What Is Your Idea Of Rest

Written by Don Shetterly

I saw this question posted online by a friend and so I thought I would write about it.  What is your idea of rest?  Doesn't it sound simple and straightforward?

Unfortunately, I don't think it is because from what I see in this world, very few people take time out to stop and rest.   No, I don't have hard evidence of that, other than what I've observed and seen in people and in the bodywork clients I have worked on.

We spend too much time with our phones and staying connected continuously.  We run from this activity to that activity without really looking hard at where our time should go.  In many ways, we are so busy being busy that we are too busy to notice that we are.

The mind and the body need downtime.  Yes, we need sleep, but rest is beyond the sleep moments.

Can you run your car a 1000 miles without stopping?  Can you work 24 hours a day without stopping?  The answer you would most likely give to this is no, you can't.  However, we still tend to apply these same principals to our life.

The mind needs time to process and defrag itself, but if we are continually going, there's no way to do this.  If we don't stop and spend time observing life (such as nature or our breathing or stillness), life will pass us by.  Life will slip away before we realize it and all the essential stuff we will have missed.

The mind needs periods of downtime.  We're so stimulated with data and input coming at us a million times a second that rest seems foreign.  We don't even realize because we are so unconscious and unaware these days of our limits.  Many times, we are keeping our minds in a constant state of busyness is not health.

Our body's need rest.  It needs to build up and recuperate, but we see how far we can push it.  We don't give it a second thought.  We keep piling stress on top of stress in our muscles, tissues, and cells.  The more we do this, the more we add layers to something that could have been so simple to release and let go.  As it builds, so do chronic pain and health issues as a result.  Then we wonder in amazement why we are in the shape we are.

The more you give your mind and your body some downtime in life, the healthier you will be.  You will see things in a more balanced way and not be so numb or fear driven in life.  It will help bring balance to all parts of your life because you will be taking care of yourself instead of neglecting yourself.

Of course, you can continue to do what you do thinking that very beliefs will take care of you.  Unfortunately, if you don't deal with life, stress and stopping to rest, it will deal with you.  You can count on that.  Just look at the research that shows how much of doctor visits are related to stress.  We don't take care of ourselves, and the result is not good.

You don't have to meditate on the edge of a cliff for 5 hours every day.  You can take little steps like stopping to notice your breath.  You can choose 10 or 15 minutes at lunchtime and sit there in nature or in a quiet place and just be still.  Observe.  Put the phone away.

Sometimes quiet and stillness is an excellent form of rest.  Without it, we turn our lives into one noisy and busy nightmare that we will never wake up from in our life.  Don't wait until it is too late like I did.  Take charge of your life by taking care of your life.

Constantly Connected To The Job

I did this one for a long time and it almost cost me my life and the world that I knew.  I didn't realize how having to be constantly connected to the job was killing me.  It was keeping me asleep.

The example of Frank from the blog post Are You Asleep could have been me in many ways.  Read an excerpt here from that blog post:

Yes, his employer forces him to take at least one week a year away from the office, but he's constantly checking email and working on projects.  He doesn't realize he is asleep.  (read the full example)

In my job I worked from home, but the employers and people above me did not care if I had time to myself.  They would claim up and down, all day long, that I should only work 40 hours a week.  They had to say that because otherwise they were breaking the law in how they had us report time.

Of course, in the next breath you would get chastised if you could not keep up with 150 to 200 calls a day among 400-600 emails and conference calls, traveling, and training techs.  These were just some of the pieces of the job.  They balked at giving you help, but thought that you could accomplish everything in 40 hours.  The support calls came all hours of the day and night because they didn't know how to schedule any of the project, and they didn't know how to hire the right people to do the job.

I got to a point where I could not function and life was nothing but an annoyance.  There was no time off.  The project had to continue, unorganized as it was, while the main company made millions.  They sacrificed my life for millions of dollars.

Yet I was so busy at the time that I didn't even realize what was being done to me.   I got to the point, medically, where I had to take time off -- and they still called me.  There was no escaping it.  A few months later, I said enough was enough.

The funny part is, there was much of the job that I loved, but they had worked me to death. I say shame on employers that do this to people.  If you can't respect your workers and their lives, you don't deserve to be in business.

This is so commonplace, but it is a practice of being asleep and unconscious and numb.  Sure, it is your job and livelihood, but it comes with serious costs.  There is nothing that is worth giving up your life - no amount of money or time.

NO, it isn't easy trying to get out of this or even realizing you have options.  We get sucked into it because we think if we work hard, we'll get ahead.  Yet, the end point of the working hard to get ahead game never ends.  It just requires more and more out of us.

