Sleep is crucial, but daytime rest also supports a healthy body. Pausing nourishes your nervous system, especially when the break allows you to escape. Lowering stress helps with sleep too.
Active rest is a form of relaxation that involves an activity where you are in the flow. For me, puzzles have always been a place I could get in the zone. I get sucked in, am glued to my chair and lose all sense of time. When I’m finished I am floating and euphoric.
Recently, I’ve gotten into another kind of active rest. Anatomy art.
That is after I dropped the belief that “I’m not artistic”, something that protected me from failure in the past, but doesn’t serve me anymore.
How can I enjoy art with that kind of bulletin on my forehead?
My kids helped me let go of my self-judgement around art. When you are finger painting with a two year old there is no expectation. The love I extend to them by saying, “that is beautiful” I now also gift to myself.
How do you active(ly) rest?
Walking? Meditation? Painting?
If you’ve lost touch with these forms of rest, choose something to integrate into your day. Consider replacing screen time with it.
Here is something special I created alongside my massage therapy students last week in class. I won’t be selling it for thousands anytime soon, but it makes my heart flutter when I look at it and remember the day I made it. Come see more art like this from my students the Anatomy FB group and on Instagram.
