Rest is the basis of all activity.
Rest is the most important activity of them all.
Did you know peonies require “a pronounced period of winter chilling” in order to bloom nicely in the spring and summer?
I definitely didn’t, but that’s the kind of quality info moms keep you in the loop about.
If a “pronounced period of chilling” sounds inviting to you right now, that’s probably because you need it, too.
Peony blooms are just one of the innumerable ways Nature illustrates the importance of rest to us.
We’re conditioned to regard rest as some sort of copout from real activity.
In fact, rest is, in and of itself, the most important activity in our lives.
That’s because rest is the basis of all activity.
The archer must first pull back the bowstring before shooting his arrow. The further he pulls it back, the more potential energy he generates, and the further the arrow goes.
After a demanding start to my year, which included months of intense panchakarma detox in India followed by weeks of grueling travel, I’ve been really looking forward to a “period of pronounced chilling” for a while now.
I’m literally in the business of rest, and I’m well aware of its many benefits, but even so, I’ve had to continually remind myself over the last two weeks that it’s okay to take it easy.
Sometimes, we can feel unproductive when we’re resting. It may feel like a waste of time, or an unaffordable luxury we just don’t have the time for.
Not only is resting okay, it’s actually essential in order to continue performing our best.
Thankfully, as Vedic Meditators, we’ve got rest technology at our disposal which provides 2-5x deeper rest than the deepest phase of sleep.
Every morning, we sit, close our eyes, repeat our mantra, and pull back our bowstring.
Once we’re grounded in Being, we’re ready to perform action (even if that action means more resting!)
Every afternoon, we do it again, washing away the stresses of the day and preparing us for evening activities.
Just like the peonies, without rest, we cannot bloom.
Let’s discuss these ideas and others during Collective Effervescence, our online group meditation series, this Sunday June 11 at 9am LA / 12pm MIA / 6pm EU. Drop in for meditation only (first 30 min) or stay for discussion + Q&A on this and other life topics from the Vedic perspective.
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Music today is the late Andrew Weatherall’s remix to Soon by My Bloody Valentine, shown here soundtracking the excellent A Short Film About Chilling published by the UK’s BBC 4 in 1990, highlighting the explosion of Brits traveling to Ibiza to…well…chill.