Resting and Druidry

(Nimue)

Back in November I wrote about resting as a spiritual activity. It’s something I’ve continued to explore, so I’m updating on how that’s going for me as a practice.

In terms of my spiritual life, resting more has resulted in more time for meditation and contemplation. I’ve been doing more breath-focused meditating, and working on relaxing my body and paying attention to what I might need. Contemplation allows me more time to reflect on experiences, and on what’s going on around me – on the day I wrote this post that meant time spent listening to the rain and to the wind in the tree branches. These have all been good opportunities for connecting with the exterior world and with nature in my own body. I find it soothing on all levels.

This is all good for physical health. I’m doing better with the low blood pressure, and I’ve got through a period of intense migraine. I’m learning more about what my body needs. It’s also given me the space to go head on with some massive inner issues, which in turn is going to help with my mental health. It’s all a bit bumpy and work-in-progress at the moment, but I’ll talk about it once I have something useful to share.

I managed to take slightly over a week off during the festive period. That wasn’t wholly restful as there were assorted family commitments. However, I made good use of the time and managed to do very little on quite a few days, letting my body and my mind rest. It was time well spent. Coming back to writing and other work in this last week I note that I am faster, better able to concentrate, and producing higher quality pieces.

This is raising a lot of questions for me about how I need to spend my time and what I need to prioritise. Again there’s work in progress and things I want to experiment with before I come back and talk about them. One thing I’m absolutely clear about is that I have no interest in looking busy. What I need to do is organise more effectively so that I can act more effectively. That clearly calls for more deliberate rest time.

In terms of the Druidry, rest leads me to feel more peaceful in myself. It definitely improves the quality of my thinking, and my relationship with inspiration. I feel more connected and more open. There’s more time and space for inspiration to come in, and I feel more engaged with my own life. Gentle time makes everyday Druidry a lot more possible, and a lot richer.