The Art of Rest

How do you rest? I would argue with the majority of you that you do not. That all of the passive, leisure activities you partake in are not actually giving back to you in a calming and restful manner.

Imagine this. You have a stressful day at work so you want to come home, sit on the couch and throw on something mindless to veg to. You believe this is “rest.” In reality this is escape, detachement, avoiding. You are avoiding the stress from work and the thoughts and feelings associated with it, and you are avoiding the work of sitting with yourself and processing through all of that, which in turn would actually bring you the rest you so desperately crave.

I always tell people, go home and stare at a wall. If you don’t like mindfulness or meditating, just sit, without your phone, without any distractions and be. I understand it is uncomfortable for the untrained brain. At first it may increase your anxiety, your thoughts will be racing. That is because they don’t normally get this space to run free. You may cry, because you don’t normally sit and connect with your body. When was the last time you were fully present? Immersed in one activity and fully in touch with your whole self. When we slow down and sit still our feelings arise. Our thoughts swim to the surface begging to be given attention. Some people fall asleep. All that is telling you is that you don’t get enough rest, and your body is now taking advantage of what you are giving it.

In our society we input so much knowledge and stimuli each and every day, but when do we ever fully disconnect to process it? We wonder why we can’t turn our brains off and sleep at night. I wonder, after 8 solid hours of taking in new information and ideas, how many hours might one need to work through and process this information? And how much on top of that to create enough to space to get to your original thoughts and ideas. To reconnect with your dreams and daydreams and allow your mind to run free and wander.

Is that a crime now? Do we all feel it is a problem for our minds to think independently and get lost in thought? How do we believe ideas are created if we never have uninterrupted down time. Everyone is so focused on not “missing” anything and multitasking to distract ourselves from being who we truly are and feeling deeply. Feeling has become a foreign and sometimes scary process we’d rather avoid. But I promise you once you create enough space to process through all your backlogs of emotions and information you will find peace.

I always encourage my clients to do one thing at a time. Shower without music, clean without a show on in the background. Allow your mind to focus on one task at a time. When we practice single tasking, our brain develops its ability to focus and be content in the moment without loads of external stimuli. We can learn to be more present and enjoy the simple tasks of life again. Plus who remembers shower thoughts? These are great places for new ideas and to work out our current roadblocks and struggles. We need space to think creatively to solve a problem, rather than staying busy 24/7 hammering away at it with no thought at all.

I dare you. Spend two hours doing your favorite leisure activity, be it netflix, video games, scrolling on your phone. The next day spend two hours sitting in a park without your phone or a book or anything. Observe how you felt before and after each activity. Tell me you don’t feel remarkably better after being present in nature than plugged into a device.

I have a theory that being in front of a screen at the end of a day is a neutral activity. You tell me you’re doing it to relax, but you just hit pause on your life. As I said before, you are not continuing the stress from the day, nor are you relieving or dealing with it. Your are simply losing two hours of your life, being less aware of yourself, because you don’t know how to be with yourself, to feel and deal. How many activities in your life actually make you feel more connected to yourself, more in your body, more aware and in tune with yourself and your surroundings? What is your downtime activity giving back to you? How can your favorite pass time love you back? Because I bet you it isn’t.

Here I am on my pedestal and I am begging you to do less. Carve twenty minutes into your morning and night to be, dream, journal, pray, cry. And then turn that into an hour. See how much time you truly need to be with yourself and work through your masses of stress and trauma built up in a lifetime. Restructure your whole life to be with yourself everyday. Yes, you are going to miss that newly released video game, the next season of your show, and whatever some random person you don’t actually care about posted online. And I promise you won’t be missing anything. This is your life. Be present for every moment of your own time, serving your souls needs, and you’ll be just fine.

Sensory Deprivation

Happy Full Moon in Pisces! Today I want to talk about floating. As we know, Pisces is the fish of the zodiac. Pisces floats in a dreamlike state, full of fantasy and mysticism. Pisces are deep feelers, known to be cry babies and “out to sea” so to say versus being more grounded like an earth sign. Pisces is a water sign and the last sign of the zodiac, so a culmination of all 12 signs, the heightened maturity of our evolution, their statement “I believe.” Pisces’ believe in love and the unknown, that there can be a better future and they are great dreamers.

