Pathway to rest

Everyone has their favorite season; mine has always been Fall. I love the sense of renewal the season brings. The natural bustle of kids returning to school, darker mornings, the chill in the air, and the rituals that come with the Jewish New Year. The changes happening in nature at this time of year feel like our best reminder that nothing ever stays constant. As the leaves on the trees change colors and eventually fall back to earth, we are reminded that one always has the opportunity to shift into new patterns and let old habits, behaviors and beliefs fall away. Lately, I've been reflecting on achieving better rest, not only in slumber, but during the day when the stress builds from multiple demands. Staying dynamic within ourselves is part of my CALM approach to health and healing. Dynamic doesn't mean needing to always be busy. In the Western world, there's an ideal ambition that if we're not doing something, we're not productive. What if instead the emphasis is on finding an inner natural rhythm, in which life feels purposeful with greater ease. Here is a poignant passage from David Whyte's Consolations, The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words that I hope will inspire you: "Rested, we are ready for the world but not held hostage by it, rested we care again for the right things and right people in the right way. In rest reestablish the goals that make us more generous, more courageous, more of an invitation, someone we want to remember, and someone others would want to remember too".

While Fall always feels charged with activity, the season simultaneously calls for a slowing down and reflecting on how we've been being. We can then better sense how to heal and arrive into the outer world with greater freedom and delight.