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Let me start off by saying that I AM a BIG advocate for and DEVOTEE of slow — reverent — LIVING.
I let go of exhaustion as success / a status symbol / a badge of Honor yeaaaaars ago (here’s your INvitation / permission slip to do so as WELL).
Contrary to mass culture … rest IS not a privilege, luxury or INdulgence.
Rest IS a priority.
Rest IS a responsibility towards y(our) WELLBEINg (and therefore the collective WEb of Life).
You do not have to “earn” rest.
Rest IS Your Birthright.
Rest IS an ontological necessity.
Rest promotes regeneration.
Rest affirms Life.
IN the BEgININg phases of my unlearning and relearning I was under the impression that I needed to hyper-rest IN order to compensate for my chronic exhaustion. So that’s how I approached it. All I did was REST at One point — yet the exhaustion never evaded me or dissolved IN it’s charge.
If there IS One thing to keep IN your field of awareness for the entirety of your Life, it IS that there IS a caveat with just about anything and everything.
The Truth of the matter IS that … there IS such thing as too much of a GOOD thing. INcluding, too much slowness and too much rest.
When there IS not Harmony IN our restful / wakeful states, rest BEcomes and IS stasis.
Stasis IS stagnation.
Stagnation IS fundamentally, Death.
All of Life requires movement and CIRCULATION of energy, however subtle or small.
Rest can BE static AND it can BE dynamic.
Rest can BE passive / receptive AND it can BE active.
Neither way of resting IS right or wrong, or BEtter or worse. What IS important IS fINdINg an equilibrium BEtween the two.
If rest IS Life draining it IS an INdication that your rest IS too static and passive / receptive and IS an INvitation to find equilibrium by INcorporatINg more activity and dynamism.
When you have accessed and established equilibrium, rest Will always BE Life-affirmINg.
Rest Will always BE Creative and generative. That IS, it Will always Create and generate energy.
Rest IS meant to BE INtegrated with Life, not divorced from it.
When I say active / dynamic rest I mean things like: breast massage, dancINg, INtuitive movement, sINgINg, paintINg, gardenINg, foragINg, crochetINg, cookINg and so on. So there IS motion, and even stimulation INvolved.
When I say static / passive / receptive rest I quite literally mean BEINg horizontal, with very little motion and with no stimulation whatsoever.
What I have come to Know through my own Lived and emBodied experience IS that a Wholesome combination of these two kinds of rest IS what ultimately affirms Life.
I’d Love to Know how this resonated with you and what this stirred IN you! Let me Know IN the comments BELoved!
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With Love,
Anja
