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Health & Fitness

Break It Up!

I really love days when I get things accomplished. I feel productive, and it frees me up to do a lot more things with my time over the next few days.

Today was one of those days. After a weekend of running with the family and doing things that needed attention, Monday was my “catch up” day. I got a lot done, and I was really grateful that I had the energy to take care of what had piled up for me. However, I was reminded of one very simple fact that I find myself overlooking, quite often.

Rest breaks are the most important part of anyone’s day. When you have a disease that robs you of your energy, you treat said energy like funds in a bank account. When you deplete your account, that’s it, day’s over. I’m learning that rest periods throughout the day are just as important as the times spent, taking care of things.

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I didn’t always view things in this way, mind you. More often than not, I tried to fit as much into the day as I could, with work, exercise, family, and things that needed care around my home. I never took a break, because I felt it was a luxury that I couldn’t afford. At night, I would collapse into my bed, only to be awoken in the middle of the night because I had a million things on my mind, and I couldn’t turn myself off.

I have found, in my interactions with others, that this is something that has become commonplace. Many people get up, get their families off to work and to school, get themselves off to work, return home, and find themselves caught between responsibilities to the family, home, parents, and friends. They overschedule themselves, they overschedule their kids, and then they wonder why they cannot wind down at the end of the day. Many of them have said to me, “I can’t relax” or, better, “Relax? What’s that?”

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Down time is vital to our existence. Whenever we take a break from what we are doing, we return to the task, revitalized and refreshed. Taking a step back from a situation can put a new spin on it, or give us a better perspective on it. Walking away from something, be it an argument or a project, can help us to review it calmly and be much more equipped to handle whatever is thrown at us. But if we do not rest or take time for ourselves to relax, we find ourselves overwhelmed and disoriented.

I have heard many people tell me that they work through their breaks, or that their place of business does not allow them to take a few moments to regroup. I have told them that not only does this violate labor laws, it also prevents employees from working effectively. I can tell you from personal experience that there were many times where I had to work through my dinner or lunch breaks when I worked in the emergency room. Those were the days that I was least productive as a nurse.

People will often load themselves up with caffeine, in order to “work better”, or to keep themselves awake. However, this hurts the body in the long run. Too much caffeine can cause higher levels of stress and anxiety, sleeplessness, and heart disease, to mention just a few costs to the physical form. We were not meant to be like a Timex, that “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”. Our bodies were not designed to perform without rest periods. Even machines get turned off. Why do we not treat our bodies with the same respect that we afford machinery?

It would behoove us to take the time to sit for a few moments, close our eyes, and block out the outside influences in order to tune in to ourselves. Our greatest times of clarity are when we step back from what is going on around us, and we go within and really listen to what we are telling ourselves. Most of the time, we try to block out what we hear with food, drink, spending, or drugs. Most of the time, all we’re really telling ourselves is to be good to ourselves.

We really need to learn to listen.

We are doing our children an injustice with all of this “doing”, as well. Because we are so busy, we overschedule them, making them just as busy as we are. They also learn by example, so when they are taking down time, they might feel guilty that they aren’t doing something. This can cause stress on our children, so we need to break the pattern and help them to learn to find down time and learn to rest, too.

Our nation has the highest incidence of stress related disorders in the world. We are the most over-medicated nation on the planet, as well. We work hard so that we can have enough money to “do things”, but in reality, we are taking those hard earned funds and sinking it into the purchase of sleep aids, medications to help us to relax and unwind, and medications to help us to focus. All of these medications would not be necessary if we were just able to find the time to unwind on our own.

People will say, “This is easier said than done; I have a million things to do, and not enough time to do them all.” But people, please listen – the time that you are running like a chicken without a head is clearly the BEST time to take a breather. You aren’t lazy, you aren’t not going to get things done. And if everything doesn’t get done, ask yourself this question: Which is more important, your health, or getting things done?

You are a human being, not a human doing.

My advice for this busy world is simple. I have had to follow this sound knowledge, out of necessity. It requires one to be able to stop doing whatever one is doing, and to take five or ten minutes of just listening to the sound of one’s breath. Closing the eyes makes this exercise even more restful. Initially, the feeling will be one of anxiety, basically to get the chore over with, so that moving on to the tasks at hand can be accomplished. However, in time, the rest periods can become even longer, if time allows. The most important part of this exercise is to listen to the sound of one’s own breathing. Outside sounds should just be that – outside. What matters here is going within, chillaxing with ones’ self. If setting a timer helps you to stay within the five or ten minutes of breathing, use whatever methods you find to easily employ this simple task of relaxing. When the timer goes off, open your eyes slowly, and acclimate to your surroundings again. If you have a cup of coffee or tea beside you, take a sip. You will find that the taste is somehow better, because you are now appreciating it.

Appreciate yourself by making the time to rest. Make that time for your kids, too, because they certainly don’t deserve stress added to their already busy lives. Be silly. Run in the grass without your shoes, do a silly dance, laugh at the top of your lungs. If you are so busy that you have forgotten how to relax or truly enjoy yourself, Life is passing you by.

I leave you with this wonderful quote by Ovid: “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” It is when we take time to feel, breathe and be that we are truly at the top of our game.  

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