Yesterday’s Winter Solstice marked the longest night of the year, but it’s at a time of year where many of us often get very little rest. Like much of life, the holiday season can be a giant contradiction: festive, beautiful, heartwarming, cold, peaceful, overwhelming, and confusing.
Within the span of a few minutes, we can be both the best and worst of ourselves as our kind and generous hearts are besieged by fatigue and stress. We may graciously wish joy and peace to total strangers in one moment, and then proceed to fight them in traffic the next. I’ve long said bad traffic and crammed parking lots tend to bring out the worst in people – it’s a particularly interesting juxtaposition during a time when people are (generally) at their most loving and compassionate.
Have you ever watched a child eat lots of candy, their mood and antics swirling and escalating higher and higher, louder and louder until they hit the inevitable peak of the sugar high, followed by the equally predictable crash? This time of year feels a little to me like the grown-up version of that scenario. Sometimes sugar is the culprit. Sometimes it’s a lack of sleep, too much social interaction, or too little authentic expression of our real thoughts and desires in an attempt to keep the peace. But the collapse is just as inevitable.
So before you find yourself screaming or cursing or crying (or all of the above), GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK. REST!!!!! The world won’t fall apart, I promise. Even if you take a bag of chips to your office potluck or ask your friends to skip exchanging gifts this year, or use gift bags instead of fancy wrapping, the world will keep spinning. Guaranteed. Or it won’t, and then all of that really won’t matter :)
To me, Child’s Pose represents rest - an opportunity to regroup, re-center, and take a break. Let go of the illusion of control. You can get down on the floor, or just visualize pulling into your imaginary turtle shell and breathe deeply for a few moments. In the stillness of rest, listen for the voice of balance. BREATHE.
Within the span of a few minutes, we can be both the best and worst of ourselves as our kind and generous hearts are besieged by fatigue and stress. We may graciously wish joy and peace to total strangers in one moment, and then proceed to fight them in traffic the next. I’ve long said bad traffic and crammed parking lots tend to bring out the worst in people – it’s a particularly interesting juxtaposition during a time when people are (generally) at their most loving and compassionate.
Have you ever watched a child eat lots of candy, their mood and antics swirling and escalating higher and higher, louder and louder until they hit the inevitable peak of the sugar high, followed by the equally predictable crash? This time of year feels a little to me like the grown-up version of that scenario. Sometimes sugar is the culprit. Sometimes it’s a lack of sleep, too much social interaction, or too little authentic expression of our real thoughts and desires in an attempt to keep the peace. But the collapse is just as inevitable.
So before you find yourself screaming or cursing or crying (or all of the above), GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK. REST!!!!! The world won’t fall apart, I promise. Even if you take a bag of chips to your office potluck or ask your friends to skip exchanging gifts this year, or use gift bags instead of fancy wrapping, the world will keep spinning. Guaranteed. Or it won’t, and then all of that really won’t matter :)
To me, Child’s Pose represents rest - an opportunity to regroup, re-center, and take a break. Let go of the illusion of control. You can get down on the floor, or just visualize pulling into your imaginary turtle shell and breathe deeply for a few moments. In the stillness of rest, listen for the voice of balance. BREATHE.