Tag: #rest

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Refresh, Rest, Refocus – And Love You

Taking time to refresh, rest and refocus energizes me. It allows me to unwind – to hold space for myself. Not an easy enterprise to carry out in a world that rewards go-go-go. Stepping off the treadmill can be unsettling. However, when I connect with the inner me, I open the door to kindness. I feel valued, safe and loved.

Being “gentle with myself” takes intention and persistence. Intention – given that it requires effort. Persistence because life is a journey not a destination.

In her article “Be Kind to Yourself,” Marianna Pogosyan, Ph.D., explores the concept of self-compassion. She introduces Kristin Neff, a “leading self-compassion researcher.” Dr. Neff “identified three main components of self-compassion: self-kindness, feelings of common humanity, and mindfulness.”

Dr. Kneff and her colleague, Chris Germer, co-founded “the Mindful Self-Compassion training program.” Germer suggests that by reflecting on particular questions, we can move beyond the “fight, flight, freeze” response. We can learn to truly be kind to ourselves. A lesson worth pursuing.

Sabbatical – Walkabout – Itchy Feet

Too often stress and the chaos of life snuffs out self-kindness. Taking time to rest and refocus is widely put off. However, there’s a time-honored tradition in academia that may should move mainstream. The Sabbatical.

A sabbatical is not a vacation. It’s not simply time off. It’s reaching for something distinctive.

The subject is covered by the Harvard Business Review; Research: The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals, by Kira Schabram, Matt Bloom, and DJ DiDonna. This article outlines “three different sabbatical types, each with a unique combination of experiences.” All provide “increasingly radical transformations in people’s work and life.”

  • Working Holidays – working on a passion project
  • Free Dives – wanderlust; abrupt adventure and a soul reset
  • Quests – a last resort because continuing on their current path was untenable

For me, it’s time for a working holiday. Reaching for something distinctive – and personal.

So, as Mick “Crocodile Dundee” would say, I’m off on walkabout.

Will this outing be a Michael Cawley? Don’t know. Will simply have to live my way into that future. Bye for now.

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” ― Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phrynette Married

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Balance – Hurry Up but Chill

Balancing the desire to make progress with the need to rest is an acquired talent. One that calls for self-knowledge, willingness and a decision. This trifecta can be a wobbly stool. Any one of the legs go missing . . . I fall flat.

Of course, it’s helpful to know what progress means to me personally. Along with the insight that my timeline is unique. Society encourages me to set and achieve prescribed goals; many of which are drilled into my psyche from birth. Unravelling a lifelong bias from authentic desire is essential.

Yes, setting and acquiring goals delivers rewards. Ensuring they’re rewards I want is key.

Pacing myself includes deference to my physical, mental and emotional health. This entails rest, quiet and leisure, not always supported in a hurried capitalistic culture.

Knowing my wants, but not my limits can mean I might push too hard. This is a recipe for accidents, exhaustion and sickness. When I don’t know myself enough to have boundaries – for myself and others, my buttons get pushed and I lose my skittles.

Knowing what I want, then being willing to do what’s required, and deciding to act every day is a recipe for growth.

We joke that “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” But this is no joke.

“There is a huge difference between wanting to change and being willing to change. Almost everyone wants to change for the better. Very few are willing to take the steps necessary to create that change.”

– John T. Child

Within the principles of recovery programs, willingness is key to healing. This may not be an overnight accomplishment. Sometimes I must do as Abraham Hicks suggests and simply “be willing to be willing to be willing.”

Lucky for me I get a new day every day – to decide to take action.

“Don’t underestimate the power of resting. It builds you back unlike anything.” ― Hiral Nagda

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The Common Cold – Just Being Awesome

In her book You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay says a bout with the common cold might indicate having:

“Too much going on at once. Mental confusion, disorder. Small hurts. “I get three colds every winter,” type of belief.”

Using affirmations to set a healing intent can be helpful. For colds, she suggests:

“I allow my mind to relax and be at peace. Clarity and harmony are within me and around me.”

Everyone gets sick. Not everyone has the luxury of resting long enough to heal completely. But if we look though our great big To Do List and determine what MUST be done and what COULD be done, we can prioritize getting rest.

Setting aside our self-assigned optional duties also opens space for the mind to settle and the body to heal.

“Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”

― Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor