Rest is Productive
Here I am, definitely one of the most productive people that I know. Yup, me.
For years, being a dancer, I kind of prided myself on my discipline and hard work.
Then walks in Yoga.
And it says heyyyyyyy! Where do you think you are running at the speed of light?
As dancers we were often told you keep working inspite of injuries, to keep pushing beyond the limits of physical and mental fatigue and when you admire someone, what do you do?
You emulate them. You end up doing exactly what they ask you to do.
Fast forward to many years later, I was first introduced to the idea of holding a pose for long and breathing into it and you know what my body said to me?
It screamed that this is heaven! It screamed that what the hell was I doing with my body before? It said that hey why didn't you show me this experience? Then ofcourse I told my body to be quiet and just enjoy and then the story wasn't over there. The best part was yet to come. Yes, breathe for it.......SHAVASANA!
How shavasana blew me away is an understatement no matter how much I blow it up. I suddenly saw that after a state of deep relaxation (not sleep) of not more than 10 to 15 mins, I would wake up completely refreshed and rejuvinated, feeling atleast a 10 years younger and a million times better emotionally and physically than the 10 mins prior to it!
Deep relaxation in a state of passive awareness is truly truly magical.
Coming back to rest being productive.
Are you the kinds who doesn't allow himself/ herself rest time? Yes, one day doesn't count if in that one day you have washed dishes, done the laundry, cooked and then cleaned some more. That is positively NOT rest time.
Rest time is actually shutting down with something that nourishes you in that time. For me sometimes its playing the ukulele, sometimes it writing, sometimes its reading or sometimes just or sometimes meditating or gazing into the vast expanse of the ocean. Yes, this means rest for me. I have observed that just sleep doesn't rest my mind. I think it doesn't give any of us all the kinds of rest that we need. We have a mind that has a lot of thoughts go through it in one day and to really give it rest, it is essential to reconnect to aspects and disconnect to some.
I used to initially feel very guilty about taking rest. Never gave myself complete or total rest for I felt that it was a waste of time. It was years of conditioning and training that made me go into that habit. Many of us have that same habit. We take a day off but don't really feel rested. Don't really feel like we got what we needed. That is true. We didn't give ourselves what we really wanted. We wanted to do something soul nourishing. Each of us knows what that is for us and sometimes netflix does not suffice. Just distracts.
Here is to allowing rest. I hope that wherever you are, if you are reading this, you allow yourself some real self nurturing rest time. I am still learning what it means and it's a very interesting journey. Unlearning the conventional definition of rest and relearning from within what rest means to me.
For years, being a dancer, I kind of prided myself on my discipline and hard work.
Then walks in Yoga.
And it says heyyyyyyy! Where do you think you are running at the speed of light?
As dancers we were often told you keep working inspite of injuries, to keep pushing beyond the limits of physical and mental fatigue and when you admire someone, what do you do?
You emulate them. You end up doing exactly what they ask you to do.
Fast forward to many years later, I was first introduced to the idea of holding a pose for long and breathing into it and you know what my body said to me?
It screamed that this is heaven! It screamed that what the hell was I doing with my body before? It said that hey why didn't you show me this experience? Then ofcourse I told my body to be quiet and just enjoy and then the story wasn't over there. The best part was yet to come. Yes, breathe for it.......SHAVASANA!
How shavasana blew me away is an understatement no matter how much I blow it up. I suddenly saw that after a state of deep relaxation (not sleep) of not more than 10 to 15 mins, I would wake up completely refreshed and rejuvinated, feeling atleast a 10 years younger and a million times better emotionally and physically than the 10 mins prior to it!
Deep relaxation in a state of passive awareness is truly truly magical.
Coming back to rest being productive.
Are you the kinds who doesn't allow himself/ herself rest time? Yes, one day doesn't count if in that one day you have washed dishes, done the laundry, cooked and then cleaned some more. That is positively NOT rest time.
Rest time is actually shutting down with something that nourishes you in that time. For me sometimes its playing the ukulele, sometimes it writing, sometimes its reading or sometimes just or sometimes meditating or gazing into the vast expanse of the ocean. Yes, this means rest for me. I have observed that just sleep doesn't rest my mind. I think it doesn't give any of us all the kinds of rest that we need. We have a mind that has a lot of thoughts go through it in one day and to really give it rest, it is essential to reconnect to aspects and disconnect to some.
I used to initially feel very guilty about taking rest. Never gave myself complete or total rest for I felt that it was a waste of time. It was years of conditioning and training that made me go into that habit. Many of us have that same habit. We take a day off but don't really feel rested. Don't really feel like we got what we needed. That is true. We didn't give ourselves what we really wanted. We wanted to do something soul nourishing. Each of us knows what that is for us and sometimes netflix does not suffice. Just distracts.
Here is to allowing rest. I hope that wherever you are, if you are reading this, you allow yourself some real self nurturing rest time. I am still learning what it means and it's a very interesting journey. Unlearning the conventional definition of rest and relearning from within what rest means to me.
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