Are you feeling exhausted these days?

I am. I am sure it has to do with the fact that it is the peak of summer and over 40 degrees here every day…

and it is also connected to my pace of life, how many things I want to accomplish in any given day and how intensively I expect myself to be in action on an ongoing basis. 

What happened to the value of rest? 

There is so much to be said about the culture that demands from you to be in action all the time, to constantly produce, create, grow. 

Yet we know that it is simply impossible for us to be constantly creating. Everything that is birthed must first gestate, take its time to grow. While you clearly need to water the seeds you plant, you also have to just wait for them to sprout.  Ideally, if you create the right conditions, they will. 

The same is true for us humans.   In the right conditions, we thrive. Like the seeds, if the conditions are not accurate, we struggle, maybe even die. 

How can you create the best conditions for your health? 

There are, of course, many aspects to notice and tend to.  For now, let’s focus on one - rest. 

Try to notice the moments in your day that are natural opportunities for resting.  Many of these moments are already part of your daily rhythm - like sleeping during the night - and yet we often resist surrendering to them, whether by staying up just a bit later to get something done or by forcing yourself to get right back into action after lunch, even though you feel heavy and want to surrender to food coma. Notice these moments with compassion, even if judgement arises. Sometimes you really do not have a choice and cannot stop to rest.  Sometimes you can, and when you do, chances are you feel the benefit of just slowing down for even five minutes. 

The movement between rest and action is a natural cycle, like the movement between day and night, inhale and exhale, and many other cycles. 

Attention to nature’s cycles is attention to health. 

This attention is vital in this time.