Bringing ourselves back into stillness.
It goes without saying that for most of us, the pace of daily life is moving at an unsustainable rate. Particularly for folks who are underprivileged financially, there is often a drive to work longer and harder to make ends meet in today’s world. The news and social media platforms compel our awareness continuously. There has been a commodification of our time and personal resources as ads, apps, and devices compete for our attention. When we enter the outside world, we are bombarded with an overabundance of stimulation and competition for resources.
The body is not meant to be in constant motion. We are not intended to be subject to the continuous onslaught of stimulation and activity that the contemporary world often demands. Much of modern society has lost its connection to the balance and rhythm that represents the natural cycles of rest inherent within nature. Much like the seasons that ebb and flow in growth and decay, the human body requires both movement and rest within all domains of its existence.
Many people have forgotten what it’s like to slow down and rest. There are generations of people who are growing up in today’s world who have never been taught how to fully rest, nor the importance of slowness in the natural order of human development and well-being. Rest is often presumed to be more of an activity; more things to do or places to go. To rest is to fill our time with more activities that are considered leisurely, social, or indulgent. Many people have learned to equate rest with numbing activities, through overconsumption or addictive behaviours.
True rest is not numbing or indulgent. It instead to be open to surrendering fully into the experience of this moment; to feel and become consciously aware as we observe the body and mind coming naturally into a state of stillness.
When we do not make time to rest, we also lose out on the opportunity to integrate and heal. When an animal in the wild is severely injured, it often goes to a place that is safe and secluded, where it’s less likely to be disturbed. It will remain in that place of waiting, allowing the body to take its natural course and repair itself back into balance. We are not so different in our needs, but the art of rest has been lost for much of humanity.
Many humans have come to equate rest with immorality. An injustice against the driving principles of productivity and consumerism that have been churning since the start of the industrial revolution. Society has been compelled to move, to build, and to create in the name of progress. While the capacity to create with such rigor is a feat of the human spirit, it is also detrimental to the body of ourselves and the planet when its out of balance with the need for rest.
Slowing down helps the body and mind to heal. It creates a space of receptivity for the body and psyche to redirect its resources inwardly, repairing what has been made out of balance through stress and exertion; or injury or trauma. When we come into rest, we land into contact with the body and the ways in which it holds tension. There arises an opportunity to become conscious of where tension exists and release it through acceptance and letting go. If the tension is more longstanding and causing pain in the mind or body, we are able to offer it compassion. It is within states of rest where we can reconnect with ourselves in ways that are nourishing and grounding, offering a space of healing for the discomfort that may arise.
As we slow down, we become receptive to connection with others, including the natural world. Connection heals. It helps us to feel less alone. It helps us to become aware of our belonging to a community of something greater than the individual; something greater that can hold us throughout difficult times as we heal - reminding us of our shared humanity.
