Take A Break!

April 1, 2020

If you didn’t notice, I have changed the name of these Calms to “Weeklyish.”  This feels a little more realistic for me :)  It does my heart good when I hear how these are helping and as always if they aren’t for you at this time, please let me know and I will remove you from the list. 

Today’s topic is “Take a break!”  Last Sunday I decided I would have as much of a Coronavirus free day as possible.  For me that meant not reading any articles via email about it, definitely NOT watching the news and as much as possible not talking about it with friends and family.  When I woke up in the morning and my mind immediately went there, I gently told it, “Nope !  Today we are taking a break.”  Believe it or not, that actually worked.  Was I perfect about this all day?  No.  Did I still find myself thinking about it.? Yes.  But the difference of how my nervous system and body felt by the end of the day was pretty striking.

It is interesting that basically every tradition wrote about and practiced or practices  the importance of “taking a break?”  Here are just a few examples:

In Christianity, Constantine, in 321 declared Sunday as a day of rest.

In Judaism, it is actually one of the 10 commandments and is observed on Saturdays.

In Islam, the Quran mentions Friday as being a time to take off of work.

Mormans have Monday night family time.

The Cherokee have a “quiet reflection,” day that lines up with the New Moon.

It’s clear that very wise people before us knew what was good for our souls.  And this was BEFORE life was so crazy and BEFORE this 24/7 virus.

“Taking a break,” is going to mean different things for different people.  Maybe it’s for a whole day, ½ a day or maybe even just a few continuous hours.  Maybe it’s a Monday or a Friday or a Sunday.  Maybe it’s a break from articles, the news or worry.  It’s your break!  It’s your body !  It’s your nervous system !  Whatever you decide, know that you are doing this for your own well-being which will ultimately trickle out to others.  Take the challenge and see what the results are for yourself.

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Today’s Suggested Practice

Take a few minutes to really contemplate and create  “taking a break,” for YOU !  When will you do it?  How long will it last?  What will and won’t you do?  What is your mind and your body and your nervous system longing for?  

Once you plan it, follow through, experiment and pay attention to the results.  And...be gentle with yourself if you aren’t completely successful.  We are all humans doing the best we can in very challenging times.  

If you try this, and you would like to share your results with me, I would love to hear it.

Good luck and enjoy “taking a break.”