It is a chilly winter evening as I write this blog post. I am sitting by the fire with the warm glow of candles around me and my laptop on my knee. It is a relaxing and inviting way to allow my thoughts to flow onto the page.
This season of winter has much to teach us about slowing down, preserving our energy, creating warmth, and resting. We are at the midpoint of winter, where I live the snow has been falling in earnest. It has created a blanket of white upon the earth, a blanket that is a reminder to take time to rest, to pause, to let go of doing and simply be.
This past week, I have been speaking to many people who are feeling exhausted. I can relate to the feeling. As we continue to live with the uncertainty caused by this pandemic, many of us are having to pivot often in our daily routines. There is a strain that is caused by living in these unknown conditions. A strain that calls for gentleness, compassion and kindness towards ourselves and others as we continually adapt to this situation. Under these conditions we may find that we cannot do as much as we normally do and many of us find ourselves feeling tired and needing more rest than usual.
For myself, I find this need for extra rest sneaks up on me in my day. When I find myself growing irritable, and unable to concentrate, I have come to recognize that these are my signals that I need a break, a pause, a breath, a rest.
What signals does your body give you that it is time for a rest? How are you honouring those signals these days?
If you are anything like me, you may be experiencing some resistance to this need to rest more than you have in the past. You may be tempted to push through tiredness to maintain levels of performance you could easily manage in pre-pandemic days. This week, I wrote a prayer called, Permission to Rest, and have posted it in my office. It is my reminder that these days call for a new ‘normal’, these days call for attentiveness to energy levels and adjustments to our rhythms. These days hold an invitation to settle into the slower pace that is at the heart of winter.
With replenishing blessings,
Kathy