At some point, you have to wake up or hope you do before it is too late.  Working in this way and constantly being connected to your job is not living.  It is not human.  It is being controlled and manipulated by those whose only existence is for the power of greed.

Make sure you check out the next part in this 11 part series

 Part 9 is "Asleep By SmartPhones"

 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Asleep Burning The Candle At Both Ends

Back in the days I started out doing massage, I was so mind blown at how people just race here and there.  Burning the candle at both ends was just common practice in the people I met.  I never quite understood that one.  It is a way in which we are asleep.

In the example posted on 6/13/17, Josephine thinks that she can burn the candle at both ends of the stick.  She can't let anyone down, but she complains that she is the only one that can do anything.  

We just don't understand that the human body is not designed to run day and night with no stopping and no rest. Our minds needs downtime.  Our bodies needs to breathe.  We need silence and stillness to reconnect with peace and joy.

In addition, the rest and downtime allows our nervous systems to catch up and process what we have experienced in our days.  It helps our cells and tissues repair themselves and pull back to a state of balance and normality.

If we push ourselves day in and day out, we may get away with it for a long time, but sooner or later it will catch up with us.  Most of the time we are oblivious to the disastrous effects it is having on the mind and body.  We are usually numb and asleep to what is happening behind the scenes.

We don't see it and often we don't want to see it.  We'd rather go on oblivious to what we are doing to ourselves.  Then, when we get sick, we gasp at what has happened, but we fail to see the connection.  We just look for someone to keep us in a numbed and asleep state.

Being human is learning to interact with our mind and our body.  It is about taking care of ourselves and through doing that, we become better acquainted with who we are.  Beating our mind and body up is not living.  It is self-inflicted abuse that we do to ourselves.

I remember a therapist one time looking at me and telling me, "Don - you need to give yourself a break.  You are beating yourself up too hard.  You are your own worst enemy.".

Yes, we are our own worst enemies and when we are asleep and numb to it, we project that on to everyone else.  We think that everyone is the problem, when the problem could be resolved within each one of us if we chose to do so.

Hopefully, you'll learn from what Josephine is doing to her body in the example from the blog post on June 13, 2017 - Are You Asleep?

Make sure you check out the next part in this 11 part series

 Part 6 is "Sleep With Pain And Difficulty"

 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Stop And Rest Today

Stop And Rest Today

Take some time out of your busy week and just stop and rest today.  Make it a day where you recharge, refresh, and renew your mind and body.  It is good for your mind and the body will thank you immensely.

To the health of your mind body!

Don't Forget To Relax Recharge And Rest

In our busy life, it is often easy to stay busy, but forgot to stop. 

Don't forget to take time out to relax, recharge, and rest.  

Your mind and body will thank you!

Take a Retreat

Cabins At Healing Springs

We work far too much, stay busy more than we should and take very little downtime for ourselves.  We push ourselves every day at the demands of our boss, our family, and the other responsibilities we hold.  As a society we're too strung out on the drug of being so busy that we just never stop.

Sometimes the best thing we can do for our mind and body is take a retreat.  Remember summer camp where you got away for a week.  Or if it wasn't summer camp, how about those family vacations.  Maybe it was other ways when you were growing up, but years prior, taking a vacation or a retreat was more common place.

If we exhaust and push our bodies day in and day out, we're only asking for trouble.  I know - I did that for a long time and one day I was up and working, the next day I was down.  Sure, I took the few hours once a week and tried to rest, but for the amount of hours I was running, it wasn't enough.  We all tend to do that these days.  I'm not alone.

Give your mind time to refresh...

If you take a retreat, you give your mind time to refresh and you give your body time to rest and recharge.  Even though we may feel like we're a limitless energy source, there is only so much our body will do before it needs the rest.  Our mind is the same way.  You can't just push yourself nonstop and expect the mind and body to keep up.

Taking a retreat helps get perspective on things in life.  It helps the body catch up and just have a moment to see what is going on.  Often when we are so busy, we don't even begin to hear the messages our body is sending us until it is too late and we are sitting in the doctor's office.  A retreat helps you feel what is going on in the body and when you are connected to your body, you're the one in control.

The mind becomes too busy to defrag...

The mind can deal with stress, but where it functions the greatest is through moments of rest and retreat.  In fact, during deep sleep hours, this is when the mind defrags itself and attempts to clean out the closet areas of the mind.  If we go nonstop without a retreat, the mind becomes too busy to defrag itself and balance out.

