that you haven’t truly dealt with are just stuffed down into your body’s tissues waiting to be dealt with when you give the body rest.
By periodically giving your body rest, you are letting your body deal with the backlog of aches and pains. In short, your body has time to process, improve and heal. Your body is saying, “Oh thank goodness. I was waiting to deal with this. Let’s bring it up again to clear it and whatever emotions are attached to it."
Here’s the deal with rest. When you are busy, your body is using your resources to help you run and do. When your body is at rest, your resources can be used to clear up current or old injuries, illness, scars, infections, etc.
Rest means slow down, be quiet, give yourself the space to just be.
It’s ok if you ask for help from others to do what has to be done.
It’s ok if others don’t do things the way you would do them. (It’s a chance for you to practice acceptance and tolerance.)
It’s ok if you get tired.
It’s ok if you sit on your butt.
It’s ok if you read a book.
It’s ok if you don’t answer all your emails.
It’s ok if you go on or to a meditation retreat.
It’s ok if you go into nature.
It’s ok if you take yourself out of your daily routine and take a break. The whole idea is to give yourself a break from your life and just be.
It’s ok to opt out of anything that amps up your stress, trauma, or drama. This includes watching scary movies, paying attention to the news, or even reading something too stimulating. Your body doesn’t know the difference between real and imaginary. Your brain thinks it is happening either way. So, even watching the news or a scary movie will have the hormones in your body reacting as if it is real and happening to you in that moment.
It’s best to take an extended rest. However, if you can only do it once a week that is better than nothing. And if you can take time each day (with real meditation when you feel the tension leave your body, not the 10-minute-I’ve-done-it kind) then you will feel better the more often you do it.
Recently, I did an extended rest. I set the intention and my body was “jumping for joy.” It powered down and enjoyed every minute of it.
My husband was a great help and was willing to do anything if I asked. It was my not asking part that tripped me up. About the fifth day in, I chose to do a few things. I guess I did too much (after only two things).
And then, I prepared a smoothie (which while simple, isn’t resting). Someone was on the phone, so I waited to turn on the blender. Ten minutes later when I did, my brain was still in go-go mode, so I wasn’t paying attention. I turned the blender on, noticed that I hadn’t put the lid on, used my left hand as a cover until I could slide the top over the mess spraying the cabinets. (Never even thought of turning it off.) Then to top it off, I noticed that the setting was on cleaning instead of juicing. This turned out lucky for me as that starts as a slower speed. I was laughing as I cleaned the cabinets, counter, and floor. Somehow, I didn’t get it on me.
You can bet I went to rest and read a book. I’d gotten the message. If I don’t rest, there will be a bigger mess to deal with.
