Even on the days when you feel there’s nothing left but an empty shell, trust all you may need is a REST. When you are feeling a little broken instead of doing your head in and trying to figure out why….TAKE REST. One of the steps in Mindfulness Practice is TAKING DEEP CONSCIOUS REST. Sometimes feeling broken is how we come to understand the necessity and importance of Mindfulness. Feeling Tired + broken?…. Perfect! There’s a nAPP for that.#YogaNidra
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One of my biggest Ah-ha moments (that maybe for some is a no brainer) is that to be Mindful I actually have to learn how to REST!
Contemplation during my mindfulness practice, along with the help of one of my Zen Teachers, uncovered my habit actions of continual striving and literally not being able to STOP. With the help of adding more Long Slow Deep Yoga practices, walking meditation, pranayama (breathing practices) – activities that focused on letting go and holding what ever I was feeling ‘gently’, I started to learn how to STOP + CALM + ACTUALLY REST.
I returned from a holiday where I took naps during the day (this is something I literally have NEVER done). My fear of missing out, wasting time and my discomfort in feeling guilty that I was not working hard held me in a habit of over-functioning/over-doing it. Feeling the results in my body my mind and my energy levels I now realise that STOPPING/CALMING is the first step to being mindful.
Napping certainly helps!
Here’s what Brian Johnson has found about Napping…
NAPPING: IT’S WRITTEN IN OUR DNA
“Let’s look at the rest of the animal kingdom. Do any other species try to get all their sleep in one long stretch? No. They’re all multiphasic, meaning that they have many phases of sleep. Homo sapiens (our modern industrialized variety, anyway) stand alone in attempting to satisfy the need for sleep in one phase. And even that distinction is a relatively recent development. For most of our history, a rest during the day was considered as necessary a component of human existence as sleeping at night. As A. Roger Ekirch, one of the few historians to study sleep, put it, ‘Napping is a tool as old as time itself.”
~ Sara C. Mednick from Take a Nap, Change Your Life!
Well, there ya go.
We’re the ONLY animal (note emphasis on *only*) that tries to get by with one long stretch of sleep. And, even that less than optimal practice is a relatively recent development (thanks, Industrial Revolution!).
It’s really quite simple: Despite what our culture considers normal these days, it makes no sense to think we should be able to function optimally with one session of snoozing.
And, get this: “By the first century B.C., the Romans had divided their day into periods designated for specific activities, such as prayer, meals and rest. Midday became known as sexta, as in the sixth hour (noon by their way of counting), a time when everyone would go to bed. The word has survived in the familiar term siesta.”
How cool is that?
I never knew that the word siesta can be traced back to the “sixth hour” of the old-school Roman day reserved for midday rest! (Did you?)
Me likes.
Mednick tells us that, although midday naps were common throughout Europe before the industrial revolution, they slowly started disappearing as the well-engineered clock allowed for more precise scheduling and we all started living our lives according to its pace rather than our own natural rhythms.
I say it’s time to bring back some of our natural rhythms!
Join the YogaNRG team on the NRG FOR SOUL RETREAT in February 2016 on the beautiful North Stradbroke Island to reset and REST!
Long, Slow, Deep Yoga – a great course for you to Nourish, Restore, Grow AND Let Go – and to teach others to do the same. CLICK HERE for further information.
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