One day in the week should be reserved for resting. Our lives are incredibly overloaded – so many impressions and endless possibilities which consume our attention and energy on a daily basis. If our mind has no space to rest, it becomes difficult to find clarity. We become irritable, burned out and start trespassing our own boundaries from fatigue. Taking a break is a true sign of self-love, which we should attempt to integrate a bit more into our daily lives…
This is what I love about Copenhagen, and about Scandinavia in general. Shops are closed on Sunday, and during the week, shops close between 5 and 6 p.m. On New Year’s Day, most shops were closed too – even though it was a Saturday and downtown was crawling with tourists. Here in Berlin, shops are increasingly opened for special shopping-Sundays. There’s always a good reason to shop. I don’t have a problem with shopping in general – to each her own – but somehow that special Sunday feeling gets lost when there’s no break. And to be honest, I really miss that.
Resting illuminates us
Sundays should be a day of rest. Without to-do lists, without cleaning out the fridge, without planning for the week ahead. Just hanging out in your stretched-out PJs and going with the flow. Finally reading that good book that’s been collecting dust on the shelf. Just sitting and drinking a cup of tea without multitasking. Giving the eyes a rest from moving pictures. Being still. To whatever degree this is possible. I know many of us have small children and are eye-rolling at this point, grateful for even the smallest moments of repose. Maybe a hot bath could help? Locking yourself into the bathroom and submerging into your own inner space
Internet Break
Try not automatically placing your laptop next to the bed, instead putting your phone on silent and limiting yourself to a once-daily perusal of the cheerful world of Instagram. It feels so good to take a conscious break from the world, to consciously give ourselves a break. But this, too, without dogma. Taking time out is so important during hectic or turbulent phases. Only stillness will help us to see clearly how to make room for the heart, how to listen to our inner voice. What truly nourishes us? Definitely not an eight-hour Netflix marathon, if we’re honest. That’s escapism – running away from ourselves.
We can afford to move slowly on Sundays. Perhaps taking the time to organize our thoughts through meditation or writing. I’m aware that some of us have to work on Sunday, and we don’t have to limit this practice to one particular day of the week – any day will do as long as we take the time to rest. Even a few hours will work wonders…whatever is possible, you know best.
#yestostillness
Madhavi
