You don’t deserve to rest.
Shall I say it again?
You don’t deserve to rest.
You don’t deserve to rest… because since when did ‘rest’ become a reward?
And a reward for what?
For being the busiest human in the world?
For getting your to-do list of ‘stuff’ done?
For working out until you can hardly breathe?
Because you’ve been on your feet all day, running after everyone else?
Well sh*t, it doesn’t sound like you deserve to rest. It sounds like you NEED to rest.
In fact, you are allowed to rest.
I’m even going to go as far as give you permission to rest.
And NOT because you have accomplished one of the above ‘badges of honour’.
We know, this idea can be strange… becuase if you’re anything like me, busy is your default.
If you don’t feel busy, you’re just not trying hard enough, right? You should do more. More. More.
I know the feeling.
We are currently living in a world where we are forever switched on. Work doesn’t start and end anymore. The work-life blend is oh so real and of course, this comes with pros and cons.
For me, I LOVE my work, so happy for the blend… but also, I LOVE my work SO much that I often don’t know when to switch lanes.
To go from doing doing doing to… rest and recover mode.
And they are both important factors of the equation.
With no doing, nothing gets done (duh) but with no rest… the doing becomes un-doable.
The doing becomes joy-less. The doing becomes a drag. You become tired, irritated, frustrated.
You think… I should do more. I should just push through. Once I get ALLLLLL of this done… then I’ll deserve a rest, just a small break, some time to breathe.
So you add a bit more to your plate, some whipped cream (of course my imaginary plate is dessert), maybe some cherries on top, a toothpick umbrella just because, and suddenly your plate is overflowing and overwhelming.
What was once an enjoyable life has turned into waking up and dreading the busy-ness of your day.
Want to know why you feel like this? Because you forgot the most important part of the equation.
You forgot to rest, you forgot to create a little space in between, you forgot to take that one deep breath, you forgot to create a moment and just be.
You forgot that life isn’t just a list to get ‘done’.
That life is here to be enJOYed. Life is here to really be lived.
And when you allow yourself to rest. You allow yourself to truly live a full and wholesome life.
A life where you feel vibrant, strong, and present.
A life that doesn’t just pass you by in all the doing that you normally do.
Ok, so I think we can agree that you don’t deserve to rest. Rather it is, you NEED to rest. You are ALLOWED to rest. In fact… here is your permission slip (as Liz Gilbert would say) to take a rest.
Depending on what your choice of busy poison is (maybe it’s a combination of everything): too much exercise, too much work, too much giving energy to others, too much saying YES… with each there should be a phase of rest.
Just like all things in life. Ebbs and flows are completely part of the process. You see this show up in nature all the time. You see it in the seasons. In the ocean. The forests. Nature knows how to rest (be more like nature :P).
For example, if I was taking you through a Yoga Asana (movement/posture) class, I would always start with a seated meditation and some breathwork to ground your energy.
Then I’d guide you into the postures, the flow, the part of the class where you feel that you’re really DOING something to work the body. You might even sweat a little :O
I would NEVER just end a class in Down Dog and say see ya later.
A: that would feel weird. And B: I don’t want to send you out into the world more frazzled and worked up than when you started!
There is a process.
There is the going up the mountain and there is the flow down the mountain. Or the trip to the sun followed by the floating to the moon.
In fact, why don’t you try this full-length class right here… it’s just 15 minutes long!
At the end of every Yoga class I teach, we end with Savasana. Or Corpse pose. This is the final rest.
A moment where the practitioner (that’s you), allows all of the work to simply integrate into the mind, body and heart.
A moment where you close your eyes and release all tension from the body and mind. All thoughts melt away. It’s just you and the breath.
Savasana is a posture where you can rest and recover. A time where your Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) is activated. This is your rest and digest mode (as opposed to your Fight or Flight mode which in this day and age can be severely switched onto overload).
Within Rest and Digest (PNS), your body and mind feel safe and therefore it can go into healing mode. Your cells restore and rejuvenate. Your blood moves to spaces of the body that require healing.
The Yogis believe that Savasana is perhaps the most important posture to master. So if you’re the kind of person who is always skipping the Savasana… STOP IT! Please 🙂
Savasana is the ultimate way to rest.
So if you are wondering what you can do to rest… do Savasana (we have a guided 17 minute Savasana inside MerryBody and it is one of the most popular sessions… in fact, if you’re not a member, just grab the 7 Day Free Trial and at least do 7 days of Savasana!).
Here’s how to do it: simply lie on the ground, close your eyes, allow your feet to fall out, and your arms to fall by your sides with your palms facing up. Just breathe here for 5 minutes. Focus on letting your mind and thoughts fall away. This isn’t an easy pose. Your mind will want to race. But just trust the process and remember that every Savasana is different. No matter what you will feel VERY good afterward. I promise!
Rest isn’t something you deserve.
It is something you need and require to function at your best.
When you allow yourself to truly rest, with no attachment to what might come from it, I promise you that usually, something does come from it.
A new idea. Fresh energy. An AHA! moment. A healing.
If you need more motivation to rest, then trust that the rest will in fact make you an even more amazing version of yourself.
Rest will make you smarter. Rest will allow you to make better decisions. Rest will make you a better partner. Rest will make you a better colleague and employee or a better business owner, rest will make you a better parent. If you don’t usually allow yourself to rest, use one of these motivations to encourage you to create rest time.
You know that feeling when you come home from a holiday?
You feel rested. You probably have new ideas brewing. You’re excited to get home and stuck into it all. You’re excited for LIFE itself. That feeling can be normal if you simply allow yourself to rest… instead of forcing yourself to DO DO DO.
Let’s do rest do rest do rest… maybe even rest rest rest if you like!
Then, as time goes by and you get more and more used to resting… it will simply become part of your life.
Something you can’t believe you never used to do.
See, you don’t deserve to rest.
You need to rest.
You are allowed to rest.
You have permission to rest.
Rest will make you happy.
Rest will make you feel more JOY.
Rest will inspire you.
Rest will heal you.
See you in Savasana, MerryBods!
Always merrymaking,
Carla
P.s if you would like to experience a refreshing way to move your body (and you are sick of thrash your body until you can’t walk kind of exercise) then I would LOVE to guide you through MerryBody Yoga and Meditation (and of course, Emma would love to have you in her Pilates classes too!).
Here’s a Free 7 Day Trial to MerryBody, our Online Yoga, Pilates, and Meditation Studio.
