Take it easy

Easy like a Sunday morning – Charles Givings

Great, now that you have that song stuck in your head, let’s see why I brought it up.

In the past couple of weeks, I talked to some my friends about this a lot. Taking it easy, allowing yourself to rest, that sort of stuff. I recently moved to a completely new (and magical) place and somehow the topic came up quite often with multiple people.

All those people (mostly women), just like myself, lean towards more of a nomadic lifestyle where seeking a sense of belonging in the world while honouring their yearning for exploration and staying true to their purpose is key.

My friend Dani taking a well-deserved break 🌴☀️🙏

What I also picked up on, is that this lifestyle comes with a lot of uncertainties which can result in anxiety which then can even trigger old wounds and traumas. This is something I can 100% relate to.

And then there’s the fact that every person I meet who moves to a new place, feels like they must do EVERYTHING all at ones: find a job, explore the area, make friends, socialise, go to school, find a partner, and figure life out all over again.

We seem to forget sometimes that for most people, these things also didn’t come naturally and took time to develop. The difference is, though, that most people stop wandering around at some point to set up shop somewhere and allow themselves some time for things to develop naturally. And so might we, who can tell. But that’s just not the path we are on right now.

So, as beautiful, perfect, and romantic this lifestyle can seem because of all the new places we get to explore, it comes with that part too. A part where we try to fix things that normally takes years of evolving and developing, within the first month, nay, first week of living somewhere new.

AND THAT’S EXHAUSTING!

God, it is exhausting.

So, it’s time to take a step back and allow ourselves to rest. To take it easy.

And I'm not just saying this to my fellow nomads, this is something anyone can benefit from.

My personal path to allowing myself to rest

I’ve started getting interested in Ayurveda over the past few years through a Dutch podcast that was recommended to me by a couple of my good friends from back home and I immediately loved it because of the simplicity of it.

I like to keep things simple, if you haven’t noticed.

I'd even dare to call myself one of the biggest advocates of living a simple life. So, when things like a podcast about the Ayurvedic lifestyle get passed onto me, I am forever grateful. Especially when it gets passed on to me with the words: “you should really listen to this, this is something that will suit you so well!”. These people really know me.

For those who don’t know what Ayurveda is, it’s a life and health philosophy which originated in India around 3,000 years ago. Very simply put: it focusses on what’s good for your body from a “gut’s” perspective. In other words: the digestive system is considered the second brain of the body and whatever happens there, determines the quality of your health.

But it also focusses on listening to your body’s needs and accepting your body needs and allowing yourself to take rest. When someone asks me what the biggest change I felt was after I started implementing Ayurveda in my daily life, the only answer I could think of is that allowing myself to rest was the greatest gift I could possibly give myself.

I feel that these days taking it easy is considered lazy. In a society where it seems that success mostly evolves around performance and results rather than taking care of yourself, it’s pretty difficult to pride yourself for the fact that your biggest achievement of the day was being able to relax and do nothing for a couple of hours that day.

But I do pride myself in that now, because it seems to be one of the hardest things anyone is able to achieve these days.

The capability of tuning in, listening to your body, and letting it guide you into whatever you need is a skill everyone possesses but it’s also considered “weak” or “soft”.

Taking a break 🫖

But what are we trying to prove to ourselves or others whenever we’re clocking overtime, fill up our schedules with as many social events as we can, and have a million side hustles going on?

And I’m not saying one shouldn’t do that. If those things truly and genuinely are the things that, truthfully, always energise you to the fullest, go off! Please do. I am just witnessing too often that the same people who make those statements, also are the ones that bring up their unexplained gut issues or how exhausted they feel all the time. And it worries me that this comes as a surprise to most people.

In all fairness, I was one of those people until not that long ago, so I know from experience that gut issues or the feeling of exhaustion don’t go away by pushing it in a corner and keep living our lives the way we’re living them. They just won’t. But I also know that it's difficult to accept that taking rest and allow more structure in life is the only way for those symptoms to go away.

Does this mean we’ll just have to quit our corporate jobs altogether and live in a utopian society where money and power don’t exist anymore and we trade skills and products and treat everyone equally?

YES PLEASE.

But that’s not an option right now.

So, I guess we’ll have to start a bit smaller and look at what we can do right now. We can do plenty as long as we are able to tune out on the “shit channel” in our heads that demands us to keep pushing our limits rather than taking a break from time to time.

You can find inspiration anywhere if you just get out of the rush of life sometimes!

That break can be as simple as taking a walk during lunch instead of eating your meal behind the computer screen.

or

Finding a way to take another form of transportation to work rather than driving your car. Sitting on a bus or train can be so soothing sometimes. Just like riding a bike or walking.

or

Start working parttime if that's an option for you.

I can go on and on but the most important thing is that you find things that suit you and will give you energy instead of drain you from it.

Before I sign out, I’ll tell you about my own daily energy flow

It’s taken me a while to accept that there is an obvious pattern in my daily and monthly energy flows and that I really need to tune in with myself whenever I need some rest. There have been numerous times where I had to borrow future energy which always resulted in energy crashes and lethargicness. I’ve been through all stages often enough with and without substances in my body, with a healthy and unhealthy work/life balance, and in different stages of my life to know how my body operates and what it needs. And this can be completely different from what you need, but I can tell you this: I believe there is such a pattern for everyone, and I encourage you to explore it by looking back on your life to see if you can recognise patterns for yourself.

I’m an early riser and prefer to rise with the sun every morning. My energy and focus peak in the morning from 6 until 10 AM before it starts wearing off. After 11 my energy level starts decreasing a little bit and it peaks again around lunchtime.

Just like many others, I hit my lowest point of the day anytime between 3 and 4 PM. This is the time I either need to rest or I must schedule my day in such way I can take it slow in the morning to preserve energy for the afternoon. This is something I do do when I’m scheduled for a PM-shift at work to make sure I won’t lose focus halfway in the shift. Depending on the day, I sometimes get a small energy/ creativity peak between 7 PM and 9 PM before going to bed which is anytime between 8:30 PM and 9 PM. Although when I work late, I can’t get to sleep before 11:15 PM.

Now, doesn't that look like something you like to do every once in a while??

Thus far, I’ve managed to find a balance in my sleeping and eating schedule to keep my energy levels optimal and my metabolism in check as well.

You’d be surprised how much structure there still is in all my days. Actually, if you know me at all, this really shouldn’t surprise you that much 😂.

But just so you know: getting to that place of being organised in life at (almost) all times took a lot of time and practice.

I think I’m done now; I’ve said what I had to say and now I’m going to take a little rest.

Practice what you preach, amiright?

Alright, talk soon!

Xoxo,

Domi