Relaxation
Channeled song: wondering/wandering by Kehlani
Maybe it’s just because I’m a Taurus, but I don’t think that we, as a society, place enough value in relaxation. Relaxing is just as necessary as working.
Relaxation is where you recharge your energy. It’s where the inspiration hits and your mind and body get a chance to break. It replenishes your body and soul, and prepares you to do more meaningful work.
Without relaxation, some of your favorite songs, books, and content wouldn’t exist. I, personally, have had to work through my own tricky relationship to relaxation. I used to think that relaxing was a waste of time…when I was burning my body out from being on the go too much.
When COVID hit and we were all forced into quarantine, I was taking 18 credit hours’ worth of college pre-med classes, working a serving job with 10-hour shifts every weekend, teaching exercise classes early in the morning and late in the evening, posting one YouTube video a week on a budding channel, and still getting in workouts outside of my YouTube filming and UREC teaching. This doesn’t count the hours of filming, editing, studying, and sleeping that I somehow squeezed into my schedule. I rarely slept 8 hours and I was always tired. Needless to say, COVID taught me how to calm my little ass down.
It was then that I slipped into a spiritual awakening and got clear on what I wanted out of life and the content that I was making. It made me confront the decision that I just didn’t want to be a doctor anymore. And the guilt that followed. The embarrassment that followed. The grieving that followed a dream that I no longer held passion for.
Quarantine, which was quite the tumultuous time for many all around the globe who lost loved ones and precious time and rites of passage that they can’t get back, somehow saved my life. I could’ve kept avoiding my truth for a few more years. I could’ve kept the same toxic people in my life without the clarity that being alone granted to my energy.
I’m telling you this because a little relaxation goes a long way. Don’t sacrifice your body or mental health for the sake of a job, person, or goal. It will be there tomorrow. It will deal. The damage that hustle culture does to your body cannot be undone after a certain point.
Advice
When you pull this card as advice, it means you need to take some time to relax—actively relax. Don’t just lay on the couch and feel guilty about what you’re not doing. Get your mind off of it. Have some fun, go for a drive. Meditate or stretch your body. Take a bath or go get your nails done. Relaxation comes in many forms.
Journal prompts
What is relaxation to you?
Is it something you struggle with?
Why or why not?
Do you believe you are worthy of relaxation?
Where do your beliefs on relaxation come from?
Do you know how to relax?
Do you want to?
Set up some weekly relaxation goals. What are they?
