Week 4: Reclaiming Rhythms of Rest

We all have daily practices. Whether we are conscious or intentional about these or not. Choosing small practices amidst the daily moments can make all the difference.

"Although many things are good and nutritious for the soul, most fall into wild woman's four basic food groups: time, belonging, passion, and sovereignty. Stock up. These keep the river clean." ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With the Wolves

Recently I’ve been asking workshop participants: how many of you check your phone first thing when you wake up?

No guilt or shame, just to consider with curiosity. Take a second to think about it for yourself:

How many times a week on average do you check your phone first thing for something other than the time, is it 1, 2, 3, or is it 7?

In her book, Liturgy of the Ordinary, Tish Harrison Warren writes about how her daily practice of checking her phone upon waking was imprinting her, like baby animals are imprinted by a human if rescued in the wild. She writes, "My morning smartphone ritual was brief...but I was imprinted...by technology...Throughout the day I fed on a near-constant stream of news, entertainment, stimulation, likes, and retweets. Without realizing it, I had slowly built a habit: a steady resistance to and dread of boredom.[i]"

How do you think your daily practice is affecting you? 

What might be a more grounding way to start the day?

How might that practice imprint you differently?

When Tish Harrison Warren replaces her phone-checking habit with stillness, making her bed and sitting on it for a few minutes, she notices that her day was imprinted differently.  "Changing this ritual allowed me to form a new repetitive and contemplative habit that pointed me toward a different way of being-in-the-world."

Yet rest and stillness doesn't come easily, we have to fight to create space for it.

I tell you, I have two little girls, and I experience how when I am grounded and rested, I am more patient and better equipped to navigate their big emotions and conflicts.

Resmaa Menakem says, a settled body settles bodies.

Some might think these twenty minutes would feel like wasted or unproductive time. Yet intentional breathing, spiritual practices, and meditation have been shown to increase our ability to face what comes at us.

Many do not have the flexibility in their days to carve out twenty minutes of stillness. Yet for those who do, perhaps it'd be helpful to consider how your life might be impacted if you had that space; and to be honest with yourself about the barriers to creating that space.