Step One: Rest, Relax & Re-create

Reducing sense stimuli, taking proper nourishment, rest, relaxation and recreation – intuitively you understand the importance, but do you implement?  To walk the spiritual path, indeed just to have a fulfilling life of happy normalcy, ‘rest, relaxation and recreation’ are a fundamental first step that cannot be ignored.

Signs that you are not getting enough rest, relaxation, & recreation may include:

• weakened immune system (getting sick often)
• weakened emotional digestion, (loss of control, irritability, anger, and extreme fluctuations of emotion)
• disturbed sleep cycles, intense dreams
• muscle tension, hypertension, (stress manifesting in the body as aches and pains)
• inability to concentrate and focus (planning, visualizing, communicating)
• imbalances in relationships, finances, physical health
• irregular appetite 
• loss of zest for life, loss of purpose and motivation

Does any of this describe you? Where’s the anxiety coming from? What stops you from properly nourishing yourself with rest? Are you taking life and your responsibilities too seriously? Have you lost sight of the light? Has your view narrowed down so tightly that you’ve lost track of the bigger picture? How does that feel at the core of your being? I bet there’s a bit of a spiritual rebellion going on inside you, a voice screaming at you to realign yourself with mother nature, and your own essence nature.

It took the fear of death for me to make some necessary changes to my own life. Diagnosed with a weakened heart that was only functioning at 29% capacity, I didn’t want to leave my family. That diagnosis allowed me to reframe a lot of things. I was working too hard, and not playing hard enough. I’d been sacrificing my sleep and nutrition, giving power to a mindset that told me I should be doing this, or I have to be doing that. But, if I just settled down a bit, restructured some things, got my house in order, I might find that sacred repose point that allowed me to dynamically engage life on more healthy and fulfilling terms, and become more able to engage the sweetness and joy of being with my family, or doing the work I love. 

‘Me time’ is essential. Self-care is more than a meme. It’s one of the most precious and delightful things I can give to myself, my family, and my community. Of course, I have to take care of me first. It’s the only way to fully abide in my purpose, and live the life I’m meant to.

The world won’t stop for you. It won’t give you anything. It’s up to you to realize your own divine presence, hold space for yourself, and create a way of abundance grounded in a recognition of freedom, and an expression of the love and innocence that is your core. 

The pressure of habituation, of bias and values formed within the great narratives created by your mental filters, are literally stopping you from flowing with the current of Life. Learn to see through the filter by first acknowledging your need to come back to yourself, and then committing to a path that will allow you to deepen your connection to the spirit of life. That connection will not be strengthened in a state of constant tension, but in the relaxed state of sacred repose.