Rest is to be practiced daily

In Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey, she notes that “rest must be practiced daily until it becomes our foundation.” She adds that many of us have been programmed to be “productive,” to be part of the “grind culture,” subjecting our bodies and minds to work at a “machine-level pace,” at the expense of our health. She reminds us that “We are enough” and that rest is a reclaiming of our true power.

In her book, Tricia Hersey shares the following list of 20 ways to rest (p85-86):

1. Closing your eyes for ten minutes.
2. A longer shower in silence
3. Meditating on the couch for twenty minutes.
4. Daydreaming by staring out of a window.
5. Sipping warm tea before bed in the dark.
6. Slow dancing with yourself to slow music.
7. Experiencing a Sound Bath or other sound healing.
8. A Sun Salutation.
9. A twenty-minute timed nap.
10. Praying.
11. Crafting a small altar for your home.
12. A long, warm bath.
13. Taking regular breaks from social media.
14. Not immediately responding to texts and emails.
15. Deep listening to a full music album.
16. A meditative walk in nature.
17. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, and quilting.
18. Playing a musical instrument.
19. Deep eye contact.
20. Laughing intensely.

These simple practices can help us to interrupt and reset our automatic tendencies of doing-doing-doing, and to cultivate a new discipline of resting in our lives. We can be curious about what will open up for us (including restoration, healing, connection, remembering, reimagining, etc.), with the consistent practice of resting.