Try finding some place out in nature or some event that takes you away from your computer and all the daily responsibilities.  Spend a few days there or an extended weekend.  Do it often and your mind and body will thank you.

I love going to the mountains when I can because I can just get away from it all.  At one point, I got to go to a Nasa Tweetup and it was like an adult field trip.  It was so refreshing.  Sometimes just going to the beach or a park or taking a short trip can help you step away from the busy part of life and find rest for the soul.

A retreat is good for the mind and body.  It brings about balance and allows you to recharge, refresh, and renew.  It should be the prescription for every human.  Take one retreat frequently and avoid the busy moments of life as much as possible.

Note:

The picture above is from our stay at the Cabins At Healing Springs.  A wonderful secluded and peaceful place to take a retreat.   Individual cabins and the owners are wonderful people.  The surroundings are beautiful and there is so much to do in the area around this.  If you're looking for a great place to go, make sure you check them out.

Take Time Out To Rest Each Day

I read a tweet online today by Allan Beveridge (@TheTwinPowers) and I completely agree with him.  It is great to take a few minutes out our busy day and just rest.  Allow the mind to calm down and stop.  Allow silence to fill the air.

We don't do this enough in our day.  We go from early morning to late at night, never stopping to take a moments breath.  It is the way of our country and even though we think we are being productive, I believe we are physically hurting ourselves.

One such way as I shared in this tweet to @TheTwinPowers, is I go out and lay in my hammock at various times during the day.  Sometimes it is for a few minutes, just to rest my eyes and brain.  Sometimes if I'm feeling a little sleepy, a few minutes in my hammock has me up and running again.

Yes, Don, hammocks are great for taking some "time out". We have one on the deck :) https://t.co/7gOwhFm7Fh

— Allan Beveridge (@TheTwinPowers) October 29, 2016

In fact, if I take a few minutes out and just stop, I am far more productive and I can get much more done in a short amount of time.  My creativity increases.  My stress levels go down.  My body feels empowered and energized, rather than run down and drained.

I do understand that most people working in an office or place of business can't just go out to their hammock and take a rest.  Actually I think all places should have something like this because I think it would help overall productivity of the company.

If you have no option to do this, try taking a few minutes on a break or at lunch to just walk outside and feel the sun or the wind on your face.  Walk away from your desk and just focus on feeling your breath for a few minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the office.  It doesn't take much to do this.  Just notice your breath for 30 seconds and see how you feel when you're finished.

If you are chained to your desk and not allowed to leave, then try and stretch your legs out and just focus on what that feels like for a few minutes.  Try to stretch your arms up to the ceiling and breathe in and out as you raise and lower them.  Scrunch your neck and shoulders up feeling the tension and then let them drop down.  Even a few minutes once an hour doing these things can help.

I'm telling you though, if you don't have a hammock, you're missing out!  I love laying out in mine and just watching the clouds drift by, the squirrels run on the back fence and the birds and butterflies fly all over the place.

I was thinking that I could even get a hammock and put it in the house for when the days are cold, dreary or rainy.  Now that would be fine living in my view!

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Rest For The Mind and Body

Recently we had some friends spend a few days with us.  It was fun because we went and spent time at the ocean and a few other places.  We tried to keep the pace easy because in the past, we've had other times where we felt so exhausted by trying to do too much with visitors.

We really needed this time away from the computer and busyness of our days.  There are often more things going on in a week and it seems like there is never enough time.  Even though we do try and stop to rest, life just sometimes gets demanding.

This past week was one that just allowed our minds to rest.  It was a time of "rest and relaxation" for the mind.  Just sitting down at the ocean and feeling the salt air, hearing the waves crash and being engulfed by the sun was so relaxing and restful.  It was refreshing and renewing.

It is far too easy for all of us to forget to truly stop, unplug the computers and phones, and enjoy life and nature the way it is meant to be enjoyed.  Yet, if we keep pushing ourselves day in and day out, we are just adding stress to a mind and body that is already pushed to the limits.

Have you stopped and unplugged lately or are you pushing yourself at a nonstop pace?  If you are, don't chastise yourself for doing this.  Instead, ask why it is that you are and how you can change that.  Your mind and body will thank you for it.

Go ahead, take a moment to stop to rest, recharge, and relax.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Stop to Rest and Recharge and Relax

I love the simple things in life from the butterflies that flutter around our backyard, to one of my cats meowing as they bring a toy to me.  Moments where politics and the screaming or protesting of the day make no difference.  Moments where everything seems to stand still and all is at peace.

