For most of my life, I’ve struggled with rest. And I’m not talking about sleeping (although I’ve struggled with that too). Rather, I’m talking about how I find it hard to slow down, do less, enjoy the sky and the trees and the birds more, and just be happy being a human being rather than a human doing. It’s certainly why I’m so obsessed with slow, mindful yoga practices – they save me from myself. They force me to do what’s not natural to my mind, but what my body demands (and my mind will ultimately admit that it needs too).
Last week I wrote a blog about how reframing self-discipline, not as self-punishment but as setting healthy boundaries with yourself, can initiate an important shift.
The shift is from seeing your yoga practice as another burden to check off your To Do list at best (and as something to punish yourself with at worst) to understanding your practice as self-care in service of your higher self – I wanted to follow up on that blog today with a few other thoughts.
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The days are shorter and the nights are longer so this is the time of year when we’re called to rest – at least those of us in the northern hemisphere (although it probably can’t hurt folks in the southern hemisphere to get some more rest too). The earth is signaling us to chill out and turn within, and yet here I am, at the height of this crazy season trying to remember what my nephew wanted for Christmas, how and when I’m going to decorate my front porch or, goddess willing, actually bake anything, and getting ready to travel.
So, I try to pause and rest for a bit each day. And, even though I know how important it is, I still wrestle with the Goddess of rest:
“Just 20 minutes?” she begs.
“Nope, but I’ll slump on the couch and watch Netflix for an hour.”
“Um, no. That doesn’t count. How about 15?”
“10 and that’s my final offer.”
Sigh. “Deal.”
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Then I either put my legs up the wall, or lie down and drape them over a bolster, or set up in supta baddhakoṇāsana (reclining bound angle pose) with lots of props. I find some spacey singing bowl meditation music or soft chanting on my phone. I cover up with a blanket. I decorate my face with an eye pillow. If my mind is in overdrive, I have a notebook next to me so that my speedy thoughts have somewhere to go while I’m resting. What’s delightful is that I find that the Goddess of Rest is quite adept at tricking me into hanging out longer than I’d negotiated.
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When my busy mind wants to rebel against rest, I remind myself that there will always be dozens of things to check off my to-do list, the kitchen floor can always be cleaner, there is always another email to answer. But those things all have to wait, they all have to bow down for a few minutes to the Goddess of rest.
One thing that helps remind me to rest is having yoga mats around – I have them either rolled out on the floor or rolled up in a corner of most of the rooms in my house.
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Taking time to rest with yoga is about using a tiny amount of self-discipline on top of a heap of self-boundaries to affect self-nurturing. It’s about acknowledging that I deserve to be rested, I deserve to feel strong, healthy, and clear. I do not deserve to be burned out, exhausted, or depleted. That doesn’t serve me, or anyone else. And it’s about doing whatever it takes to get there – despite my resistance.
When I finish my restful practice I feel much more peaceful, and I can go back to my life with a sense of ease. A restful vibration seeps into the rest of my day – as if I just had a massage, as if I have all the time in the world, as if nothing is worth stressing out over. There will always be too much to do. But there’s never a better moment to rest than the present.
Here’s a little holiday gift video I restfully made for you – a 15 minute Yoga for Essential Holiday Season Rest. I hope you enjoy it!
Want to Flourish in 2023? Please check out my mini-course, ‘Visioning 2023: A Subtle® Yoga Guided Journey for Creating a Joyful, Expansive Year’ (it’s only $7!)
CHAIR YOGA FOR YOUR BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM
SUBTLE® YOGA FOR ENHANCING TRAUMA RECOVERY
Five Ways Yogic Meditation Benefits Your Brain – eBook
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Absolutely love this blog post. I too have had my struggles with the Goddess of Rest; however I have been on a journey of just BEing. Has not been an easy one for me. But I forge on and my body, mind, spirit and soul clap their hands in delight as yet once again I put my legs over a chair, cover myself up and breathe. AAAHHHHHH
Thanks Teri! We all get better with practice!
This blog so speaks to me in many ways. I am in process of your Yogic Meditation course. So much self reflection and study in merely reading the notes and listening to them. I will start to expand my meditation practice using tools of mantra and Nyasa. The journaling has lead to greater self awareness. Discipline has stepped forward loud and clear in my mind and soul. Thank you for the gifts of this course.
Your blog today was right on! The Goddess of rest has been invited into my body, mind, heart and soul. The discipline of practice, practice, practice of meditation and rest are becoming instilled in me every moment.
Thank you, Kristine for your focus and concentration to guide us on our journeys💜☮️🕉️
See you in March🤗
Thanks Jane and I’m thrilled that you are benefitting from the meditation course! I really poured my heart into that one (well, I usually do, but that one in particular). I am so excited to get to finally meet you in March! xo
I love this! Gonna sculpt and personalize something similar for my students in an email. I so relate. Thanks so much for your great inspirations and teachings. I’m doing one of your online courses and love it. I feel we are so aligned…connected in spirit.
Thank you Sarita-Linda! Glad to hear we’re subtle soul sisters!
“Saving ourselves from ourselves!” I always say, “take care of yourself first and everything else falls into place.” Thank you for reaffirming we are human beings not doings. Merry Christmas!
Thanks Carol. Yes, I am also my worst enemy, but I’ll save that for another blog!
I LOVE this, thank you.
Thanks Rebecca, now I’m going to lie down on a bolster.😍
Thank you for the reminder, my ego will has won too many times recently and I am frazzled, becoming forgetful, reactive and generally discombobulated. From today those legs will be up the wall everyday.
Thank you for the timely nudge to care for myself again.
Love, love this Kristine. Every sentence resonates! Thank you.
thank you!