Tag Archives: learning to rest

Say Yes to Rest

The learning to rest thing is not easy, but it’s worth every effort given. I see ancient patterns resistant to change because they’ve been with me for a lifetime.

As a child I don’t recall taking time for rest. Mama kept us busy because she believed if we had too much time on our hands we’d find trouble. When my daughter and I moved into our first home together, I recall after the movers left, laying across the bed and falling sound asleep. I woke up some time later and thought, “That was the first nap I allowed myself to have in 30 years.” I never saw Mama take a nap, but Daddy took one everyday like clockwork.

I’ve been in relationships where they took daily naps. Sometimes, I’d take one too, but I always felt guilty for napping. There’s an old saying, “You can sleep when your dead,” but I’m learning to rest while alive in hopes of adding quality years to live.

I want to fall in love with this notion of rest and I’m not head over heels in love just yet, but I’m full of willingness. This photo was taken after a meditation in my sacred space. I was seated on my Zafu cushion, looking up at the corner of my bed and it made me feel more restful by simply seeing it. You see, I created a space within this space that calls for me to take a rest.

It contains my favorite blanket and pillow and I set the stage every morning after making the bed, just in case today is the day I’ll use it. This space waits for me all day to surrender and say yes to rest.

What comes up for you when you think about rest?

I Almost Missed It

I couldn’t find a good photo online of what I saw. Maybe it was a moment that couldn’t be caught by a phone camera. I thought about taking a picture, because at the time my phone was in my hand. This is also how I almost missed it.

There’s a popular saying, “Do more things that make you forget your phone”, but I was doing nothing. I had awakened before dawn to begin my day in a mindful way. Once it was daylight, I exited my sacred space and entered the main part of the house for a cup of tea to sit and sip while reading. I’m still learning to rest and for those who are following that topic, I’m now reading. “Sabbath”, by Wayne Muller.

The thunderstorm arrived quickly as if out of nowhere. I grabbed my phone to check the weather app and then of course having the phone in hand took me onto checking a couple of other apps until I caught myself plowing through emails. The thunder had stopped and I could hear a good, steady rain falling on the tin roof. That’s when I looked up from my phone and my gaze landed on a nearby window. I sat in awe of what the window revealed.

The raindrops were tiny and gently streaming straight down with a slight breeze ruffling a vine growing along the neighbors fence. What drew me into this moment was the sunlight streaming between the fence and a tree at just the right angle that transformed it into a showcase of nature. It only lasted for a minute before the sun retreated behind a cloud and the rain began to cease.

In a restful state, or ‘not doing’ there are extraordinary moments like these readily available to witness, and to think by looking at my phone…I almost missed it.

Practice a restful state while I read this to you.

Photo by Danielle Dolson on Unsplash

Learning to Rest

Recently, I took a 30-day hiatus from Blogging to give my words a rest. That’s what I’m learning about and it’s spilling over into other areas of my life. I’m even reading books about rest because I’ve never been good at it, but want to be.

Rest doesn’t mean napping the day away, but I used to think rest resembled a midday nap. Just like in this previous post, rest for me is not filling all the flower beds this Spring because that choice will bite hard come August. I should be working right now, but my list of tasks are light, so I took the morning off to move mindfully through my day and that feels restful.

I used to clean my house on Sunday afternoons to get it done before the work week, but that stopped. I’ve decided to use Sunday for what it was created for instead. I spent Sunday catching up with friends, sitting in nature, reading through my stack of books and cooked one more delectable dinner. This notion of rest began last December, but I am putting it to practice this year.

In December I read through a years worth of morning pages and a couple of journals, but there was one common theme written throughout. It read, “I am tired, today.” I don’t want to read that anywhere this December.

I’m finding that rest doesn’t mean do nothing, but to be very still in every action and listen to the heart. Rest is a close cousin to peace and there’s no better feeling, besides love, than harnessing continual peace while learning to rest.

I’ll happily read this to you here:

Feature Photo by Derek Liang on Unsplash