On Rest

 

Today as I went for a walk in the area behind my house, my mind turned to summer and the summer holidays that are now upon us here in Australia. For us, it is usually a time of rest and recuperation. We rarely go on long adventurous jaunts or journeys. It is time to rejuvenate self and soul before the new year - and the new school year - begins. As a teacher, that time was cherished, though always in the back of my mind was the thought that I would have to start planning for the new school year. I never really switched off completely. As I walked today I thought  more specifically about the last few summers we have had.

In 2019 we went into the summer holidays with the worst heat waves and bushfires that many of us can remember. Every night that December and January I would wake up and look at the skies, trying to gauge if the flames were any closer, if the smoke was any thicker. I never truly slept or rested, always fretful that the flames would reach us, always aware of the heavy smell of smoke in our hot, closed up house. We wouldn't go out in the day because the smoke was so thick, so we spent quiet anxious days at home. 

And then the school year of 2020 began. We hoped, with the big storms and the breaking of the drought in January, that the worst was behind us. We were wrong. 2020 was a terrible year for so many people. The pandemic caught us all unawares and we suffered in ways that we never expected to in our lives. By the time summer came around, the pandemic was well and truly here to stay and Christmas was spent in lockdown. Summer was subdued, but not restful. There was the constant update of positive cases, the checking of locations to see if we may have been exposed. Keeping indoors but always wondering what the future was going to look like. We didn't swim at the beach, or camp in the bush, or get outdoors in ways that normally leads to deep rest and rejuvenation - for the second year. The summer of 2021 followed in much the same way. 

In his book, The Jane Austen Diet, Brian Kozlowski tells us that:

 

    "No character in Austenworld enjoys health without also enjoying "great energy." Feeling a daily surge of "life and vigour," revelling in the "felicity" of a brisk walk or "lively" dance are some of Jane's most important indicators of overall health. Inversely, chronic "weariness" and a "weakened frame" point just as strongly to ill health."

Sleep is such a vital part of our wellbeing, and I realise that between everything that has been going on in the last three years, plus my natural tendency to not sleep well on the days when I am teaching, means that my overall rest has been compromised. Since I finished work last week, my sleep has been deep and long. I am sleeping much later than I normally would, but then that's what holidays are for after all. I miss my quiet morning time by myself, but I know that I will get that back when my body has caught up on its sleep. Once my "life and vigour" have returned, I intend to implement new morning routines, ones that set the tone for the day. 

So for the moment, rest for me looks like lots of reading (although not sharing as much on Instagram, because I just want to enjoy the book), less time on screens, walking everyday, eating lots of summer fruit and vegetables, sleeping when I'm tired and waking when I am refreshed. This has included a couple of afternoon naps over the last couple of days which I'm not mad about :)

I know that for many of you this holiday period is a busy one, but I hope that you can find some time to rest and breathe deep breaths of letting go. We need to let go of the last few years and embrace the year that is coming with a clear mind and an open heart. True rest and restorative sleep will help us do just that. 

Please share how you intend to rest over the coming days and weeks. Do you take the in-between-years time as a time to rest and get prepared for the coming year? Is early January a time to catch up on rest, when the weather is either too hot or too cold for much else? I'd love to hear what your rest routine looks like.