Be Still, My Child
Action shot of my son, Sage, running away from me.
Guys, I have a truly WILD little boy, but have no business being upset about it. And here’s why: he’s totally my mini-me.
Some days I see so much of myself in my child, I have the surreal feeling that I’m parenting the one year old version of myself. It’s a bizarre and humbling experience; guaranteed my Mom & Dad are smiling at this parental karma right now.
My son NEVER stops moving. From the time he wakes until the time he goes to bed, this kid is BUSY. This is a quality I share and never really grew out of: ever since I was a small child, I’ve had an innate urge for almost constant movement. I also talk a lot, I’m loud, I’m energetic, and I’m scatterbrained. Restlessness seems to be my birthright and my baseline. Being still and quiet is not my nature.
This is why practicing yoga and meditation are so balancing and necessary for me. The concept of balance comes down to having equal and opposite forces at play in your life. Think of a tightrope walker carrying a balancing pole that needs exactly equal weight on each side to keep from tipping and falling. Life is the same way: you need to sleep in order to be awake, you need to rest in order to move.
Most yoga classes incorporate this idea of equal and opposite movement. Every intense pose is followed by a “counter pose” that allows the activated muscles to release and recover. Just like in yoga, if you have a moment of “up” in life, you need an equal moment of “down.”
I often forget about the “down” part of life, and start to wonder if I’m doing something wrong during moments of stillness. On those days where I don’t do anything productive, but rather am simply present with my family or with myself, I start to get those thoughts of “I’m lazy… I should have done that chore… I’m not working toward a goal,” or on the days I’m particularly unkind to myself: “I was worthless today.”
Sometimes these critical thoughts creep in when I’m engaging in my own self-care, or taking a break from something taxing. I start to judge myself for “procrastinating” on needed tasks or goals, not acknowledging that the downtime is just as valuable as the “doing.”
Being still is necessary in order to have the energy, whether physical, mental, or emotional, to keep moving forward. It’s the stillness that allows the moments of insight, reflection, and creativity to catch up with you.
So folks, just passing along this kind reminder I needed myself on this “lazy” Sunday; your productivity does not equal your worth. There is value in stillness, in whatever form that takes for you (yes, Netflix binges count) to counter the pace of this often frenetic life. Be gentle with yourself and enjoy your sacred rest.
With love,
Allison