I know it's so easy to continuously be on the go and busy your way out of your life.
I know we feel like our worth is tied to how productive we are and what if instead we became well-rested humans?
What if instead you began prioritizing rest?
This meditation is for you to practice that,
To give yourself the deep rest that you desire and that your nervous system deserves.
Slowly begin to find a space that feels really restorative.
Maybe you'd like to lay down for this one.
Gently close the windows of your eyes if that feels okay.
Before doing anything just take a gentle inventory.
Notice what's swirling in your mind.
Notice your heart rate.
Notice your energy level.
Notice how your nervous system feels.
Begin to deepen the breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Meeting yourself just as you are without judgment.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Beginning to soften and soothe.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Your mind can rest.
There's nothing you need to solve or think about.
Feel your mind rest.
Your eyes can rest.
Relax the space between your eyebrows.
There's nothing to look at or read.
Your eyes can rest.
Your face and your jaw and your mouth can rest.
There's no facial expression that you need to hold.
There's nothing you need to say or no one you need to talk to.
Your face,
Your jaw,
Your mouth can rest.
Your neck and your shoulders all the way down to your arms,
Palms,
Fingertips can rest.
There's nothing you need to carry.
No one you need to hold.
Feel your shoulders drop.
Your elbows relax.
Your hands soften.
Your arms can let go here and rest.
Your back can rest.
You don't need to carry anything on your back.
Feel the weight lift from your back.
Your spine relax.
Your shoulders and your back body can rest.
Your hips,
Your legs,
All the way down to your feet can rest.
There's nowhere you need to stand or walk to.
Your legs and feet can rest.
Your heart can rest.
All the love that you give,
All the support can rest as you bring it inward towards you.
All the emotions that you've been feeling in your heart can rest.
Allowing your heart to rest in this rest right here.
Take a slow breath in.
Exhale.
Feel this total body rest.
The safety in the stillness and the slowing down.
You don't have to keep going.
You don't have to keep doing.
You are allowed to be and rest.
Breathe in.
Exhale.
Jaya John writes,
Deep rest begins with permission.
I have the intrinsic right and sacred need to rest.
Mantra these words.
Many of us do not know what it feels like to be truly rested.
A modern tragedy.
You can be a whole new person with rest.
You can have a whole new life.
Practice noticing your sense of obligation to busyness regardless of how you are feeling.
Practice releasing this idea.
Sacrificing yourself to exhaustion does not make you a good person.
Your goodness has nothing to do with exhaustion.
Do not segregate your rest.
Let it come throughout your day.
Even in the way you breathe.
Quilt it into your active moments.
And please do not let the people in your life who themselves are dying of exhaustion and do not know how to rest be your role models.
Let sloths be your role models.
Please bless your life with rest.
Healing miracles happen when you rest.
They happen not just in you but also in our web of life.
It is time for us to be free people.
It starts with rest.
Breathe in slow.
Exhale.
Maybe your priority moving forward can be to become a well-rested human with a calm nervous system.
How would it feel?
What would it look like?
Really notice the shift within you right here.
The shift in your energy level.
Noticing how your heart,
Your mind,
Your soul feels.
Breathe in slow.
Breathe out.
Take this into your day.
Continue to bless your life with rest.
From my heart to yours.
