Daily Practices to Slow Down & Cultivate A Rhythm of Rest
The importance of rest and slowing down.
In many ways, slowing down is an act of defiance. It says to a world addicted to success, that I will not drink the Kool-Aid, SO HELP ME GOD. I am allowed to be valuable, and precious and beloved, even if I don’t “accomplish” anything today. And yes, staring at the sky for five minutes makes me feels like a million bucks, so I will stay here and stare more.
We are not machines, though we treat ourselves like machines too much of the time. We cannot shove a certain number of inputs into our system and expect to get the same outputs all the time. We cannot shave down or pump up every minute detail our existence in order to get 10x efficiency out of our lives. (Trust me, I love trying.)
I love productivity. I love pushing my boundaries and seeing how much more I can produce and create. Yet, I am understanding that my human being and my soul exist within the larger system of our planet and cosmic forces. November is pulling me down onto the chair and telling me, “Hey girl, time to learn how to slow down. Remember what happened this summer? …”
I Couldn’t slow down the Treadmill
This summer, I had planned a trip for myself to get out of the city of Toronto and start travelling again. The trip was planned for August, and I had a vague plan to wind down my creative work in June so that I could enjoy some of the Canadian summer in July before my trip. I didn't have a concrete plan for how I would spend June and July, other than tying up loose ends. What ended up happening was that my work habits felt like a treadmill that was going at 100km an hour and I couldn't slow it down.
I had so much momentum from training myself to work create content for my channels that I couldn't stop. Even according to the laws of physics, if I had tried to stop it, I would have gone flying forward smack into a wall because of the momentum. The machine of my work would not stop. I felt this conflict physically in my being: my soul wanted to play—it was finally summer, my favourite season—but my mind was so used to working it would just keep thinking about work and videos to produce and editing that had to be done.
In the days before my trip to LA in August, I told my friend there that I have zero plans. All I want to do when I get there is rest and do nothing because I have been pushing myself so hard. I learned an important lesson that I will never forget.
The Importance of Rest
Scheduling downtime is just as important a scheduling work time and inspiration time. without conscious downtime the machine of work, my internal desire to work and produce more would run over my heart and soul. I would reach a point where I had squeezed all of the juice out of my heart and soul and I would feel totally flattened and empty inside. This is a terrible feeling and not one that I would deliberately induce on to myself.
So for this autumn, I’ve already had a productive and creative October and I can sense that November is about rest. November is the start of the reflection season. November is a chance for me to integrate practices of simplicity, ease and awareness.
Here are some of the daily practices I'm integrating into my life. I'm going on a big vacation to rest. I'm making a conscious effort to cultivate the rhythm of rest in my everyday life. This is an investment into my physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing that will pay you dividends for the rest of my life.
Daily Practices to Cultivate A Rhythm of Rest
Pause often.
Imagine that your like a movie. You can press pause anytime! I like to consider this savouring and re-centering. The idea is to stop whatever you're doing, even if you're in the middle of brushing your teeth, and do nothing. I usually close my eyes for a few breaths. Sometimes I start counting my breaths, to count to 10, but lately I've been losing my count and I just breathe. It feels a little bit awkward at first but the more you do it, you'll feel how delicious it is. The feeling of stillness is pleasant and rejuvenating.
In the space, you recover a piece of your humanity, instead of throwing ourselves into situations and activities. The more I do this the better I feel. Dare I even say, it feels better than having a piece of dark chocolate.
Slow down in the transitions.
Use your transitions as an opportunity to re-center. Transitions are when we change activity. For example, when you leave the house to get in the car, when you leave the car to walk into work, or when you leave a meeting and come back to your desk. These are moments when we may intuitively sense that we need a break. So we go to the bathroom or we mindlessly check our email we got a cup of tea.
For myself, I've noticed that if my mind has been buzzing and humming for some time and I come straight to my desk and start working, I will not be nearly as effective as if I take a break. So I’ll go to fill my water bottle or go for a walk. However, the breaks are even better when I slow down in the transition. I purposely walk slower. I take deep breaths as I wash my water bottle fill. I drink water savouring the feeling of coolness and refreshment in my body, instead of chugging water like I'm trying to pump it through my body.
Give yourself buffer time.
Don't try to plan too many things back to back. Whenever I've done this, and planned something down to the minute, one of two things happen: If I land every task down to the minute, I will feel successful but frazzled. If I don't land every task down to the minute, I feel like a loser and I also feel frazzled. Nowadays I plan my time with buffers. I give myself an extra 2 or 3 days for projects, just so I can stay ahead of things instead of feeling like I'm behind things. This psychological breathing space translates to sanity!
Change Your Time Framework to Time Abundance, not time scarcity.
Do you live your life in a feeling of, “I don't have enough time for the things I want to do?” Time is elastic, we can choose how we will exist within it. Every day has 24 hours, whether we feel time starved or time abundant. I choose to view my world as one with lots of time. I choose to be intentional about how I use my time. This is about taking back your time and how are you view it as a resource in your life.
Even if you're in a situation where you feel like you have to show up at a job, or you have to finish school and these are taking up all your time, try changing your language. how about, “I choose to work in this job right now. It does not need to take over my life, because I can choose how we show up every day.”
Over time, as you practice these exercises, you will notice that you have more space in your mind, more peace in your heart and more subtle joy in your soul. The usual curveballs will still show up, but you will have a moment before fear and frenetic energy overtake you. That tiny moment may turn into five minutes, and over time, you can get through big life challenges with your self intact. :)
Here’s to rest!
Love, Anita
