Restorative Practice for Mind-Body Health
The lack of rest and recovery may well be one of the biggest factors in all chronic physical and mental dis-ease today.
We all know that we need sleep to survive. Beyond this, more and more research is coming out to prove that optimal sleep is like a super-supplement for cognitive, creative and physical performance.
So, although there’s a long way to go to improve the population’s sleep patterns, at the very least it seems the average person is aware of the importance of sleep.
REST & RECOVERY IS MORE THAN SLEEP
But rest and recovery isn’t just about sleep; it’s about how we function in our waking hours too. I continually remind my clients and students that ‘stress’ isn’t just an emotion you feel; it’s a physiological state. Lots of people don’t “feel stressed” even when their body is in a state of stress, because this is their nervous system’s habitual mode of functioning. If you think of your nervous system as a spectrum from deep relaxation (rest and digest) to high stress (fight, flight or freeze), those of us who are consciously or unconsciously stressed on a day-to-day basis live higher up that spectrum, deeper into the stress response. This means we live moment-to-moment using more energy, overworking our heart, and neglecting healing, cleaning and rejuvenating that’s essential for our overall health and longevity. We may have lost access to the deepest levels of relaxation, which is why sleep can be challenging or not fully restorative.
The thing is, being more activated can feel good! As an athlete, I can attest to this personally. Both philosophically and biologically, working hard and playing hard can feel very rewarding. But constantly being switched on costs us. Basic exercise science tells us that to get stronger, faster, fitter, we need to challenge ourselves. But, crucially, we then must rest to allow our body to adapt to the stimulus. The same is true for all kinds of learning, emotional intelligence and creativity. Through rest we assimilate new information and literally programme our mind-body systems.
Whether you’re choosing to be in overdrive because of your ambition, or you’re stuck here because of patterns of anxiety, you’re not able to find the natural rhythms of activity and rest that are crucial for high functioning and wellbeing.
Understanding this is not enough to change the pattern. Learning to live life with more ease requires programming softness, safety and trust into your nervous system. One powerful, foundational way to introduce these qualities is through movement and meditation. Embodying these qualities in our movement patterns and how we poise ourselves in stillness can help pattern them into all the levels of our being.
EMBODIED NERVOUS SYSTEM REPATTERNING
My approach to embodied nervous system repatterining is all about becoming present and attuned to our body so we can unwind habitual holding patterns and navigate the laws of physics with as much ease as possible. Greatly inspired by somatics, yoga, biomechanics and hypnotherapy, I use specific movement patterns, intuitive movement cueing, guided visualisation and poetry to help my students find new ways of moving and being in their bodies.
I believe this practice is foundational to stepping into your potential, which is why I offer my Rest & Recovery workshops as a monthly event. If you’re interested in deeper psychological and emotional repatterining, this practice is a crucial component of being able to tolerate the mindful presence necessary for processing, and to drop into deeper levels of rest that are necessary for growth and transformation.
Anyone not seeking further therapy or coaching can also benefit greatly from the rest and recovery practice. Come and teach your mind-body system how to surrender and slow down, giving your mind and body space to process and integrate.
WANT TO START THIS PRACTICE?
My Rest & Recovery sessions are currently held on the 1st Sunday of each month in Claygate.
REST POEM
Below is a poem I wrote to perform at these sessions, offering imagery and philosophy to help you shift gears:
REST
Rest your muscles so your blood can flow,
Your armour of clenching finally letting go.
Rest your heart so your body knows
There’s no threat to flee;
It’s time to just be.
Yield to gravity so the ground can hold you,
Allowing relief to flow freely through.
Relax your breath so Life can breathe for you;
It will soothe and nourish if you allow it to.
Rest your mind and its mental churning
Cool your fires of striving burning
Break from balancing this house of cards you’ve built
Hush the stories of shame, worry, guilt.
Relax the effort of trying to be someone
Realise some battles are not meant to be won
Even a warrior needs time to rest
In fact, this can be our hardest test.
Surrender can be the bravest thing of all
Having the wisdom to hear that deep inner call.
When your spirit is ready for maturation,
You’ll realise your permission for relaxation.
You’ll release your reflexive self-protection
And give up the quest for self-perfection.
Rest, because life can be tough
Rest, because you’re doing enough
Rest, because striving is a never-ending cycle
Drummed into a nervous system stuck in survival.
Just ask Sisyphus what he learned with his bolder:
Mindless striving will make you grow older.
Resting does not make you weak;
Resting awards you the growth you seek.
Through rest we assimilate,
Rejuvenate,
Dream so we can innovate.
Gives us space to create
From a blank slate —
That’s why we meditate
So delusions can dissipate
And intelligence can activate.
In the clearing of a rested mind
Are the answers you want to find.
In the rhythms of a soothed system
Is the wisdom taught by traditions:
A quiet whisper of intuition
Guiding you towards your own mission.
So, rest.
Attune to your breath.
A warrior’s hardest test,
To do less.
It’s safe, I promise.
Rest.
By Eleanor Forder
