The Magic of Rest
I recently listened to the book, No Mud, No Lotus, by Thich Nhat Hanh. In it, he said that animals know what to do when they’re hurt—they instinctively find a safe place, lie down, and rest. They don’t hunt for food, they don’t seek care from others. They just rest. This made me wonder, “how many of us ignore our instinct to rest? Or is that instinct so deeply buried beneath our social and cultural norms that we can’t even recognize it?”
God calls us to rest. He calls it the Sabbath. He tells us that we need that seventh day to come home to our Self and to Him, set down the burdens of our daily life, and spend time with our loved ones.
Why? Because rest is healing.
Physiologically, rest is that sweet spot where your parasympathetic nervous system takes over and your body can begin to repair itself, your breathing becomes relaxed and slow, your heart rate decreases, your mind becomes still and peaceful. You can digest food, circumstances, and life experiences in this safe place.
But the pace of our lives has become frenetic, unrelenting, busy, busy, busy. This pace, which we choose to accept as normal and wear as a badge of honor, is actually killing us. Seriously. When our body doesn’t have time to rest, it doesn’t have time to heal. The small problems that would normally be handled by our immune system, antioxidants, and DNA repair mechanisms are allowed to grow until they can no longer be addressed by the body alone and require medical intervention. Modern medicine can do wonderful things and it is necessary, but I would love it if doctors weren’t so busy. I would love to see people honoring their need for rest, tapping into this critical healing modality that is accessible to just about every one of us, and preventing anxiety and chronic illness as much as possible.
Your body is equipped with so many beautiful functions that are meant to help you heal. But, almost invariably, you must take rest in order for healing to occur. I invite you to find rest. I invite you to choose rest over a crazy-busy schedule for yourself and your family. If you have trouble doing so on your own, please reach out to a healer or practitioner that you trust and ask them for help. I am happy to offer practices that can assist you in finding rest. Here are a few that I use… please share your go-to strategies in the comments below.
Guided meditation/yoga nidra
Hot tea and a good book
Massage
Mindful breathing
Prayer
Reiki
Restorative yoga
Warm bath with essential oils and/or Epsom salts
If the first thing you try doesn’t work, don’t be discouraged, there are many different practices and modalities that can help. Sometimes, just having a caring practitioner who helps create a safe space and atmosphere for healing can make all the difference-- you don’t have to do it all on your own. Be patient and find what works for you. You’ll know when you’ve found it.
If you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you!