How Might I Find More Rest During the Day?

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I ask myself this question every morning. The idea for me is to become more aware of times in which I may be trying ‘too hard’ or ‘too intensely’ at something – this can be anything from a task to a relationship. This then leads to the question of “How might this be more restful?”

It opens the door to more moments of pause not only during the day but within activities themselves and acts as an invitation to find paths of lesser resistance. The inspiration for these questions came from a short piece by the poet David Whyte (linked below). David’s invitation, as I understand it, is to see the possibility for rest as an integral part of everything we do and everything we are rather than as something separate.

Such texts can benefit from second and third readings. The suggestion would be consider doing so at different times and perhaps different places and even postures (standing / walking as opposed to sitting). I mostly use such texts as inspiration for my own questions but it may resonate differently in you.

I’m currently doing a lot of reflection and making a series of changes around energy (physical, emotional, spiritual….) and rest is a key part of that.

Rest by David Whtye:

“REST is the conversation between what we love to do and how we love to be. Rest is the essence of giving and receiving; an act of remembering, imaginatively and intellectually but also physiologically and physically. To rest is to give up on the already exhausted will as the prime motivator of endeavor, with its endless outward need to reward itself through established goals.” Read More!

Visit David’s website for more information on his work.