At one time in my life, I was a stranger to the simple moments of peace and tranquility.  I knew they existed and while I thought I met them on occasion, it took a major health crisis to wake me up.  It took something so big that brought me down to my last breaths for me to realize, there was more to life then staying busy and distracted 100% of the time.

All too often, I have seen people come in for a once a year massage thinking that in that moment, they would take care of a year's worth of stress.  Sometimes it was a once in a lifetime massage, but the goal was the same - to take care of an overwhelming amount of stress.  It was a luxury, not a necessity - much like it was for me before the major health crisis hit.

We push our bodies and our minds...

We all do this to our bodies.  We push them and we push them until there is no tomorrow.  We act as if our energy is limitless and our bodies never need any more rest than what we allow them to get at night while we sleep.  We act as if our mind will keep going at optimal performance while not realizing that our brain and nervous system needs a rest.  The more we rest it, the better our mind and body will perform.

We exhaust our bodies.  We exhaust our minds.  We exhaust our nervous systems.  Yet, we are surprised when we get sick with illness or major disease.  We are surprised when major episodes of pain and tension arise.  We are surprised when our memory constantly fails us in the pursuit of our daily activities.

It seems so simple...

Yes, it seems so simple to take time out and rest and recharge and refresh our bodies and our minds.  It seems like it should be a normal part of our every day life.  In fact, many preach that we should practice it, but often these are the same ones that need this more than ever.  We tend to pontificate on the things that we so badly need in our own lives. 

Am I perfect at this?  No!  After all, it took a major health crisis to bring me down and face the essence of my life.  I can say that I am better at it than I was earlier in my life, but I still struggle to do this as well.

We can keep putting it off thinking that we are invincible and we will go on forever.  However, after we have exhausted our bodies, our minds and our nervous system, we may be past the point of no return.  It may be too late to start thinking about taking care of ourselves and learning how to stop and rest and relax.  We may end up at that point, dealing with how to live with a major health crisis.

The choice is yours and yours alone to make.  No one can make this choice for you.  There is absolutely nothing in this world that is more important than your health.  I thought my job and my friends and my family were more important, but those things almost cost me my life.

I learned the hard way.  May you learn from my own journey and start to find little ways each day and week that you can stop and rest.  Find the little ways where you take a moment to find the simple things in life, that allow your body and mind to refresh and recharge.  Don't put it off another day for tomorrow could be too late.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Down Time in Life

Written by Don Shetterly

I recently saw a post on twitter about this subject and could not help but write about it myself.  Downtime in life is something we all avoid.  We think it is as nasty as swimming in a mud pit or something.

Yet, downtime is so important.  It is quite necessary to the healthy function of the mind and the body.  It is necessary for the nervous system to not get overloaded and refresh itself.

Downtime helps us enjoy the finer moments of life and the world in which we live.  It keeps us from going off the deep end and diving into a pool with no water.

The Twitter tweet I'm referring to is this one.

“When children are overwhelmed they lose the precious down time they need to explore, reflect and release tension. ” https://t.co/nwlROQVHUv

— jason hilkey (@hilkeyj) August 1, 2016

One thing we don't realize is that especially in this day and age we keep ourselves going almost 100% of the time.  We, therefore, expect our children to keep up with this pace and so we teach them through our example that downtime is not important.  If we cannot do it for ourselves, how can we expect our children to learn proper healthy behaviors from our example?

One activity or meeting after another...

I've seen it a million times when doing massage where people are so busy, they have no time to stop.  It is one activity and meeting to another.  One activity or club or sport to another with their children.  It is almost like we are doing everything we can to avoid downtime in our life.

This is not normal and healthy behavior for humans.  Our bodies are not designed to run constantly.  Our minds are not designed to go from one continuous task to another.  Our nervous system is not healthy when we don't give it time to come back into balance.

Just before I was paralyzed from a Conversion Disorder, I was working 18 hours a day in my job, almost 7 days a week.  I was trying to be the best and be everything for my boss, the company, and those that I worked with every day.  I didn't know what it meant to take care of myself.  I didn't know what downtime was.  I was just like everyone else that I kept going and pushing but never stopping.

Conversion Disorder stopped my life...

Conversion Disorder brought me to a complete stop in life.  There was nothing else I could do but stop and start to figure out how to function in life once again.  It was a slow process, but it started by listening to the birds and feeling the sunshine and enjoying the little things in life.  It started by learning how to relax and stop and let go.

The process wasn't an overnight success.  It took me years, but I knew that if I went back to the Conversion Disorder experience, the second time would not be as fortunate for me.  It was a strong motivator to change my life.

