Yesterday I was telling you about the resting day I had. How often we all need these rest days and don’t take them! What if, when our bodies insisted on them, we actually rearranged our schedule to accommodate?
What if we treated our bodies as if they were the most valuable thing we will ever own? Because, they are!
I think our culture is too mind centered. We think we can heal our bodies with our minds, while simultaneously disrespecting them and driving them into the ground by continuing the frantic pace we set for ourselves. Positivity of thought is part of it, but I believe it’s not the only part; if we just give it a minute, our bodies can heal themselves in near-miraculous ways, without any mental intervention at all. Sleep, as I’ve discovered over and over and over through my life, is the Number One Healer. When we have the flu, we don’t get rid of it by repeating “I’m totally healthy! Totally healthy!” whilst ignoring our body and maintaining our frenzy even though we feel awful. No. We get rid of it by going to bed and sleeping and letting our body do its thing.
Let’s respect our bodies and work with them. They’re not pitted against us. They love us. We just have to learn to listen and heed their message better, I think. They’ll tell us what we need to do. We have to shut off our brains and listen, though!
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That rest day I took felt so wonderful. To not struggle against my tiredness was a relief. I’m naturally a doer… I don’t sit still very long before I pop back up and am doing something again. There’s so much I love to do and am interested in, that I find it very hard to rest! — partly because resting can feel boring. So if you don’t want to sleep, you might look through a fun magazine (Sunset, Coastal Living, Martha Stewart Living, and Mother Earth News are all faves of mine). Or draw. Or sit on your front porch and watch the world go by. Or read. Or listen to music. Or load an audio book onto your MP3 player if you’re too tired to read. Or close your eyes and just think, and allow your mind to go wherever it wants to (I’m a big fan of this one; maybe that’s a post for another day).
I’m still learning. It can be a tricky mental shift to tune in and work with my body instead of ignoring it in favor of the activities my mind wants to do.
Are you still learning, too?
What are some of your favorite restful activities?
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OH, yes, I’m still learning, too! Hard for me to sit still, also. I think by far my favorite restful activity if I’m not napping is looking through magazines such as the ones you mentioned. They do not require me to do anything so I can just relax with them and take some of the new ideas, or leave them. No pressure. Fun!
You are wonderful Lindsey… read, sit, breathe. xxx
Great post Lindsey! Such an important message. And good reminder for me.
And me as well 🙂
Love to you, Taryn~!!
It is indeed a hard to take such loving care of ourselves when many of us maintain such busy lives. I tend to not be very good at it even when it’s so obviously needed. I did discover the joy of an hours nap in our warm, little ’64 Holly travel trailer after a day of work and before entering the house to hang out with house guests I was too tired to be with. A bike ride down a nearby road to the old barn with a stream running by it gives me a great spot to lie down, listen to the water tripping by while watch the clouds overhead or just having a day to float around in my own yard and garden with no “to do” list driving me!
I love that idea Jane, of taking a nap in your trailer before entering the house, and all it contained! What a great concept.
Been thinking of you… much love to you!
Lindsey