Time to take relaxing more seriously
Just stop!
This could be my new mantra.
The deeper I travel into my relationship with meditation, the more obvious to me it is how much our society is on the brink of burnout and even when we are forced to slow down (like when a worldwide pandemic happens), we don’t know how to respond or even start to beat ourselves up for taking a moment to rest and recharge.
Human beings aren’t designed to expend energy continuously. Rather, we’re meant to pulse between spending and recovering energy. It’s the flow of all nature itself. So why do we think we’re an exception to the rule or even when we do, we feel so guilty?
We stress, hustle & bustle for around the first 60-70 years of our lives to then finally relax for a few years when we’re old & fragile. This just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Even working for the weekends means you’re missing out on 70% of your life.
If this isn't enough to start changing your perspective around relaxation, here are a couple more practical reasons
You’ll actually get more done. A study by the Draugiem Group, which used a computer application to track the work habits of employees found those that who took regular breaks were consistently more productive than their peers who put their heads down and kept working till the job was done. Specifically, researchers found, the ideal work rhythm was 52 minutes of work time followed by a 17-minute break.
You’ll solve more problems. Havard University ran a study that showed taking regular breaks to relax and recharge encourages creativity and helps you find more insightful answers to problems you are trying to solve.
You’ll live longer. Time magazine recently released an article looking at people that had attended a three-month stay at a meditation retreat and found that after they had on average about 30% more activity of the enzyme telomerase, which is directly related to aging.
We are going to be making a more conscious effort here at Soul Alive to remind and encourage you to take time for yourself to reset and recharge. By doing so, we can begin to experience and enjoy life more, along with achieving our goals sooner as well.