Downtime and relaxation are critical to our well-being.  It is critical to the health of our mind, our body, and our nervous system.  If you read the news or watch the current political climate, you can see strong evidence, that our mind, body, and nervous systems are anything but healthy.

When we neglect down time...

When we neglect downtime, it is then that stress builds up in our lives and connects with past experiences where illness can begin to show up.  We've seen the alarming statistics about how much we continue to spend on healthcare, but yet we aren't any more healthy than we were 20 years ago.

We can all do so much to help improve the health of our own mind, body and nervous system.  It is a choice we make to either take care of ourselves or not.

If we don't make this an important part of our life, who will?  If you wait for someone to tell you to do this, you will probably never hear it.  If you wait until your health has gone past the point of no return, you will wish you had paid more attention and given yourself the downtime you need.

If we truly want to pass something beneficial on to our children, we will learn how to enjoy downtime and teach our children through example.  In the process, we will be giving ourselves one of the greatest gifts we can by taking care of the one and only body we get in this lifetime.

Do you get enough downtime in your day (not in a week or month or year, but in a day)?  If not, what will you start to do today to change that?

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Days When It Is Hard To Stay Centered

There are days and boy, is today one of those.  I can normally stay centered most of the time, but from the moment I got startled out of bed by a telemarketer until now, its been anything but calm.

The first thing that greeted me was financial software nightmares.  Then a major online app that I use to help manage my online stuff was being anything but helpful.

It seemed like one thing after another.  I'm already tired and fed up with the nonstop political ranting, raving, and overall meanness by everyone in social media and the news.  There isn't anything in that entire discussion that seems human to me and I'm trying my hardest to avoid it.  Yet, it seems like everyone wants to force me to read and hear the stuff.  When politics starts being human again, than I'll start listening.  Until then, its a bunch of noise-filled stress.

Getting myself to stop isn't easy...

Getting myself to stop and just take a time-out moment isn't easy.  I feel like the little brat of a child causing problems that needs to be put in the corner for a time-out.  I'm the adult here and it seems like it should be easy to convince myself that I need to stop and chill for a second.  Yet, my mind convinces me that I've got a zillion things to get done and in no way can I stop.

In fact, that's what I told myself all the years until I was paralyzed from the Conversion Disorder.  I thought I could do it all.  I never stopped.  I never rested.  I just kept pushing and pushing.  I kept hiding things and hiding them until they could no longer be seen.  It didn't end well either.  You would think I would have learned by now but some days I'm pretty hard headed.

Just writing this at this moment, helps me stop and think about it.  It brings it up - front and center - so that I can not hide from it or push it away.  It says - look you hard headed clunk head - you're not helping yourself if you just keep stressing and pushing and hiding everything.  "I know," I say in return, but sometimes I just don't listen to the better part of myself.

It is easy to go on autopilot in life...

Its easy to go on autopilot in life.  In fact, sometimes that helps us hide from the swirling pile of doo doo in our life we don't want to look at.  It helps us numb from it and avoid it.  I get it.  I understand because I feel like I could teach a masterclass in how all of this works.

The difficult part is getting myself to stop and say - enough!  I don't need to do the harm to my body and mind I'm doing.  I can write the words, but putting it in practice is something I'd rather just not talk about.... yet, I need to talk about it.

So, for now - I'm prioritizing what I need to get done.  What's the most important things and then the rest of it will have to wait.  I'm going to take a few minutes and just chill and rest.  I'm going to go focus on my breath and come back into my body.  Spending all my time up in my head isn't going to get me as far as if I can connect my mind with my body.

I know what I need to do in order to connect my mind and body together.  I write about it.  Its just not always easy to stay centered.  I'm sure I am  not alone and others struggle with the exact same thing.  After-all, I can't be the only one that is this hard headed, can I?   That's a rhetorical question of course.

So, please feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you do when the stuff is piling up and your mind and body so need a chill moment.  How do you get yourself to stop in that moment and come back home inside, rather than shoving and stuffing down all of this deep inside?

It felt better to just write about this and share it.  Maybe that's what I need to do because it makes me more aware of it and by becoming aware of something, we can do a better job of dealing with it.  It doesn't mean we will solve the issue in under ten seconds, but I do know that the more aware we are, the more human we are.

That's my story for now and I'm sticking to it!

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Moments Of My Day

Sometimes the days of my life seem to flash by quickly.  It is almost like a high speed film.  At times, I don't know which end is going which way.  It just feels to me like there is no tomorrow.

