1. Because I suck at it
2. I'm studying it right now for a conference and love input.
3. Because I am thinking the more I write about it and hash it out in my mind, I will actually do it.
I've been reading about rest: What it looks like for our mind, body, and soul and why it is so important to our overall health. It's so important that it should be a daily rhythm like eating and exercising. I would make a pretty safe bet, not many of us are resting well-cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself.
How do we find rest for our bodies and souls?
The first question I had to ask myself is WHY? Before I asked myself HOW can I rest, I had to ask WHY it's so hard for me to rest? Why do I have such a hard time making REST a rhythm in my life, both physically and spiritually?
Here are some things I came up with:
1. The world says resting is lame. It's lazy. You need to be productive, be busy, accomplish things.To be worth something you have to do something.
Truth be told I am on that bandwagon. Things need to get done and if no one is gonna do them, I will, even if it's not my place. Resting has been pushed to the back burner. No one gets accolades and praise for resting and we all know I love me some praise and atta girls. I mean whose going to call me and say, "whatcha doing?" (First of all i probably wouldn't be friends with someone that said whatcha, but that's beside the point) and I say, "just resting, just siting here on my can with my feet up, recharging my batteries." The person on the other line would secretly be thinking "lazy mom,"because quite frankly that's what I would be thinking. And they probably respond with, "seriously, what are you doing?"
2. I GOT IT SYNDROME-
I call this the Carter Mae syndrome. My daughter is a replica of her mom. She wants to do everything on her own. "I GOT IT," she says. She says it about 1000 times a day. Every single thing she's GOT IT. Even when she doesn't. Even when she CAN'T do something by herself, she tells everyone SHE'S GOT IT in her Loud, Back the freak up, I HAVE GOT THIS voice. I feel like this is me, this is us, whatever season you are in you are saying I have it under control, I can balance everything, we certainly can't ask for HELP from someone else, even God, because we have show everyone we GOT it!
Our bodies and souls will start to fall apart when we continue to perform without rest for our souls and our bodies. Here's how our bodies work: bear with me for this short science lesson:
The human circadian rhythm will respond to the morning light of a new day. This light will cue the body to produce cortisol, serotonin, and other hormones that get a person awake and going, causing blood pressure and body temp to increase. At sunset the body receives another of natures cues and responds to dusk and darkness. As the sun goes down the body will produce and secrete hormone melatonin and blood pressure will drop as the body prepares for sleep.
But guess what we have-lights! Before Edison invented the light bulb peeps were sleeping 10 hours a night by 2002 only 7.5 hours. And not to mention we override our body with caffeine. Do you remember the all nighters you pulled in college or as a new mom. It’s like they needed to hook a coffee drip to my arm. One of the primary causes of sleep disorders and sickness is stress.
And we know what happens when we are tired. At least I know what happens when I get all cryey and sad. I lose all perspective, everything is a big deal, and drama follows me because my body needs time to restore itself, to replenish what I have given that day. And if we leave our souls out of this resting equation, we get stressed, we get overwhelmed and our bodies start to shut down. See how God made our bodies and souls so intricately intertwined?
So the questions I have to ask myself and continue to ask myself specifically for my body:
- Am I getting enough sleep? They say you need 8-10 hours
- Do I go to bed stress free?
- Is there a time in the day when I just sit and rest or reflect?
- Have I over-trained or under-trained my body this week?
- Am I eating the right foods to set me up for a good sleep, i.e (sugar, caffeine)?
SOME THINGS THAT WORK FOR ME:
For me I have become a bath taker. I laugh because my mom always took baths and that seems so old. But my good friend and I laugh because we will text each other at night and say, I am in my soak. That's my time to just Be. Sometimes I read, sometimes I text a friend. But for me to really feel rested that day I probably need to get rid of my phone and reflect and give thanks for the day and ask wisdom for tomorrow.
Finding a time to recharge is key, maybe it is on the weekend when you sit and watch football with your family, or go to a yoga class or read a book.These are my "rest and recharge" things.
- Is there anything I need to lay down, surrender?
- What is it that I keep telling God and others I GOT on my own?
- What situation has exhausted me emotionally?
- Is there a time that I sat with God's word in my lap and listened to Him?
- How has my attitude been this week? (easily irritated, grumpy, worried, anxious?)
Over and over again in the Bible he asks people to REST in Him. So I am going to! - I might be the only one who struggles with this...I would love your thoughts of how you make "rest" for your body and soul a priority. What you do? How you do it? Or why you don't?