Week 5: Rest & Distraction - Day 29

In one of my first posts I briefly wrote about my relationship with the daily vitamin. Consistency has been a difficult thing for me with things like that. Turns out that's happened with the blog as well and I missed a couple days last week. I'm also not super good with numbers. They don't hold a lot of meaning for me in my brain. So with that combination, we find ourselves on day 29 (whatever that means). More importantly, we find ourselves on a new week with a new theme.

Rest and

D                      i       

       s                        t           r

a                                                 c                                      t                             i           on.

Most people will agree that the Sabbath has something to do with rest. Most people will also agree that not very much rest happens for them on the Sabbath, let alone in an average day. There are many ways that we need rest. Our bodies need physical rest, laying down, closing your eyes, breathing slowly. Our minds need rest from making sense of everything, making choices, holding it all together, organizing, thinking it through... Our hearts need rest too. Everyone of us carry memories or people who take space in our heart. So, along with the different ways we need rest, there are many ways to experience it. For example, take some physical activity like walking, jogging, yoga, surfing, playing basketball, swimming, etc. Though we may not receive physical rest, we are finding rest in another way. In a practice like yoga, your exercise is not complete without Savasana, also known as Corpse Pose. I can't even explain how good this feels... You should stay in this pose for 5 minutes per every 30 minutes of exercise. Can you imagine if we carried this rule for us in every area of our life, keeping five minutes of rest mandatory throughout our day of work?

Prayer is a way to give our hearts and minds rest. In prayer we offer our thoughts and our those things we carry in our hearts to God. We practice faith that our Creator is holding it for us, sorting those things out that are so hard for us to sort out. Prayer is usually not a quick fix, but it can be. Meditation is another way to rest your mind and heart.

We aren't idiots. We know we need rest. We know the ways we specifically enjoy practicing rest. Then why don't we do it enough? There is a certain pressure that drives us into our work. This pressure is not grace. It's a pressure to prove ourselves and prove our worth. We don't allow ourselves regular rest because we do not feel we deserve it... yet, but that yet pushes us further and further into never. This bleeds into our worship and faith life, taking away the gift of grace. Grace is not cheap, but it is a gift. We need to practice rest by accepting that gift to our hearts, mind, and body. It hurts when you see someone unable to accept a gift they need the most.

So today, this week, let's practice real rest. I will get into the rest of our theme another day...

Using the rule of Savasana, rest for every 30 minutes you work today. If you're on the computer for 30 minutes, step away from it for five minutes. If you've just finished your regular hour of cardio/weight lifting, give yourself a good ten minutes of rest. Break it down in a way that works for you. If you want to try five minutes for every 30, go for it. Set an alarm to remind yourself to break. If you want to try ten minutes every hour, do it. If you want to save it for after the work day, then go for it, but commit to the promise of rest.

P.S. In case you were wondering, TV only kind of counts as rest. Facebook does not count as rest (and I say this as an avid fb user). More to come on that later...

WANT MORE?

Practice Savasana. Yeah, actually do it.

Put on a super calming CD and listen to it. That's all.

Walk and/or practice walking meditation.

LAUGH.

Have young kids? This is my favorite book for teaching centering prayer.

Journey to the Heart by Frank Jelenex

Praying in Color. There is an adult and children's edition. 

Write in a journal.

Read more about why you need rest...
"You Need More Downtime Than You Think"
"19 Signs You Need to Unplug..."
"The Definitive Guide to Sleep" Plus check out his other articles about sleep, rest, and stress. One of my favorite blogs. Lots of good stuff.

Download a Meditation App, or something like that...
I like personally like this Dharma Meditation Training app because it gives reminders and helps build up your tolerance over time.