Sometimes it’s really hard to get moving while at others, it’s almost impossible to press pause or stop. It’s easy to see them as opposed to each other, but in fact both matter deeply for your wellbeing and long-term resilience.
This powerful duo can help you get ‘unstuck’ and fuel sustainable action. Any movement at all can help get you out of the rut of despair or procrastination, while regular rest is essential for recovery and continued action.
We need strategies to help us take action, and to know when we need to rest.
Action
Actions helps with the little and the big stuckness – by which I mean:
- The procrastinating fearful stuckness that comes from having something you need or want to do but feeling afraid to start in case it’s not good enough/doesn’t work out/disappoints you or others. Familiar?
- The stuckness that comes from a deadening sense of hopelessness and powerlessness. That nothing you do can possibly make any difference to the awfulness of the world, its inequities or injustices. More and more people are suffering from this stuckness that can morph into despair.
Just move. Get outside and walk with your worry. Think about it from the vantage point of a moving body that isn’t holding a pen or attached to a keyboard. It’s amazing how ideas and clarity can emerge when you move.
If you can move outside on the green and blue living planet that supports you and has given you absolutely everything that shelters and sustains you, so much the better. Maybe take a moment to contemplate and appreciate this source of unconditional support that is always there for you.
If you can’t go outside, change rooms. Run on the spot. Before their most challenging and difficult meetings, an extremely competent, smart, intensive care consultant (you know who you are!) finds a private space (staff toilet) and does 1-2 minutes of ‘arm running’ to ‘Sandstorm’ by Darude. The change in brain and body chemistry this produces is activating and empowering. At the very least, you’re far from frozen. So try it.
For the big existential stuckness – you need action with others.
Taking action with others counters the hopelessness that comes from sitting alone, absorbing horrific news alone, listening to dystopian futures powered by AI and controlled by trill/billionaires.
Let collective action be your antidote. Find a group that cares about the things you do. Join them and do something together however small. Even the tiniest action builds your sense of capability. And know that you have others with you, makes more seem possible.
If you need to be convinced of the power of collective action – listen to Screw This – Let’s Try Something Different by Maryam Pasha and Matt Golding of Antidotelive.studio. They showcase inspiring examples of what can happen when people get together in their communities. Then ‘find the others’ who will act with you.
Rest
Human beings need rest to perform at our best. Why is it we can acknowledge this for elite athletes but not the rest of us? (The answer is, largely, the world of work and the expectation that you can work anywhere, at any time, and be available 24/7).
As a human being, you need micro-breaks during the day, time not thinking about work each evening and sufficient sleep, time away from work at the weekends, and the longer breaks you take annually.
It’s not always easy. We have been conditioned and acculturated to running ever faster on the hamster wheel of efficiency. Only recently, I realised that when I hear myself say, “I need to push on through” or ‘I haven’t made enough progress to stop yet”, that’s the sign that I need a BREAK!
When I make myself walk away, the work is always better on my return. Especially when I’ve done something rejuvenating like walk up a hill, swim in a lake, chat with family or a friend…
Take your breaks. And don’t judge other people for getting their rest differently to you. Cup of tea, chat with a colleague, step outside, do wordle, relax with a spreadsheet… effective rest looks different for different people.
If you worry about or do work in the evening, then do something that takes your mind off work. Rock climbing used to be the perfect way to drive work from my mind. Instead I worried about hanging on, living etc. These days, the cryptic crossword crowds work out successfully, but sadly, does nothing for my core.
Shakespeare recognised the importance of sleep even if you don’t yet: ‘Sleep that knits the ravelled sleave of care’. If you struggle with sleep – try setting a timer to go to bed. Give yourself time to wind down before bed. Don’t think about finances before bed. Get your phone out of your bedroom.
If you’re interested in changing the way you live to incorporate more rest, and want to pay more attention to the planet you live on, then have a look at the Maramataka. This traditional Māōri monthly calendar highlights the connection between lunar cycles, action and rest, and our wellbeing. At the very least, it will make you more aware of what’s happening in the sky above you and the earth. It might even draw you outside a little more.
Lastly, more of my views on rest shared with Samantha Murray Greenway in this article on The Radical Art of Doing Nothing.
Until the next time, take care and practice action and rest!
