In gratitude for winter rest
In conversations with you all in the past few weeks I have heard that REST is a four letter word. That even those of us who SAY they value slow time, still feel guilty about it.
That dirty little thing you do, napping.
At the same time, as parents, we enforce rest. (And it's not just so we can have a little peace and sanity.) It's because we know that growing bodies need rest. We fiercely protect their rest because we see how it makes them stronger, healthier, more resilient to stressors.
Just not for you and me, right mama?
There are different rules for us. We go without. Insert word here ______. Rest, food, space, time, etc. I am coming to believe that this is more about our judgments of what it means to stop and to slow down and to rest. We need to prioritize it, to protect it. But doing this is a rebellion of sorts.
It goes against everything that we've been taught.
They told us to do more things, faster.
Instant Pot, Time-Savings, Efficiency, Productivity, Doing It All. And so we sit with the guilt. The guilt sits on us during ten tiny minutes of mediation. It sits on us when we slow down. Whenever we stop, whenever we rest.
There's change afoot.
Women aren't only saying me too. In a multitude of ways we are once again starting to protect and honor our bodies. And this starts with prioritizing rest. Because the deepest gratitude we can have is for whatever limitations we were given.
When we graciously accept this body, we allow it to rest.
That dirty little thing you do, napping.
At the same time, as parents, we enforce rest. (And it's not just so we can have a little peace and sanity.) It's because we know that growing bodies need rest. We fiercely protect their rest because we see how it makes them stronger, healthier, more resilient to stressors.
Just not for you and me, right mama?
There are different rules for us. We go without. Insert word here ______. Rest, food, space, time, etc. I am coming to believe that this is more about our judgments of what it means to stop and to slow down and to rest. We need to prioritize it, to protect it. But doing this is a rebellion of sorts.
It goes against everything that we've been taught.
They told us to do more things, faster.
Instant Pot, Time-Savings, Efficiency, Productivity, Doing It All. And so we sit with the guilt. The guilt sits on us during ten tiny minutes of mediation. It sits on us when we slow down. Whenever we stop, whenever we rest.
There's change afoot.
Women aren't only saying me too. In a multitude of ways we are once again starting to protect and honor our bodies. And this starts with prioritizing rest. Because the deepest gratitude we can have is for whatever limitations we were given.
When we graciously accept this body, we allow it to rest.
"We are now in winter, the nighttime of the year. Winter is the season of utmost Yin. It is the Earth’s time of utmost rest, utmost darkness, and utmost conservation. Nature requires it. It is from this fertile silence that spring is born; it takes this period of consolidation to regenerate the burst of Yang that will crack the seedling and push it up through the soil to reach the sunlight at winter’s end. The balance of the cosmos hinges on this period of rest and recovery." – Russel Brown (read the rest here)
