Improve Your Life With a Day of Rest

Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.  -Richard Carlsonrest

Do you live a busy life? This might be a silly question, but if you live what you consider a busy life, you and your body needs rest and regeneration. We all need it rest, whether we like to admit to it or not.  I’m one of those people who doesn’t want to admit it, but I have come to understand that I can be twice as productive if I give my mind and body a break. I used to think that rest was  for those who don’t have anything better to do, and for those who don’t want to get ahead. Until crashing happened. Then, I took steps to adjust how I approached my life to still feel fulfilled and rested simultaneously. This is a product of a balanced life with excellent time management skills.

Cultures and traditions throughout the world have written about the power of practicing a day of rest or even a moment of rest. But is there a possibility that some of these traditions might have been based in natural principles that they were given for the sake of preserving the health of the people? We already know that many of the ancient traditions regarding eating habits have been found to be based on factual evidence of the forbidden foods were dangerous to the people’s physical well-being. However, when it comes to mastering your personal health, taking a day of rest also has a very practical application to our well-being.

A recent article published by the DailyMail stated that  domestic chores, work worries and arguments at family get-togethers are all factors which have combined to make the second half of the weekend just as frenetic as a working day for most. Nearly two-thirds of those polled (65 per cent) said they had busier schedules on a Sunday than a weekday – losing out on time to recover from a tiring week at work. One-in-ten admitted to spending most of the Sabbath worrying about the working week ahead, while 67 per cent said the ‘Sunday blues’ kicked in at some point in the day. Over half of those polled (51%) believe that Sunday is a day ‘for getting things done’. The study for TV channel Really found that an average of three hours and 36 minutes is spent completing household tasks such as ironing, washing, grocery shopping and cleaning. A third of adults (35%), admitted nagging or being nagged by their partners to carry out such chores.

Even though we may not actually feel stress in the conventional sense, i.e. work, bosses, products due, the stresses of arguing with family members and conflicting ideas can cause the same rise in blood pressure, contributing to hypertension and heart attack.

So, let’s not argue and get to relaxing…

If we take the time to relax, which is the ying to the yang of our stresses, we find a deep sense of ourselves. By taking time to be quiet, our internal monologue and personalization with the outside world lessens. As we ease in to our day of rest, we are privy to several benefits that will aid in our stress managing ability for the work week. Those might include:

  • It fosters a sense of gratitude.
  • Disables flight/flight.
  • It helps maintain balance in my life by drawing focus to the things that are most important.
  • Quiets the rambling of the inner monologue.
  • It helps with mentally catching up and the recharge of physical energy.
  • Inspirational. Time to spend connecting with your own spirit force.

What will you do on your day of rest?

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Poem of Love

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Poem of Love

“Love.
What is love?
What is love.
Love is a fading memory.
Love is piercingly present.
Love is full of charm.
Love is hideously in the way.
Explosion of love makes you feel ecstatic.
Explosion of love makes you feel suicidal.
Love brings goodliness and godliness.
Love brings celestial vision.
Love creates the unity of heaven and earth.
Love tears apart heaven and earth.
Is love sympathy.
Is love gentleness.
Is love possessiveness.
Is love sexuality.
Is love friendship.
Who knows?
Maybe the rock knows,
Sitting diligently on earth,
Not flinching from cold snowstorms or baking heat.
O rock,
How much I love you:
You are the only loveable one.
Would you let me grow a little flower of love on you?
If you don’t mind,
Maybe I could grow a pine tree on you.
If you are so generous,
Maybe I could build a house on you.
If you are fantastically generous,
Maybe I could eat you up,
Or move you to my landscape garden.
It is nice to be friends with a rock!”

Love is an interesting part of our every day life. We say we “love” coffee, food, people, articles, photographs, animals and so forth. What is love? To answer this question you would have to consult the hundred plus years love has been debated about by theologians and philosophers. For scientists, “love” is a chemical reaction when parts of our brains release chemicals that make us feel good physically. To theologians, love is spiritual connection to something that matchs our connection to the world. To philosophers, love is a part of the ego that longs to fill a psychological void deep within our mind. So, love can obviously become complex very quickly.

