“I haven’t needed to wear my glasses at all this week,”
my new colleague said to me casually at breakfast as she sipped her black coffee. We were enjoying a spread of pineapple, paya, avocado, eggs, rice and beans on the last day of a unique training on the restorative arts.
Her comment made me pause. But… why?
She revealed that her day job, combined with her habit of moving fast and narrowly focusing on the job at hand, frequently created stress headaches and (she was now becoming aware) made her vision go fuzzy under the strain.
After a week of rest, restorative somatic practice, simple grounding food, easy weather and ocean visits she was finally coming back to herself – a kind, compassionate and nourishing woman who knew how to get things done without trying so hard.
Despite being an experienced teacher of embodiment practice, I was struck deeply by the simplicity and profundity of her transformation.
In my book, our human eyesight may get worse as we age… but it doesn’t spontaneously come back. But my book is still being written.
Tricia Heresy, researcher, activist and author of and self-proclaimed Nap Minister calls rest a “meticulous self-love practice.” She has built her career on creating spaces in which people of all races, ages, genders and creeds can come home to themselves by unplugging from grind culture status quo.
She invites us to take seriously the natural healing capacity of our bodies, which can restore health, spark new and innovative ideas, and even help to heal intergenerational trauma. But she doesn’t stop there. For Hersey, the act of unplugging from grind culture is a daily choice to dismantle racism, patriarchy and other forms of internalized oppression, offering a direct challenge to shadows of modern capitalism.
She says: your body is a site of liberation.
We are inherently in tune with the inner road our freedom. Our bodies want to be well. They know natively how to do so. And when we allow them to inform us – to really show us the way… from burnout, disconnection or overwhelm back to a state of rest, vitality and health – we open the doors in our mind that enable us to think more creatively about our circumstances.
We can imagine a different way. We can take empowered action. And we pave the way for others to do the same.
By acknowledging the far-from-innocent historical roots of workplace culture that dissuade people from getting enough rest, Heresy faces head-on the depth and breadth of the problem.
By naming that modern-day practices of sleep deprivation at work can be dated back to slavery in the plantation era, she invites us all to reclaim our birthright – a rested, vital and awake human experience inside of which both creativity and inclusive community can thrive.
The epidemic of burnout isn’t your fault… but – whether you’re currently feel burned out or not – it is all of our collective responsibility to invest in new practices that enable our collective restoration.
Here are a few you can try this week:
- Take an afternoon nap. Even investing 10 minutes that you don’t think you can afford into your own physical, mental or emotional rest tells the brain “this is important.” At first, you might find it difficult to truly rest. It’s ok. See if you can soften your physical body just 5% and breath deeply. Just devoting the time to ‘doing nothing’ is enough.
- Make a list this week of everything you do in a week. Take a look at the list and identify 5-10 things that are not truly essential. If you’re honest with yourself, could you let go of one of them without a high cost? How about two? What if you cut your work by 20%... The goal isn’t to perfect your schedule – it’s to practice letting go and to discover that you (and others) will nonetheless survive.
- Create a space in your home that nourishes you. It can be an entire room, or just a small area (say 3 feet by 3 feet) that you fill with a comfortable chair, pillows, blankets, or other soft things, a sweet-smelling flower or whatever else makes you feel good. Let yourself spend some time there each day without electronic devices. Enjoy the sensory experience.
- Make a playlist of songs that help you to down-cycle. Include at least some instrumental songs. Listen to it on your afternoon commute, on the subway, while washing the dishes, doing other tasks or chores, or while taking a walk outside rather than listening to books, podcasts or reading the news. Give yourself the gift of a period of lower stimulation to give your mind a rest.
The beauty of each of these practices is that there’s no way to do them wrong.
The goal is to let your body talk to you. And to listen. Let it love what it loves. Let it rest. Let it feel. Let it begin to guide you again.
You may feel inspired to extend them beyond a week. You may feel like you’re failing (and that’s ok). But you may also find yourself opening to new ideas, or a sense of courage. Trust the process.
Your body is a site of liberation. It knows what it needs next in order to get free.
If you feel inspired to go deeper on the themes of restoration and inner liberation, I invite you to consider joining us in Costa Rica this October. At the ACTIVATE Summit we’re gathering a group of women to engage rest and body-centered practice – woven together with industry disruptive innovation and strategy – to help us face the challenges of our time.
Find out more here. Apply here.
And whatever you choose to practice this week,
Please… give yourself grace.
