What a journey this has been to arrive right here and right now. The last few years have been a whirlwind and early this summer I noticed that I was exhausted. Everything felt like a heavy insurmountable challenge. And my body let me know, very loudly and without room to negotiate that it was time to wind down, really wind down. So I let go and began to surrender to rest.
As I have been resting and working with my allies and with my medicine practices, I notice my energy has been reweaving and my brain rewiring. Little by little I am starting to feel sparks of aliveness again, I have more clarity, and my cup is slowly filling. I notice more joy and what once seemed like challenges are actually opportunities for me to see and let go of old patterns I hadn't noticed before. In my rush to the future, I am learning to put on the brakes. I am rediscovering the treasure of the moment, the right here and right now.
Here is a daily medicine practice that will bring you home to yourself, ground you in the here and now and is deeply restful.
Each day, I invite you to set your alarm for 5-20 minutes (a soft tone is helpful), turn your phone to "do not disturb", and lay down if you can or relax into a chair.
Close your eyes and take some deep cleansing breaths. As you do this, notice how you are feeling just now. There's no right or wrong, just notice what is here.
Then see if you can allow your breath to take you down to your belly, to the energy center that is two finger widths below your belly button and two finger widths within. This is the Kath, the center point of being within you, also know as the qosqo, the energy center in your belly. See if you can just rest your breath and your awareness here in belly.
If your mind wanders, just notice and gently return back to belly. Your mind may wander a lot at first and that's perfectly OK. This is called the Art of Return - returning to yourself again and again with curiosity and compassion. This is the power of being in the present moment.
When your gentle alarm sounds, open your eyes and gaze softly for a moment. What do you sense now? How do you feel now?
Here are some of my insights and practices about rest:
Rest is be-ing. It is not do-ing. Set the to-do list aside at least once a day, including the one in your mind!
Rest creates space in your life and space is where you find stillness and peace and where you receive your vision and your wisdom, what you need to know, your next steps, aha moments and signs.
Let it go. Relaxing into be-ing, allows for the discovery of what it is that may be beneficial for you to release to create space for rest in your life.
Talk to your spirit guides. As my life slowly came to a halt, I asked my guides to show me how to rest. Wonderfully supportive people starting showing up in my life and have been holding space for me, teaching me and supporting me in this quest for rest. Your guides love you unconditionally and are always working for your highest good. I invite you to get to know them by talking with them each day. They will send you signs and help you set things in motion.
Let Nature Support You. Take time each day to sit in a chair on your deck or in your yard, look through an open window or go for a walk. I invite you to place your hand on a tree, close your eyes and feel the wind or the sun on your face, pick up a stone, find a picture in the clouds, smell a flower and touch a leaf. Ask the natural world around you for assistance and then sense what comes into your awareness.
How do you rest? What is your experience with rest? What wonderments and curiosities arise for you as you read this?
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