At last weekend's module of the deep dive immersion I’m currently leading, we began the day with an open discussion around the question "what do I find challenging in my practice".
Fairly quickly the discussion centred around the subject of ‘rest’…with all of us agreeing that we really struggle, mentally and physically, to allow ourselves sufficient time for resting.
And when I posed the question 'do you rest enough' over on Instagram recently 67% of people said that they didn't rest enough.
This is perhaps not surprising given the messaging and conditioning that we’re constantly subjected to - we live in a society that places value on ‘doing’, in which ‘being really busy’ is worn as a badge of honour.
It’s no surprise then that many of us (me included) find it so hard to rest, and that we feel guilty for taking time out for self care - with the result that we’re getting burnt out, sick and feeling generally exhausted (I came down the 'super cold' last month...not to be recommended).
But when our ‘fight, flight, freeze’ response is subjected to chronic low level stimulation through the everyday stresses of life - and particularly if we’re also taking challenging yoga practices or other forms of exercise that intentionally 'stress' our system - it’s critical that we find time for down regulation and activation of the ‘rest and digest’ response too.
Because it’s when we rest and allow the body time to fully recover that we realise the benefits of those practices…it's during those periods of rest that the body adapts to the demands that we've placed upon it in our practice.
Part of the problem is that some of our default ‘go-to’ relaxation approaches - watching TV, looking at social media having a few drinks 🍺 etc. - can actually have the opposite effect by placing further stress into our system.
Instead, can we switch off the phone and TV and take a walk in nature? Or take some time for meditation, calming breath work / pranayama, and gentle restorative physical practice…all of these can really help to bring our nervous system back into balance and help us avoid burnt out.
But as mentioned above, whilst this is easy to acknowledge it’s not always easy to put into practice…I’m as guilty as anyone, especially with the competing demands of family, work and wanting to stay physically fit and healthy.
So to get you started, below are two short practices that will really help to down regulate your nervous system...I hope you enjoy them.
10 minute guided meditation
Restorative parasympathetic breathing technique
And on that note…I’m off to rest.