Sometimes in life, it is hard to make sense of everything.  There are moments that are confusing.  There are moments that appear very clear, and then fade away.  At times, I get the feeling that I just can't see everything, but yet I am living each moment as if I am.

Some days I long for answers, but it seems life is so busy, there is no time to hear them.  I wonder and question just how I reconcile time and purpose together.  They almost seem like strange bedfellows.  Yet, it feels like the pieces of a puzzle that should go together.

Stopping to smell the roses of life is essential.  Even though I thought I did this, I may be skipping this moment all too often in my life.  Even a life that doesn't seem to flow well, still needs time to step away and rest.  Life still needs to recharge and unhitch from the stresses of life.

Starting my morning in daily meditation helps.  Yet, I sometimes think that what I write makes no difference.  It is like it is meaningless to me.

Even though it may not be filled with all the answers I need at that moment, a morning meditation time is my way of stopping and allowing myself to connect with all that I need.  It is the moment where I allow everything into my life without prejudice, fear, or the business of my day and with an open heart.  It marks the beginning of focusing my moments, rather then allowing them to just pass me by.

I'm grateful that I stop in this moment of the day.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 1/14/13 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Stop And Rest

It is the weekend.  Take some time this weekend to stop and rest.  Feel the sun and summer air on your face, your arms, and your legs.  Feel the ground beneath your bare feet.  See the beauty of the blue sky.  Take in the world around you as if you're a bird flying above.  Then, stop and rest awhile.

Reality Is Just Too Real

No greater evidence of this is required then just by turning on the TV or going to social media these days.  It is obviously evident that reality is just too real for most people.  In fact, the main love of everyday TV watching is a category called "reality TV".

In "Untethered Soul" by Michael Singer, he wrote that "reality is just too real for most of us, so we temper it with the mind."  (pg 14 Kindle Edition)  If you think about this for a moment, you can see how true it is, yet we all do this in one way or another.  It is how we exist.

In today's world, there is way too much noise and input for our minds to deal with in a day.  There is too much distraction and stress and bombardment from all directions.  If we begin to immerse ourselves into this culture, we quickly become overwhelmed and no "right thinking" will undue what we subject ourselves to each and every day.

If you are a highly sensitive person and you are following the news on TV, it is a big mistake.  If you're following it online, it is almost as big a mistake.  There is just too much coming out of that.

Can You Mask Exhaustion And Stress

This question seems rhetorical, but yet we don't ask it often enough.  Can you mask exhaustion and stress?  The simple answer is "YES" you can.  Yet, we don't stop to consider it in our busy days.

Its easy to just blow things off and continue on through our busy days.  We get another cup of coffee at Starbucks or we down an "energy drink" and we trudge on.  We count down the hours until our work day is finished.  We browse the internet and check Facebook, just hoping that the day will soon be over.

One day it starts out as a sore back or a tightness in our chest.  It may show up as a stiff neck or arm that doesn't want to move.  Headaches are often a sign that we have more stress and exhaustion in our mind and body then we realize.

So we pop some more pills and hope for the best.  We welcome the quick and painless methods that are taught to our society.  We keep going.  We keep trudging.  We don't stop to take a rest.

Flu - Cold Season And Rest

This is the third part in this series about the cold and flu season.  Please visit the first series, Flu - Cold Season And Mind Body Healing and part 2, Flu And Cold Season And Nutrition.   Reading these first two parts in this series will help you to understand today's blog post much better.

Stress and trauma and nutrition are not the only things that impacts the health of our body.  Getting adequate rest and sleep are essential for our body to function at maximum efficiency.  All too often in our life, we view rest as something we may or may not do on a yearly vacation and we see sleep as something we have to fit into our day.

In many ways we have the emphasis on rest and sleep backwards in our life.  Instead of making it a priority, we try to fit it into our busy schedules, if we happen to get the chance.  We don't see it as a necessity, rather we see it as something that you could do every now and then.  Our bodies require sleep and rest to function.  It is a time when our cells rejuvenate themselves and our mind defrag the stressful and busy moments of our day.

My Creativity Comes And Goes

Some days I find that I can create for hours on end and other days, it just plain sucks! My mind is one of those highly creative engines that runs almost nonstop. Sometimes in life, I have to beg it to stop and give me some rest.

Lately though, it is like the creativity is flooding my mind to the point of drowning. My creativity comes and goes almost as fast as the sun sets and rises. I love it when I can sit down and just write, paint, create music or come up with a million ideas all at once. However, usually when I go through very intense moments of this, I crash.

