“Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.”– Paul Theroux

Resting is an art.  We continually try to relax but don’t really know how to do it. Often we feel that we should do more important things first, so that we can enjoy a well deserved rest later.  But somehow the time for rest never comes.  Rest brings a feeling of freshness, gentleness, ease and energy and benefits spiritual growth tremendously.  Our busy lifestyle leaves us disconnected even from the ability to feel how tired we actually are, so we often need to go through a period of feeling more tired the more we rest.  We need to ‘rest through’ our accumulated exhaustion to rediscover the abundant energy of aliveness.

Begin to discover restfulness by practicing the art of resting:

Lying down for at least half an hour every day and doing absolutely nothing – not reading, not listening to music, not chatting to a friend

Be aware of how it feels immediately upon waking before plugging into your persona, your list of things to do, or your limited sense of who you are!

Rest in the pause at the end of the out breath, waiting for the in breath to happen

Rest in the pause at the end of the in breath, waiting for the out breath to happen

Rest back home in your body at a red traffic light, in the queue at the bank or food store and any other time during the day that you remember!

Resting is not only relaxing, it is a profound way of renewing ourselves! Make the most of the Winter stillness when the energy of the earth is withdrawn back into herself to deepen this experience.

Written by Wendy Young at www.wiselivingworld.com/