Time/energy and how to find true rest when your schedule has you running like mad…

Hullo Sweeties!
I am back on the prairies and settling in to my fabulous position as the Writer in Residence at the Regina Public Library. This is actually the beginning of my third week here. Time…. she flies… yes?

Which is my topic for this first missive from the WiR office. Time/energy and how to find true rest when your schedule has you running like mad.

As those who follow me here know, I am a member of a lovely, supportive, online community called The Oasis (hosted by Jennifer Louden). Every Friday, she creates a wonderful 30-minute audio that offers up some writing prompts, meditation and inspiration. I love these audios. They are a time set apart for me—spacious and welcoming. Like an Oasis, yeah?

The magic and power of these weekly audios is practice things together. We are reminded of deep truths again and again and they slip deeper and deeper into our bodies and spirit.

This week’s audio brought me a very timely reminder to bring my attention to the TRANSITIONS in my day. Especially my transition from work to the evening.

I am very busy, right now, with many things on my plate each day and I can see myself slipping into old beliefs of time and energy scarcity.
Never enough time.
Never enough energy.
Oof.

And as these old beliefs took hold, last week, I found a feeling of deliciousness but also danger in…climbing into a warm bath and… watching TV. Oh the decadence of it. Watching NetFlix while having a sweet soaker with scented bubbles. Ahhhhhh—right?

Yes. But.

As a gal who lives mostly without running water, a bath is heavenly for me and my tired brain often tells me that TV is easy and restful. That watching a few episodes of something allows my brain and bod to REST.

I believe that this can be true, but…. not always.

Last week, I noticed that a few episodes can indeed be delicious, but they can also lead to Couch Collapse and many more episodes and I am not revived by this. I actually feel a bit more exhausted. Blergh.

On Friday, I came home from the office around 5:30pm, with burning eyes and feeling done in. I did the bath/tv thing, ate dinner with tv, and found myself laying on the couch late into the night hitting NEXT EPISODE over and over. I started to giggle because I was so obviously in a trance of REVENGE BEDTIME PROCRASTINATION.

So.
Yay for me noticing this.
And double Yay for the Oasis and Jen’s gentle reminder about paying attention to the transitions in my day. It was the transition that led me down the false rest bunny-hole.

As I listened to the audio and worked with the prompts, I remembered that there is another way for me to rest and transition from work that doesn’t eat the entire evening and send me to bed with a draggy weight on me.

When I had my last office/day job, I had a practice of coming home and taking up to an hour either on my meditation bench or laying down to either meditate or listen to a dhamma talk. It was both restful and a nice, mindful, wind-down from the work day.

I know that this is a good thing and am so grateful for the wisdom of … always beginning again.

Yesterday, when I returned home from running some errands the call of the bathtub/tv and the meditation bench felt equally strong.

I chose to lay on the bed and do some metta meditation and send up my dark moon prayers for friends and family.

It was lovely.
Afterwards, I rose up and pulled out my travelling altar goodies and set that up.
Also lovely and somehow hadn’t happened in the rush of the last couple of weeks.

I am here.
I am here.
I am here.

I did watch an episode of tv later. Just one. It was delicious.
Then there was a bath with a book as a wind down before bed. Also delicious.

This week, I intend to be more aware of my tendency to over-schedule myself. May I remain conscious of integrating more space into my schedule.

So grateful that I saw this emerging pattern so quickly. The becoming aware of my patterns is so key for me.

How about you?

What are the things that give you true rest?
What are the things that you THINK give you rest, but can also be not so restful?

What might happen if, just for this week, you paid attention to the mini transitions in your day? Watch the shifting of your focus from one thing to another and what pulls to you in that moment. Are you tired? What might you fall into by default? Is it really what you want/need?

I love hearing from you. Drop me a comment below to let me know how this lands with you or what it brings up.

Have a great week.

go easy ~p