One of the ways I have been helping myself to efficiently be creative is getting plenty of down time and rest. I do this through relaxation and meditation even if it is only for 30 minutes. I am amazed that if I just stop for 20-30 minutes and totally let my mind and body let go, I can come back with much more energy and creative empowerment.

Creativity is where I find my greatest joy in life. It is the one thing that gives me more power and energy in my day than any other single thing I can do. There is a price of exhaustion that comes with it if I fail to manage it, but no other thing gives me greater satisfaction.

Clutter In Our Life, 30 Day Challenge

Clutter In Our Life Series
30 Day Challenge

As you have been reading through this 10 part series, feel free to not be in agreement with all of what I have written. I am perfectly happy to accept that. However, before you complete write these things off, take a moment and test something out.

Try this challenge for one month. Then, come back and let me know what happened in your life as a result of the challenge. The best way to see if something works for you is to challenge yourself until you find the answer that fits in your life.

So here are the parts of the challenge for at least the next 30 days!

1) Turn off the TV news including the internet. If you want to subscribe to an online service with headlines, let that be the most you do for a month. You'll actually find that most of what you need to know can be found reading the headlines. Honestly, it is true.

2) Limit your time on places like Facebook for a month and actually give up the games for one month that you normally would play on Facebook.

3) Try to put the cell phone/pda/mobile device/iphone etc, in a different room from you so that if someone calls, you can go get the cell phone but you won't be tempted to just spend countless hours on it.

4) Evaluate your day and see where you are spending your time and is it matching up to things that really matter in your life. Be critical of it from an observers view, rather than your regular view.

5) Spend some time out in nature each day if it is nothing more than sitting outside for 5 minutes, listening to the birds, feeling the warmth of the sun or the coolness of the breeze.

6) Spend a few moments reading that book you always wanted to get to or writing something in a journal if you feel so led.

7) Pick up some paints or other craft things and enjoy just creating in the moment.

8) Book yourself a massage or try Yoga once a week for the month or spend some time walking, going to the fitness center, bicycling, swimming.

9) Spend time with people you love like a partner, spouse, child or pet and just enjoy the simple moments with them.

10) Find things to do that give you simple moments in life. The goal is to slow down and observe, enjoy and be in the moment, not try to find everything possible to keep yourself busy.

11) Try changing what you eat at least once a week. Really go all out to see if you can find something so healthy to eat that your taste buds dance the greatest movement known to this world.

12) Double the amount of water you currently drink for at least a week and see if you don't notice a change.



If you do this for a month, I have a feeling you will not want to stop these things. Yes, withdraw may be tough at first and you may feel disconnected from life, but in time, you will come to understand what truly matters to you and what does not.

To each person, it will be different. I cannot state what will be right for you no more than you can state what is right for me. Until you truly and honestly go into these moments, what matters to your life, will remain a mystery.

There is much more to life than we currently understand. We are in an epidemic of hiding from the moments of connectedness in our life and giving ourselves the false illusion that the clutter moments are what matters.

It is easier most likely for us to living in a mindless world but if we learn to live mindfully, being connected to the moment, life will give us so much more.

I challenge each person reading this to take the challenge I just stated and see what happens. What do you have to lose? The world will still be here after these 30 days are up. Who knows, you might just be pleasantly surprised in a simple and easy way.

If you are just finding this blog for the first time, please feel free to read all 10 parts of this series by clicking on the links corresponding to each section below.

Clutter In Our Life Series
- Introduction
Part 1: Spending our hours watching TV news
Part 2: Keeping Ourselves Constantly Busy
Part 3: Numbing Ourselves
Part 4: Following Blindly
Part 5: Food Choices
Part 6: Health care, Doctors, and Medicine
Part 7: Hydrating Our Bodies
Part 8: Thinking We Have The Answers
Part 9: Exercise Is For Another Day
Part 10: We Fail To Evolve
- The 30 Day Challenge


Blog Post & Images (c) 3/20/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Play Hard And Rest

Every time I start experiencing stressful moments in life where I feel like I've got more to complete in a day than is possible to accomplish, I'm reminded by my cats to play hard and rest. Watching them as they play hard one minute and then they are sprawled out on the floor resting the next is a vivid example that we as humans should consider following.

Ever since we got our two kittens from the cat rescue organization, Candy's Cats, these two have played hard together. They are brother and sister which really does help. We do encourage the playfulness with them and spend much time playing with them as well. We have done this since they were kittens. When they want us to play, we stop and play.

