operation: rest (get your “yin” on)

Hi, friend. 

My summer was busy in all the best ways. But after so much creative, professional, logistical and social output, I’ve been feeling pretty crispy. (What’s crispy? It’s what comes after “toast.”) Fortunately, I sleep pretty well. But sleep and rest are not the same thing. We need both to recharge. It turns out, though, I’m not great at resting. It just doesn’t come naturally. 

Elite athletes used to believe that if you weren’t training, the competition certainly was, so taking any kind of break could be detrimental to your performance. We now know that rest days are actually a competitive advantage. Rest prevents injury and provides time for recovery, giving your body the opportunity to build back stronger. 

You don’t need to be an Ultramarathoner to benefit from a break. We are all managing a lot at the moment, and we’re doing it against a backdrop of rapidly shifting systems that we’d pretty much taken for granted as rote. A shifting global geopolitical landscape, climate crises in rapid succession, AI-fueled technological and professional revolutions…essentially, we’re collectively feeling uneasy and disoriented, but when we look out at the horizon for stability, the shore is moving, too. Stabilizing ourselves amidst so much change takes a tremendous amount of psychic energy. That output needs to be recouped in some way. 

It’s been pointed out to me more than once that I don’t exactly relax in my downtime. No lounge chair vacations for me; I am up for adventure. Great, but…sometimes that’s not what the doctor orders (literally). With a sprained foot and laryngitis, I needed to implement “Operation: Rest.” This was foreign territory, so I did what I usually do when confronted with an unknown. I sat down with my journal…

Prompt: What kinds of rest can you incorporate into your week? 

Here’s what I came up with, initially…

• Instead of driving 45 minutes to the beach to surf before work, travel five minutes to a local bay beach and read a book in the afternoon (preferably fiction).
• Instead of my usual pounding cardio-pilates or challenging Ashtanga classes, stretch at home and seek out “yin” yoga classes at night.
• Instead of packing my weekends and evenings with social activities, leave blocks of unscheduled time to see what I feel like doing in the moment. 
• Accept assistance, watch clouds and waves, take naps (even short ones), and don’t answer the phone. Basically, try to be more like my dog. 

No massive breakthroughs here, but it’s a start. Activating “Operation: Rest” has offered me a shift in perspective – permission to relax. Rather than being devoted to productivity and acquiring experiences, racking up rest is the goal. 

If you’re feeling “extra crispy,” I hope you’ll take a page from my notebook and explore what kinds of rest you can incorporate into your days. Please feel free to share what you discover and how it goes. After all, we’re in this together. 

Off to nap now…

In Swellness,

Laura  

A human wrote this. No AI was used in the creation of this newsletter.