Importance of a Resting Period

In this hustle-and-bustle-of-staying-connected-social-media life that is now such a large part of your existence, you need a resting period.  Remember those?  In kindergarten, it was nap time.  In elementary school, recess was the perfect time for you to relax your growing, soaking-it-all-in brains and recharge.  In college…it was your after-classes nap time—Life coming full circle.  What about today?

How do you reboot, rebuild, and recharge?

Do you even?

Those of you who do Chi Kung (literally “energy work”) already know a lot of the good arising out of what you are doing does not necessarily happen while you are concentrating on your meditation—moving energy here and there.  Most of the growth and benefits develop in the resting period.  When you exercise physically, working out your muscles, you tear them down so they will heal and reform stronger than they were before—building up in the resting period, the best growth happening while you are asleep.

Similarly, you reboot, rebuild, and recharge best when you are at rest.  Everything grows stronger while you are relaxing—body, mind, and spirit.  When directing the Human Chess Match—a festival show comprised mostly of choreographed fights using swords and other weaponry—I knew to give my combatants the night off from rehearsal the day before their first performance.  Yes, it would give them a day to relax tired, overtaxed muscles.  More importantly, it would give their bodies’ natural muscle memory time catch up to the complex and dangerous choreography they had been learning and rehearsing all week long.

The same is true with other forms of dance.

Have you ever taken dance lessons?  Tried learning salsa, samba, or swing dance?  I have.  I tripped all over myself during the lessons, never quite getting it.  I left very feeling frustrated, thinking perhaps I did not have quite the sense of rhythm I thought I had.  Fast forward to my next lesson, where I was amazed at how adept I’d become—without any downtime practice!  My body’s muscle memory had finally caught up to what my teacher had been drilling into it just a few days earlier.

Of all the “great evils” tearing you away from your growing business, accomplishing your goals, and chasing & catching your dreams, this R&R period is the most necessary.

Why?

Why is this such a Necessary “Evil”?

If you keep going full tilt 24/7, you are going to crash and burn.  Wearing yourself so thin and exhausting all your stores of energy, you are going to get to a point where you begin tripping over the very things you are attempting to accomplish.  Worn to a frazzle, you become more hindrance than help.  Not of any real service to anybody—including yourself.  This is definitely not what you should be working towards.

And yet, without recharging your batteries from time to time…

You are!

As a very good friend of mine just texted me, “Don’t forget to stop the crazy and enjoy those blessings.”  (Thank you, Leah B., for the Drive-by Wisdom.)  Wise words indeed, but what do they mean?  What makes up a good resting period and how much out of your busy day is this going to take?

The more time you spend on yourself the better.  Especially if you are giving and giving—to your job, your family, and those in need around you.  Every time you help someone else you are sharing energy and giving a piece of yourself.  Aiding those around you is fine calling indeed.  As it is my Success Freaks mission statement, I can’t place more value on being there to Help Others Be Awesome in every aspect of your life—personal and professional.  Just be careful not to run out of gas along the way, leaving yourself and the noun you are trying to assist stranded on the Help-needed Highway.

However, even if you have only minutes at a time, you need only take a few out of your hectic schedule to begin the recharging process.  Those moments of relaxation will add up cumulatively, refreshing your spirit, offering clarity of mind, and giving your life and sanity the boost they need to continue your busy day.

Take a moment, take a walk, meditate, pray, look around, exercise, go for a run, play with the dog and/or your kids, enjoy your house, love your life, take a trip, go to Disneyland, go to Disney World, stop and smell the frickin’ roses…whatever!  Just make sure you take a moment to recharge your batteries so all this hustle and bustle in your life has some downtime, you have the opportunity to regroup and can actually enjoy this wonderful life you are creating for yourself.  Your work is still going to be there—trust me.  You can always “enjoy” it later.

“Love your family.  Work superhard.  Live your passion.”

~Gary Vaynerchuk, Crush It!~

Social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk—if you have any interest in branding your passion online, you need to look this guy up—lays out three things you should do for yourself if you want to get anywhere close to having an amazing life, but the most important is family first.

Why family first?

a)      Because your family and home life, in whatever form they may take, are what you are doing this for.

b)      When done right, the time you put into your family will help ground you when the rest of your life gets a little cray-cray.

Before your life even reaches that level of insanity, remember:

Reboot.  Rebuild.  Recharge.

I can’t stress enough the importance of taking a recess every day and giving back to the person who is already giving so much in your life—you!  You’ll find you get further with what you’re doing each day…and with less burnout.

 

TIPS FOR CREATING A RESTING PERIOD

1)      Set aside 5-15 minutes of You time.  If possible, schedule/plan this—make it a part of your routine so it does not fall by the wayside.

2)      Find/create a “quiet space” where you will not be disturbed and with minimal unwanted distractions.  Meaning, if your idea of rejuvenation is playing with your kids, don’t exclude them just because Mordant says you need to set up a daily Fortress of Solitude—they are the kind of “distraction” you want.  This is your time, your recess—cultivate it to fit you and your needs.

3)      Be patient with yourself and your process.  Trying to settle down enough to let those everyday worries you so tightly hang onto go and actually recharge a bit might make you a little bored…restless…crazy at first.  That’s just the body and your monkey mind’s way of resisting what’s good for it.  This will pass as you relax into your resting period each time.

4)      Whatever you do during this time, make sure it is something you enjoy, something that revitalizes and leaves you refreshed.

5)      Have Fun!  Remember, the happier you are, the more successful you will be at whatever you are doing in life.

However you wish to do it—short/long, indoors/outdoors, by yourself/with others—you need to take time out of your busy day to Reboot, Rebuild, and Recharge.  The beneficial effect this momentary recess from your busy day is going to have on your productivity and your sense of wellbeing is well worth the short amount of time you are “sacrificing” for the greater good of You.  Make the effort and take the time to create a Resting Period as part of your daily routine and your vitality, sanity, and perhaps even those around will thank you for the positive change happening in your Life.  Remember, health and happiness are gifts you can give yourself, so…

Give, giver, give!

 

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Based on the vlog: “Sleepytime Mordant – Importance of a Resting Period” – MMV #8.