Resting is challenging for me. Really challenging for me. Me “resting” usually looks something like this...I sit or lay down with the intention to clear my mind, then I start getting antsy and one or more of these 3 things happen:
Start making to-do lists in my head (“I need to finish that report, I need to put the laundry in the dryer, I should send that email, I should write that blog...”)
Start thinking of ways I could make my rest more “productive” (read the book I have been trying to finish, listen to music for the yoga playlist I am making, get a quick yoga practice in....)
Start doing something mind-numbing like drink a glass of wine, scroll facebook for way too long, or enter a Netflix-vortex
Can anyone relate? True rest, true stillness can be hard to come by. I sometimes feel like my mind is afraid to stop thinking, stop doing, stop working. Afraid to get to the real stuff underneath the busyness of the day to day...afraid to get to the deeper thoughts, emotions, and insecurities. It feels like things might fall apart if I stop moving. It feels easier to stay busy.
But stillness is so, so important. It’s the birthplace of creativity and inspiration. Stillness is how we get in touch with deep emotions and insecurities and work with them and through them. Stillness is how we connect to spirit. Stillness is how we heal.
So here’s what I am working on to bring more stillness into my life. I am carving out chunks of time to be still. Ironic, but I am actually scheduling in stillness. No to-do lists, no scrolling social media, no drafting emails in my head. Just time to breathe, be in nature, be in my body. When my productive mind tries to come in and hijack things -- I say to it “not now, this is important. Nothing is more important than the moment I am in.”
Thank you for reading my thoughts. Be well and take a minute or two practice stillness today!
With love,
Hana
p.s. I would love to practice yoga with you! Check out my free practice bundles HERE.