Work at Leisure, Arrest in Labor… and value now!

by | Sep 14, 2015

The summer months, when slowing down and taking it easy are said to prevail, have been anything but, for me in 2015.

I am left wondering about trying really hard to relax – working (making effort) at leisure?

Or desiring to complete a list of tasks and projects with lethargy weighing on my shoulders – arrested labor.

The energy flow imbalance in my body feels strange – like one part of my body is pushing against another¬ – a complete separation of my shoulders and neck from my chest. My body is getting mixed signals. Claustrophobic.

Energy flow imbalance is common in our country. You might see it as the suffering caused by busyness. Beginning in youth, our earnest parents work full time or take care of aging family members or just try to manage the ever-changing circumstances of life. As children we enter a system that is highly charged with movement and intensity. Rigorous academic schedules throughout adolescence then as teens in college, involving music, athletics, arts, all keep our minds and bodies tied up.

We are trained so well to go, to do and to achieve, that our energy balance requires injury, sickness, or depression to stop or slow down. The baby boomer generation is the template for this way of being. Millennials and Gens X and Y are gaining wisdom about this balance, and doing a better job, I’m guessing. I don’t really know.

There is usually somewhere I want to go with an article and right now I notice – well interesting – I notice the desire to pause. A slowing down in my labor, my writing. Maybe what is happening is a direct experience to practice the essence of what I want to convey. There really is no conclusion. This is just a conversation.

The truth is, I feel cheated and a tad bit irritated that it is almost September (I am writing this in August), the end of the summer, and I can’t recall a real lingering moment of rest. But then, I am sent a photo of me resting and I am quickly reminded of at least one moment of rest, drawn back to that leisure. How quickly I forget. The whiney-self releases to spacious what is.

Sep Pic

What am I doing that is so important for the world that I am not resting in my rest? How am I not appreciating the work that I am doing such that it seems worthy of my attention? Wow, stunning question.

Pausing now.
Feeling my spine light up – coursing at my sacrum and releasing just under my neck. What is it you want to tell me? I am asking my body.

The only way to access the band of balance is through the body. In balance we recognize inherent value in all of our humanness. When we lead from our head (does your jaw and head jut forward?), instead of our heart, the lack of synchronizing with rest and labor becomes polarized. There is no connection to deep rest or active labor. In other words, there is no space and recognition to allow for flowing work or deep rest, which sustains the essence of our life .

Since starting this article, I answered “I’m having a direct experience of the sandwich generation,” when asked, How are you? Upon reflection I am realizing that my claustrophobic feeling is directly related to my current reality of being sandwiched. Being sandwiched between parents and children used to be a concept. Now, assisting aging and ailing parents (several trips driving 6 hours in a day to attend doctors’ appointments) and coaching my slowly trying-to-launch college-age children, is an active practice for me.

There you have it…. the body talks. I had stopped valuing my pure attention to these precious relationships, and how being present for these activities, conversations and simple gestures is priceless, and temporary. Within the decade I won’t have living parents and my children will be independent. If I forget to appreciate my energy flow or value my pure intention, how can these actions seem worthy of my attention. Without recognizing the temporary nature of today, I miss the big message and learn nothing.

What am I doing that is so important for the world that I am not resting in my rest? How am I not appreciating the work that I am doing such that it seems worthy of my attention? Wow, stunning question.

Pausing now.
Feeling my spine light up – coursing at my sacrum and releasing just under my neck. What is it you want to tell me? I am asking my body.

The only way to access the band of balance is through the body. In balance we recognize inherent value in all of our humanness. When we lead from our head (does your jaw and head jut forward?), instead of our heart, the lack of synchronizing with rest and labor becomes polarized. There is no connection to deep rest or active labor. In other words, there is no space and recognition to allow for flowing work or deep rest, which sustains the essence of our life .

Since starting this article, I answered “I’m having a direct experience of the sandwich generation,” when asked, How are you? Upon reflection I am realizing that my claustrophobic feeling is directly related to my current reality of being sandwiched. Being sandwiched between parents and children used to be a concept. Now, assisting aging and ailing parents (several trips driving 6 hours in a day to attend doctors’ appointments) and coaching my slowly trying-to-launch college-age children, is an active practice for me.

There you have it…. the body talks. I had stopped valuing my pure attention to these precious relationships, and how being present for these activities, conversations and simple gestures is priceless, and temporary. Within the decade I won’t have living parents and my children will be independent. If I forget to appreciate my energy flow or value my pure intention, how can these actions seem worthy of my attention. Without recognizing the temporary nature of today, I miss the big message and learn nothing.

Maybe my description above is unrecognizable for you. My hope would be that disconnection and imbalance would be foreign to everyone.

But, if this experience feels familiar, know that you are not alone and that restoring balance, tuning our system flow, and gliding in work and rest is achievable, sustainable and right here, always.

Start right now by pausing and stilling your body. In your stillness, appreciate something about the generative work that you do. Feel that appreciation in your body. When it feels right, ask, “What is it you want to tell me?”

If this writing touched you, I welcome your response – in any form (email, phone, text) [email protected] and 978-853-0878. We are all in this together.

Balancing and valuing my energy flow,

Gayle