Have you heard of sensory deprivation? Sensory deprivation, known as a float tank, is a trend where people go into an enclosed space full of Epsom salt, devoid of light and external stimuli, and float for hours on end reaching deep states of meditation and consciousness. The deprivation of external forces allows us to go deep within and access our greater wisdom as well as physical healing abilities. Floating has been said to reduce anxiety, chronic pain, improve sleep, and more. There is very little it can’t do. The water you’re floating in is buoyant enough to keep you afloat while being at a temperature that blends with your natural body state creating the illusion of not knowing where your body is in space anymore, allowing for an even deeper experience of being alone with your thoughts. Just a brain floating in a jar. People sometimes leave the tank feeling very light or spacey due to these effects.

I first floated while living in Portland, Oregon. I can’t be sure what exactly turned me to or introduced me to floating, but I know I was in a phase of spiritual searching. I was always trying to reach a deeper more enlightened state, as well as to hack my meditation, which was sorely lacking any sense of calm or focus. My first few floats were pretty disastrous. I get motion sick easily, so the simple act of floating had me nauseated. I probably spent no more than five minutes horizontal at a time my first float and left early. It was miserable. My second float I took Dramamine, but felt like my head was much too heavy, had neck pain the whole time, and was cold. For me, I was not impressed with this whole experience and reached zero states of nirvana.

Recently I found myself extremely stressed with an overactive mind, and feeling too financially pressed to continue with my regular forms of self-care that I pay for monthly such as cranial sacral, massages, facials, and even seeing my own therapist regularly! Riding home one night with some friends they mentioned I live near their float shop. We briefly chatted about my past experiences and that was it. But something in me was sparked. A few days later in the middle of the morning I booked an impromptu, free first float at Float Seattle Greenlake. I was pretty excited, despite my past experiences, and eagerly set off to my appointment.

Floating was unlike anything I have done for myself. Yes I got restless, yes my mind was everywhere but in the present. However, I also felt relief from my constant neck issue immediately after. I left the tank simply craving to get back in. I love the idea of no stimuli, no cell phone, no Internet, having nothing to do or create and no input coming in. I love this idea and yet I struggle constantly with holding fast to it in my everyday life. My mind loved being in that blank space, uninterrupted, allowed to simply exist. I booked another float for the next week, however a few days later I caved and went last minute again. And then I booked a float everyday that week. And then I booked floats every single day out nearly three weeks.

As I said previously, my mind was craving the tank. The whole first week I would spend all day thinking about when I would float next, desiring it. After leaving the tank my mind feels calm. I can’t say I always reach this deep, enlightened space where time and my body cease to exist. I do feel more relaxed, less anxious, less stressed. My over active mind stills slightly and I feel more able to go about my day. Going into the second week I stopped thinking about my float each day, and only remembered it each morning when my alarm went off telling me it was time to go. I would kind of dread it honestly. Prior to the float my mind would already be racing and I wouldn’t want to be “bored” for an hour just hanging out with my thoughts. But once I arrive, once I am in my room it all feels better. In the tank I feel at ease and stop wondering about what I have to do later, I stop tracking time in my mind and hoping the music plays soon to signal it’s over. I just float. And dream, and wonder. I’ve realized as my mind adjusts to this new habit I am no longer preoccupied with the future. I have begun to revisit memories from the past that need addressing, like I am working through my backlog of time that I didn’t give myself the space to process in the moment. I have also begun to fantasize and dream more in the tank. Simply enjoying the creativity of my mind and allowing it to have fun. And, as many report can happen, I have also been able to work through some stuck places in my day-to-day life and find answers to problems I had not been able to solve in my prior over analyzing and anxious states.

So where does this lead back to the full moon in Pisces? Well I find it very fitting that I began a floating habit leading up to the watery harvest moon that is in Pisces. I am using this time of deeper awareness and intuitive heightening to the maximum effect by giving myself the environment and time to connect to my internal knowing. This full moon asked us to open ourselves to a greater consciousness and release what is holding us back from connecting to that deeper knowing. So self-care this two-week cycle, float! Float Seattle has a free first float, but even if that feels out of your ability, where can you create a more peaceful, easeful state for yourself this week? How can you get more in tune with yourself, and get less in tune with all the external junk in our environment? I wish you the best of luck swimming these intuitive tides and I hope you find something magical!