In the above poem by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939 – 1987), Buddhist meditation teacher and founder of the Shambhala community, love becomes a an all encompassing aspect of memory to something that can give your celestial vision. At the conclusion, you are left with the lingering impression that love is a fixation with a rock. The point that Chögyam is hinting is that love is not only with things we like or have a deep effection for, but also to the childlike fixation with a rock. He also eludes to the idea that he might “move” the rock to different locations. What this says is that even though he has this fixation of “love” towards this rock, he can find different places for the rock. What this eludes to is that he is willing to release the object that he loves in order set benefit to other areas of his life.

We can learn a lot from Chögyam’s poem on love. But I’d like to present two main points that jump out right away: 1. All encompassing love. 2. Releasing that love into the world for the benefits of others. Is it possible to love coffee just as we love our home pet? If you’ve ever had some organic French press coffee, you’d be able to answer that. Is love more than a biochemical response in the brain? If you’ve ever been speechless due to seeing massive beauty, you’d be able to answer that question. Love, is beyond words and labels. Love is transferable, give-able, and palatable. Love can be between two people just as much as with a rock. The difference is in how open our hearts are.

Poem from: Timely Rain: Selected Poetry of Chögyam Trungpa. Written July 1975

What is Your Source of Happiness?

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it. – Groucho Marx Read more of this post

86,400 Can Change Your Life

I am reminded of the epic image of the businessman rushing to get to his next appointment, only to be stuck in traffic and creating an ethos of stress in the scene. No matter how much he tries to get to where he is going, he is faced with obstacles that hold him back from his goal. Read more of this post

Stress: The Silent Killer

We all suffer from stress in our lives.

Stress can come from anything.

It can range from near-death experiences, to a death of a loved one,  or just common everyday living.

I AM SO STRESSED OUT!

Stress can sometimes be a good thing.

Stress can help you focus on meeting deadlines for school or work. However, most of the time stress is seen as a negative and rightfully so.

Technically, stress is not created by external events.

Stress is OUR RESPONSE to external events in our everyday life. When we feel overwhelmed, and feel that we can not cope with what is happening, we feel anxiety which is equivalent to stress.

Physical Effects From Stress:

Our physical approach to stress is a double edged sword.

When our bodies try to cope with stress, it converts energy it has to help you deal with the situation at hand. Because of this effect, our immune systems are compromised, making it much easier to get sick from common colds and the flu.

For people who have heart problems, stress will only increase your chances of heart disease.

Stress from job situations (or lack thereof) can result in insomnia.

Psychological Effects From Stress:

Chronic stress and a lack of coping resources available or used by an individual can often lead to the development of psychological issues such as depression or anxiety.

Depression and anxiety are  psychological symptoms from stress.

My Advice to Deal with Stress:

Talking – This is the BEST way to relive stress.

I know it is not easy, and it sometimes can be tough to find someone that truly cares about hearing what is going on with you, but you owe it to yourself to at least reach out to people who care about you.

Exercise – If you can not reach out, exercise instead.

Sometimes, I don’t feel like talking to anyone.

If that is the case, I will go exercise.

Exercise helps me get rid of my physical stress.

Activities such as running, lifting weights, and playing sports have been GREAT stress relievers for me.

Music – Put on your headphones and just zone out.

Eliminate Stress!

Sometimes closing your eyes and just letting go of any attachment you may feel can be just as rewarding.

Meditation

Meditation is a great way to relieve stress.

By meditating, you can clear your mind of all your worries and problems and tune into a more positive state.

Thinking positive means not thinking stressful thoughts and in turn, not experiencing stressful emotions and feelings.

Here are the top 5 reasons why you probably don’t meditate yet.

Stress is very dangerous and I’ve seen it take it’s toll on people.

It is crucial for the betterment of your life to find ways to manage or eliminate stress.

You owe it to yourself.

You have one life to live.

Have some fun and party.

Why live it in such a stressful and negative way?

That is not fair to you and the people around you.

Have fun with life, it is only temporary!

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