I took today to rest. In several ways . . . I'm having a fast. Which is not an easy thing, at least not for me. I'm pretty hungry right now, weak, and fairly well preoccupied with food. But my body was calling out for this fast and I thought it would be a good idea to give my systems a rest. Actually, this recent trip was fairly stressful on me, especially because I didn't sleep well. Along with working hard and travel anxiety and the general disruption of being in a new place. Mostly it was just work, this trip, but I learned things and had some good times. I'm also taking a day of silence with my fast. Fasting from the stress of connecting.

I believe in rest. The good book says God rested on the seventh day and we should do the same. It seems to be written into the design of nature, as fields benefit from rest as well. There is a time for work and a time for play (to quote the same source!). At Kripalu they say it is "integration," which is to say that there is stuff happening below the surface, necessary to complete the change you make with your outward effort.

As a culture we do not believe in rest. We value hard work and working late and we work more than most other countries. And our spirituality is more intense, more driven, as well. But a more intense and driven spirituality does not actually make you more spiritual (although it may make you more religious, and indeed we are a more religious country than many, at least when compared to Europe). I don't have the space or longing to do it as much as I could, but I practice sometimes several types of fasting, not just avoiding food. There is avoiding computers and computer screens. Avoiding people (perhaps silence), avoiding being scheduled, avoiding a particular issue for a day. I believe that laying fallow for a day gives one part of me a rest, lets changes happen under the surface and is therefore very beneficial.   more »