I experienced something quite awesome today.
Since we moved to Montreal, I had been getting really bad sleep.
Every morning I wake up feeling like I'd been awake all night.
I go through my day feeling like a zombie, my brain functioning at only 20%.
Maybe it's got to do with the new place, new bedroom, new bed, but most of all, the NEW BUCKWHEAT PILLOW.
We spent about 100 dollars a pillow as they seemed so interesting and "healthy" (all natural blahblah). So I didn't feel like abandoning my new hard pillow even though my first night on it was very rough. I had SO many lucid dreams; I could recite the whole dream from the beginning to the end with details. Well - they say it's one of the side effects of these pillows. I gave it another try.. and another try.. AND YET ANOTHER. For the whole week. And.. the whole week, I felt like I had not slept at all.
It's Saturday - as per my blog post yesterday,
I decided to prioritize taking care of myself.
I decided that THIS WEEKEND, especially today, I wasn't going to do SH*T.
I wasn't going to work on my website, I wasn't going to promote my eBook, I wasn't going to work on my course, I wasn't going to blog, I wasn't going to study French - NOTHING that required my brain power or any type of planning whatsoever.
My priority was really just to REST and RECOVER my BRAIN.
I woke up slow. Hubby took out doggy for a walk, I was still in bed, feeling a lot better already since I switched back to my normal pillow. When I wake up, I normally make the bed, pray, meditate, journal, plan my day, and conciously or subconciously my mind goes to work already.
But today, since I planned to do NOTHING, my mind didn't go to work. It stayed..... here. Present.
I slowly rolled out of bed, and I already felt a lot less stressed.
I felt like my brain had rested a bit over the night, and it was still resting. Plus, I had no thoughts as there was nothing on my to-do list today. I felt like a million bucks!
Hm.. I don't think I ever deliberatelly PLANNED to do nothing. Ever.
I'm a pusher. I always do, do, do, and do some more.
Maybe it's a female thing that we can never make our brains stop. There's always these to-do lists running through our heads. Some studies say that it is due to the caring characteristics that we innately possess - motherly instinct. I feel that these characteristics are particularly strong in me.
Anyway.
Because I had nothing to do, no obligation created by my mind, and to-do list that NOBODY forced me to create, I started seeing other things that needed my attention.
So what happened?
When I rolled out of bed,
- I started dusting all the mats, covers, sheets around the whole house.
- I put our bed sheets in the washer.
- I cleaned the floors of the whole house.
- I did the second round of laundry.
- I started cooking.
- Then I got inspired and cooked another dish,
- and boiled our dog's potatoes too.
All of these before hubby and doggy came back from their morning walk!
- Hubby and doggy came back home, then we ate - without thinking about what's next or how I should construct my online course. I just ATE.
- Answered some emails without thinking it's work or treating it like something on the to-do list. It was there, so I reacted.
- Went to yoga studio and spent 3 hours there, taking an extra class on Yamas and Niyamas, on top of a normal class of 75 minutes.
- Then took doggy to doggy park and spent a good hour there without rushing. I was FULLY THERE. Present. Running with him. Paying attention to him. My mind was completely THERE.
- Came home and worked on my website without feeling guilty that I don't pay enough attention to my family becuase we had just spent some quality time together. Everyone wanted to do their own thing for a while.
- Now I'm blogging :)
I can't believe how much I got done on my DO NOTHING day.
I was so much more productive than other days.
NOT ONLY THAT!!
I was present in EVERY MOMENT. I LIVED every moment.
Instead of living in my thoughts, worries, what-ifs, planning in the head,
I actually lived every single moment, at the moment.
I made every moment count today.
Because my head was not in the to-do list, I was able to be fully absorbed into every moment. I was not in the future or in the past.
My DO NOTHING day reiterated the importance of having a clear mind.
More and more I am convinced that meditation is not a luxury. It is a MUST, if you want to do an outstanding job taking care of yourself.
If you want outstanding results in whatever you do, you need to be in an outstanding state. In order to be in an outstanding state, you need to take care of yourself outstandingly.
Meditate. Meditate. Mediate.
It isn't easy sometimes.
If you ever feel like me, like a zombie, sleep deprived, rest deprived for quite a while,
then I invite you to plan a day for yourself to do nothing. all day.
Yes,
I ended up doing a whole lot of things just because I wasn't distracted by my mind.
No,
I cannot promise you that that's what will definitely happen on your "nothing all day" day.
No,
You should not plan your "nothing all day" day, secretly hoping that you'd be productive and end up doing a whole lot. If your mind expects it to happen that way, then it isn't really a "nothing all day" day. Subconsciously, you are planning to do a lot by only calling it a "nothing all day" day. But really, it is just another "do a lot" day.
Yes,
I do strongly believe that if you plan to do nothing all day, once in a while, even if the day doesn't turn out as my day today, you will learn something, you will give your body a chance to recover and rest, and you will be ready for the days to come after that - much more so than if you didn't take a day off.
We are so conditioned to constantly perform,
get results, get somewhere, do something, act, react, produce, move forward.
Sometimes resting will prepare you to go so much further faster than if you kept on pushing what is already over-worked.
Your body carries you around everywhere.
Your body lets you do amazing things that you are doing in the world.
Your body serves you every single day so you can do what you desire and be where you need to be.
Thank your body for what it does for you.
Take care of your body; not only by listening to your body, but responding to its needs.
Hug yourself. Love yourself.
Sleep well :)
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