I’ve been reflecting about the concept of rest and why it appears to be very difficult for many of us in the current state of affairs. When I say rest, I mean both physically and mentally…but especially mentally. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that we’re all very overstimulated and I think because of this, our ability to push the “off” button has become…suspect, at best.
We are existing at the corner of hustle culture and an attention economy (social media, instagram, etc.) that has made it seemingly difficult to unplug and just be. I often find that if I’m honest with myself, a lot of time that I’m “resting” I’m not even rested, nor relaxed because I’m consuming two or three forms of media at once. This is not relaxing….it might be relaxing if we’re just intentionally allowing ourselves to scroll but the thing about a living, breathing algorithm is that we don’t even know what we’re going to get sometimes. We could be trying to relax and in pops a photo of someone that makes us angry or discontent. Now we are that much further away from being relaxed and are instead sitting in a state of anger.
I would argue that for many of us, myself included, there is a sense that when we sit around and let the world turn, we should be doing something. We should be achieving something, but truthfully, when I don’t allow myself the time I need to rest, I really struggle with burnout. I can’t focus, ideas don’t flow to me, and I don’t feel connected to people around me or my work because I’m fried. This is quite a paradox, but I do think that mindfulness can be helpful here. If we slow ourselves down for a moment, we can recognize that the idea that not resting will somehow cause us to lose out on everything we ever wanted is simply absurd.
There is also a heavy drinking and drugging culture that is very heavily associated with “relaxing.” But truthfully, it is not an excellent road to go down that the only way we can unplug, calm down and slow down is having a few beers. For most of us, this is totally okay and normal sometimes, but we ALL should be able to relax without any substances. We simply must have the ability to get our nervous systems into the parasympathetic (rest and digest) state naturally by talking to loved ones, reading books, watching movies, or practicing a low-key hobby. These things seem little, but they’re genuinely important when you live in a society that is just riddled with addiction. The ability to chill out and let your problems float away in a piece of art or just the faces of your favs is a superpower and it means something.
Practice relaxing and see how you feel! I’m really doing my best. It’s difficult for me but it always feels better when I try :)
Thinking about self-limiting beliefs today. Are there limiting beliefs that you’ve held in the past that have kept you stuck? How did you move past them?
This is the perfect place to build your tribe! Feel free to authentically and boldly share what’s going on with you, relevant parts of your health and wellness journey or any helpful information you might come across.
NOTE: This is a community for men. Women are wonderful, but if they are found in the community, they will respectfully be asked to leave.
Keep Thriving,
Coach Greg
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