Never does a day go by that they are not running, chasing, pouncing and playing hard with each other. It is fun to watch and sometimes it feels like a herd of tornadoes running through the house. However, if you watch them, they will go at it strong for several minutes and then all of the sudden they get quiet. The next thing they do is lay on their back sprawled out as if nothing is going on. They might actually go from playing hard to cleaning and grooming themselves but most of the time, it is complete rest after a moment of playing hard with each other.

As kids, we most likely did this same thing where we played hard and then we came inside for a rest. It wasn't something we thought about or knew we needed to do these things. It just happened because we were being kids. It was all in the moment living much like our cats live.

As adults, we tend to lose the ways of being a kid. Yes, I know there are responsibilities and jobs and family to take care of in our lives. Often these responsibilities take away from our time to play or relax or just enjoy life. It is all too easy to get caught up in a million activities or causes which may be noble and justified but sometimes they can rob us of our playtime in life.

Playtime is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves. By playtime, I mean finding things that you enjoy doing from crafts or walks in the wood to spending time out in the sun having fun. These are things in life which are just pure enjoyment to you and there is no work or worry or other stress that you need to connect with when you are having play time. If you are not sure what playtime really is, just connect back to when you were a child. What did you do as a child to have fun? What do you enjoy doing now?

Learn to play hard and then after you have played hard, take some time to just rest and live in the moment of now. There should be no expectations of how long this should go or any other thing that may be on your mind. Just be in the moment like cats are where nothing else matters for them. Resting gives you the connection of pushing yourself into enjoyment and fun, then allowing yourself to drop down and connect to the greatest parts within yourself. Observe how your body feels during the rest time and see if there is any change in muscle tension or pains. Most likely, you will notice a sense of relief and less pain.

One of the best ways to release stress is by pushing your nervous system up and then letting it drop down. Taking time to clean out those closets in your body where stress is hiding gives way for you to allow yourself relaxation and a deeper peace. Playing hard helps push your nervous system up, if you really allow yourself to just let loose and have fun. Then by taking time to rest afterward, you are allowing yourself to connect to the deeper peace and relaxation that your body needs. Through the connection between these two things, you will have released much stress in your body and your life.

I'm sure we all know what it means to play hard but some of us may have forgotten to allow ourselves to do this. That is perfectly okay because what you do in today's moment is totally up to you. You can go out and spend some time today playing and having fun, enjoy life to the fullest! You can be creative in how you do that and maybe step outside of your comfort zone, giving yourself permission to just let loose!

If you are not spending regular time playing in life, I urge you to give this a try. Step out of your comfort zone and see what happens. Even if you are extremely busy, an afternoon of playing hard, then resting will most likely give you more focus, clarity, and energy for your day. You may be surprised at just how much more productive you are.

Our bodies are not meant to be pushed constantly or to their limits without a way to release the stress and build up of emotions. Our nervous systems are resilient but the more stress and past trauma we hold against within our body, the less resilient they are. When we overwhelm our bodies in this way, they react through physical messages that try to get our attention so that we can reverse course and become aware of our connection between our mind, body and spirit.

To live in the moment, is one of the greatest gifts of awareness that we can give ourselves. To be mindful in our day will return many rewards back to us. We really are the masters of our health and well being. Through playing hard and resting, we give ourselves the chance to stop, connect and discover a little more about ourselves. It truly does a body good!

(Above Picture taken of Corey And Topanga (our Kittens) - (c) 10/03/10)

*Read other articles on Mind Body Thoughts Blog

More To The Journey

Even when we know where we are headed and we have a very good understanding of our purpose, there may still be roadblocks along our way. There may be things in our path that try to steer us off course or disorient us enough to question where we are at.

It does not mean we should abandon our journey or alter it. We should not give up. It may mean that we give our self additional time and allowance to continue on our travel. There may be more than meets the eye in this moment.

Just like fog that blankets a road, it makes a driver focus more on the white and yellow lines of the road. It makes our eyes focus but we take in as many boundary markers as possible, along the road. Yes, fog can be disorienting but if we slow down and follow the road closely, we will be able to continue on our journey.

We cannot expect to travel our journey at the speed of light every single day of our life. We must give our self time to absorb all that we will experience along our journey. For to speed through all of it too quickly, means we will be missing many things along our way.

Often we may find ourselves saying, "are we there yet?" We want to arrive at our destination. We get tired of the seemingly endless hours or days of travel. Again, the experience and journey of getting there are part of the journey. The travel is not separate from it.

For if we continue on our journey, we will get to where we are going. Even though it may take longer than expected, we will get there. And if we stop along the way to rest, we will still manage to arrive at our destination. For there is more to the journey than just the travel.

*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog