How Do You Spell Relief?
Some of you reading this may remember the antacid commercials that posed the question “How do you spell relief?”, with the answer being R-O-L-A-I-D-S. Rolaids of course!
We all seek relief from various things in life, but among the most common is the experience of feeling depleted, worn-down, running on empty – or at its extreme – just plain burned out. Even the most vigilant and health-minded among us can get caught off guard from time to time.
Depletion is rarely obvious; it’s subtle and can even be insidious. It is aided by our ego’s denial: “I’m not over-extended, just a little tired. I really need a weekend off.” But the weekend off comes and goes, and we begin the next week realizing that we are not really rested, yet we convince ourselves that we’ll be fine. We pick up a little extra caffeine and go on our way.
After all, our vacation is coming up in a month and we can make it until then. Then there will be lots of time for “rest and rejuvenation.” Sometimes we make it until then, and sometimes we don’t. My latest experience was the latter. How about you?
Since occasionally being “stressed out” is a part of living it’s important to know how to find rest and rejuvenation when we need it. I’ve found that relief is spelled differently for different people. What is a rejuvenating activity for one person may not be for another. For instance, I find working in my yard to be rejuvenating but I know others who definitely would not!
Regardless of the activity (or lack of), there are common elements in the pursuit of rest and rejuvenation. Here are a few of them:
A Slower Pace
By definition rest requires, and rejuvenation invites, us to slow down; both in mind and body. Only with a quiet mind does the body truly rest; and only when the body rests does it repair its cells and restore its energy. The skill of slowing down the mind is invaluable for rejuvenation.
Freedom from Obligation
Rejuvenation does not require inactivity, but it does require that activity be motivated by desire and not obligation. Things that “need” to be done, “should” be done, or can be crossed off of a list are seldom rejuvenating. Rejuvenation requires the ability to choose.
A Sense of Expansiveness
Feelings of burn-out are characteristically accompanied by restriction: the sense that there is “not enough” time, energy, resources, etc. Rejuvenation is supported by feelings of abundance: a whole hour, day or week that is unscheduled, unstructured or otherwise accounted for. Room to breathe – to move – to be.
The longing for a sense of expansiveness often drives us to seek rejuvenation in the wide open spaces of nature: broad vistas, deep night skies or the endless horizons at the beach. The largeness of the universe seems to reframe our limited perspective into something freer.
Perhaps you can remember a place so expansive that your sense of restriction melted away with the first deep breath upon arrival. You could almost feel your whole being sigh “Ahhhhhh….” It is a great place to visualize often.
Our whole being requires this level of rest and rejuvenation on a regular basis; more often than our western culture encourages. A sound suggestion is: 5 minutes every hour; 1 hour every day; 1 day every week; 1 weekend every month and 1 week every quarter. How many of us plan for that kind of freedom?
Knowing what a difference rejuvenation makes in my life and in my work, I often wonder how different our world would be if we supported each other in this level of self-care. What would it be like to move through a day encountering people that were rested and rejuvenated instead of tired and stressed out? While we cannot quickly change the culture around us, we can change our place within it. We can make conscious decisions to build rest and rejuvenation into our lifestyle.
You can start today. In fact you already have. I hope that you found the 5 minutes you spent reading this article as your rejuvenation for this hour. Now about that hour for today…..