August 16, 2012

Rest = Joy

Filed under: Reconnection — Deb @ 12:59 pm

Are you feeling rested yet?  I wrote about how most of us are sleep deprived in my August Re:Connections and hopefully you didn’t fall asleep reading it!!  I have been struggling with getting more sleep myself and I understand how difficult it can be to make sleep a priority. There are always so many other interesting (and not so interesting) activities, people and opportunities that pull us away from our bed that we are seduced into thinking….okay, just one more late night but tomorrow, I’ll go to bed early for sure!  

I came across this quote by Harry Emerson Fosdick…”He who cannot rest cannot work;” and I would add “or find joy.” Now you may argue with me that you find joy in many of the activities that are keeping you from sleep and rest and I would agree.  And what I know for sure is that your deepest joy rests within you and it takes slowing down and connecting with that part of yourself that will truly help you live more joyfully.  Taking the time to rest and to sleep will only give you more time and energy to participate in your joyful activities and it will also give you the clarity to say no to, change or stop the activities that don’t align with your joy.   To help you practice slowing down I am delighted to share this link with you.  Take two minutes in a lovely bit of relaxation that you can fit into your day.  Take two minutes here:  http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/  (Note: this webpage requires your computer to be completely still so if you are trying to use this program on your laptop, on your lap for example, you may find that you have to keep hitting the refresh button – just another fact in the case for stillness, I guess!).

“To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual.”   – Oscar Wilde

Joyfully,

Deb

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August 1, 2012

Time for Sleep

Filed under: Reconnection — Deb @ 10:27 pm

I had the pleasure of taking two weeks of holidays recently.  Our plans were ambitious – 5 days of sailing off the West Coast and then 5 days of camping and hiking in the Rocky Mountains with the rest of the time being used for traveling to said locations.  As usual for me, the weeks before the holidays were crammed with work and tying up loose ends leaving me extremely tired by the time we left.  A few more late nights and early mornings as we negotiated driving and flying schedules and I arrived at the marina feeling as lifeless as an old dishcloth!

Our first morning of sailing was pretty uneventful and by the time we finished lunch, I just couldn’t keep my head up anymore so I went below for a nap.

“I’ve been sleeping for two hours??” I said in amazement when my husband woke me.

My intention for a 20 minute nap had expanded to over two hours but instead of enjoying the deliciousness of a long, refreshing nap my inner critic immediately began berating me.  Two hours??  What’s wrong with you?  You should have been helping with the sailing.  What’s everyone else thinking about you? You don’t have time for sleeping!

Have you ever had this thought?  I don’t have time for sleep.  Most of us are sleep deprived and most of us bring it on ourselves.  Instead of resting during the day or going to bed at night we push through our tiredness using caffeine or food or other more potent (and dangerous) chemicals.  The fear that we are not being productive, not contributing – in other words that we are not enough – pushes us to do one more thing; I’ll just put in one last load of laundry, I’ll just check my messages/emails one more time, I’m really tired but I should straighten up that sock drawer…which turns into 2, 3, 4 or more hours of work.

Go to bed! Listen to your body.  Listen to your heart.  You are meant to do deeply meaningful work while you are here and you can’t do it if you don’t have any energy! Let go of the myriad of tasks that you think you should be doing, step out of the vortex of administrivia and give yourself the gift of regenerative sleep.  The more rested you are, the more your joy will expand resulting in a much more meaningful and satisfying life!  Nighty, night!

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