Practicing daily rest and reset for health and happiness is critical for wellbeing. When thinking of the word rest, it is easy to just assume it means getting a good night’s sleep. Undeniably, a good night’s rest is very important, but it is just one piece of the puzzle. Collectively, we live in a world of non-stop action where the hustle culture is a very real thing for many of us. Therefore, it is easy to get caught up in the rush of our daily chores and activities and forget that we are actually a miracle of life living us. Alternatively, decreasing time “doing” while increasing time “being” allows our sympathetic nervous systems to calm while our parasympathetic system takes the driver’s seat. Unquestionably, a daily practice of rest and reset should not feel like a luxury, better yet it should be seen as a necessity.
Practicing Daily Rest and Reset For Health and Happiness
“Rest is not idle, nor wasteful. Oftentimes rest is the most productive thing one can do for body and soul.”
There is a yoga term for the act of sitting with oneself which is described as pratyahara. This term is sometimes described as “withdrawal of the senses.” Hence, it is a practice of withdrawing your mind inward to refrain from reacting to outside disturbances. Oftentimes, these ideas can be challenging to wrap your head around. However, with practice, they offer feelings of great inner peace and relaxation. Furthermore, practicing pratyahara is essentially a practice of mindfulness, self-care, and self-love.
Beginner Pratyahara Exercise Habit to Promote Rest and Reset for Health & Happiness
Many years ago, I began this simple pratyahara habit before I ever learned much about pratyahara or yoga. I was a new and exhausted breastfeeding mother. In addition, I found myself with a premature infant, which meant my nights consisted of short spurts of sleep in between feedings. Surely, many new moms can relate to this type of exhaustion and the need for self-care time.
Upon waking in the early morning hours, I would practice keeping my eyes closed and trying to come back into the awake world gradually and with intention. Likewise, I would try to control my thoughts and ease into the transition between sleeping and waking life. To my surprise, I found this practice to offer me uplifting feelings of peace and happiness. Conversely, I experienced feelings of grounding and safety as well. Below are some highlights of this method if you would like to practice it for yourself.
- When feeling those first sensations of awaking in the morning, keep your eyes closed.
- Secondly, try to breathe in long deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the nose while keeping the eyes closed.
- Feel the sensations of living inside your body, breathing inside your body, just being.
- Sometimes this type of concentration can enable you to remember your dreams. Oftentimes, these moments can send you deep moments of clarity or understanding.
- Avoid the pressure to think about the things you need to do. The silence oftentimes sends clues to problems you have been facing or answers to challenges in your life.
Rest and reset is vital for a healthy and happy quality of life. Therefore, if the pratyahara early morning practice resonates with you, I invite you to practice it. Without a doubt it helped me during my sleep-deprived years as a new mother. Unquestionable, it is very second nature to me now. I practice this habit every morning and enjoy the moments it gives me with myself.
Furthermore, through my studies, I now realize this is a practice of mindfulness and oftentimes gratitude. I hope if you try it you will find success with it as I have. As I always like to remember, it truly is the little habits over time that make the biggest impact on health, wholeness, and happiness. In closing, I encourage you to practice rest and reset habits as a morning ritual and reap the benefits for your health, happiness, outlook, and wellbeing.