Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash
“The time to relax is when you don’t have the time for it.”
The definition of Restoration is the action of returning something to it’s former, original normal or unimpaired condition.
For this week of Restoration, that something is our mental and physical health - can you practice what brings you to a state of calm and ease this whole week?
Baron says "the time to relax is when you don't have the time for it.”
Most of us are always pushing ourselves to the limit, convincing ourselves that we will be content only when we are working our todo list.”
For how many of you is this true?
Right now if you’re going through the 40 Days program, or you might rushing to finish a project or studying for an exam - and it might seem “logical” and even “right” to keep pushing through, and first acknowledge yourself for pausing to read this… and take a deep breath. And consider that NOW is the time to step back and take some time to clear your head.
Baron says when he feels himself being consumed by things in his life, taking time out to gives him space to let the closeness of those things dissolve. “The distance clears his head, and gives him renewed vision and energy, which boost his productivity and creativity…… things that seemed so big now appear much smaller and more manageable”
It’s not that easy to relax. There’s this fear of judgement that you’re useless if you’re doing nothing. Especially now with the Covid rampaging throughout the world, we have no choice but to step back and measure our choices.
Now working from home is a norm, when a couple of weeks ago most of us are used to going to work sick. (Me included, because the rationale if I can still walk, I’m good! There’s too many things to do!!)
3 words - Be socially responsible. Or in america it’s hashtag, #flattenthecurve
Everyone now is forced to be in restoration mode, even if you’re not sick. And business is as usual! What!
And all we can do is breathe and perhaps go to week 3 and practice equanimity - being calm in the midst of chaos.
Perfect time to consider what you can do to relax now that you have time for it.
Baron says this perfectly -
“If you get stuck in tension, rather than launching into old patterns, be like moses at the red sea. Realise you are in over your head and unconditionally surrender everything to God.
“If you are relaxing, you are receiving.”
Week 4 of Restoration relates to:
Laws of Transformation 7: Relax with what is and 8: Remove the rocks
“Before we can find peace among nations, new have to find peace inside that small nation, which is our own being. ”
LAW 7: RELAX WITH WHAT IS (The key is noticing & not reacting)
Baron says “When we relax in the face of stress, a power greater than ourselves can act through us. At any given moment, the compassionate, frictionless flow of the universe wants to help us, if only we will allow it. We can always put our thoughts, our effort, our resistance, our reaction aside and trust in an intelligence that is, perhaps, smarter than we are.”
The Journey into Power sequence which Baptiste Yoga signature class is not easy. Baron’s famous words are - yoga is for everybody not for anybody who is not willing or ready to do the work, or something like that,
It is challenging yes, but it allows the students to see in the moment, how much more effective relaxing is than struggling.
Baron says “it’s about bypassing your resistance. When you’re at your most tired, you don’t have the energy to resist. You relax, you stop forcing, essentially because there is no other other choice, and then suddenly you discover that the source of grace was there waiting for you all along, willing and happy to help you discover a strength and wisdom that you already have."
“Pain is part of life. If you grow, there is pain. If you don’t grow, there is pain. ”
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
“Transformation comes from not by adding things on but by removing what didn’t belong in the first place. ”
LAW 8: REMOVE THE ROCKS (We don’t have to solve any problems. Our problems will give us up)
Baron says "The practices of the 40 days are not so much a learning process as an unlearning process. We unlearn our pride, anger, fear, conditioning and our resistance to come back to our natural way of being. When we were kids we were young and innocent. As time passed we accumulate rocks of resistance piling them up until they become mountains in our mind.”
This is what I’ve been calling - our disempowering thoughts and self-sabotaging behaviours.
And the truth, which Baron admits, and which I’ve experienced myself is that we can never get rid of them. No matter how much yoga we do, meditation, journaling, self-discovery questions. eating healthy - they are not the magic solution.
Yah and then you say what’s the point right? of doing the 40 days? Of being healthy?
The point is these practices are simply tools to give you access to connect back to your centre. "We think we have struggles and problems in life, but the only problem we have is a disconnection from the centre”
Physical Asana “rinse our toxins, peels away layers of tension, and helps to clear the heaviness we hold trapped in our body. The poses can break down the painful but familiar holding patterns and bring us back to our natural body. And patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.”
Meditation “removes clutter from our minds, enables us to keep ourselves clear, like an open vessel to let the wisdom and light shine through. The greatest power we have over ourselves is our ability to change our minds about ourselves. By quieting our minds, we can travel directly into the centre of our mental cyclone to a clearer place of deep knowing and spiritual understanding.”
The excavation questions and inquiry "can dig up the rocks in your mind and give you insight into your trigger points. To the degree that we are willing to see clearly our self-destructive patterns, they lose their hold on us and wither away. There is a tremendous power in just knowing what is going on within us, not so that we can “work on our stuff,” but so that we can begin to release it."
The 40 Days program is a roadmap to your inner teacher, to your true self, and when you come back to your self, everything will begin to flow.
“The journey of transformation is always a journey back to the center of truth, and once we reach that center, the rocks that clutter our minds begin to disintegrate.”
Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash
Restoration is the 3rd theme from the 40 Days to Personal Revolution. This is also the week, where the 40 Days participants will do a 3 Days Fruit Fast because active cleansing or fasting is a way to allow the body to fully empty out and get clean, giving your metabolic organs a chance to rest and renew.
Take this time to slow down and give up the extra baggage you carry around. Let go of all of the "to dos" to give yourself access to your own power.
SLOW DOWN
Baron says when you are NO, you are a yes to something bigger.
So what’s is your NO? And what is your Yes?
Consider that when you don’t feel the abundance and support from Grace, it’s because you’re trying to control circumstances. You’re being a no, needing to know “how”, having to be right, looking good, and having to do things the right way or your way.
This way of being is of reaction and survival – you work hard to survive something and there is no space within the knots of that struggle for grace to come in and support you.
To be really open to all that life wants to give you is to come from a place where you fully embrace your self-worth, even if you don’t just yet. Embracing a new way of being of trust and possibility. Coming from place of I am good enough. I am worthy.
Put your thoughts, efforts and resistance aside and let universe work on your behalf. Relax and surrender even when you don’t feel like it, and see what comes up.
“The readiness to give up your rocks, to clear your space to get empty , gives you the power to let go of all the limiting beliefs and stuck energy, and be malleable, willing recipients of the gifts of grace.
”
Journal
What rocks are you holding on to? What’s making you stuck?
If these rocks were removed, what becomes possible for you in your own life goals and personal goals. (Don’t go into fixing mode. Remember you’re whole and complete and you are a contribution.)
Invitation
This week, I invite you to
1) Get 7-8 hours sleep
What’s missing in our lives is good restful sleep. So for the next 7 days, get into bed by 10 this week.
2) Identify what brings you a sense of restoration and do that everyday? Let go of what relaxation and restoration is supposed to look like Re-create it to make a win for this week. What do you need to do to make it happen? And what do you need to let go of?
Remember that transformation is about taking stuff out and not putting stuff back in. So consider when you are taking on things, what is possible if you stop struggling and just relax? What do need to let go of to move from a place of compassion and forgiveness?
“Realize your growth and transformation not by forcing a result, but through the trust it will be revealed when you let it flow freely and uncontrolled.”