3 Reasons to Embrace Rest Over Hustle This Holiday Season
This season is magical in so many ways.
It brings us warmth, joy, reflection, and rest. Much, much needed rest.
I get giddy every year when the holiday season rolls around. As soon as I know Thanksgiving is in sight, I start planning out what I want to bake, do, and see. In the past, I hadn’t planned, but once I started missing out on things I wanted to do with my family and make in the kitchen, I decided to start planning it out and it made a world of difference. While I don’t carry out these plans to a tee, I can at least see what I’d like to do on paper and then choose what’s realistic for me to do. Planning isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it is mine.
That said, making plans and lists encourages us to stay busy + to get moving. Go, go, go. That’s what so many of us feel during the holiday season. We try to do so much and be everywhere that, frankly, we end up missing out on a lot. I vow every year to slow down, and I have yet to actually do it. Anybody else with me?
So what does it look like to slow down in a busy season? Well, that depends on what rest looks like for you and your current season of life. Slowing down might look like taking 20 minutes to recharge your batteries every day or lighting a candle in the morning while you read or write. It might look like watching your kids build a fort with twinkle lights while you drink a cozy beverage or take quiet walks with your pup. There are so many variations of rest, but what’s important is that you are actively seeking rest and making time for it. So if you’re like me and have been so “busy” throughout the entire year that you feel like you haven’t rested, physically or spiritually, then the Advent season is a wonderful time to start.
Meaning of Advent
Advent is derived from a Latin word meaning “coming” or “arrival”. The Advent season is the four weeks before Christmas and the celebration of Jesus (Crosswalk Editorial Staff, 2020). It’s celebrating Jesus’s birth and life + his anticipated return as King of kings. It’s a season full of hope + joy + rest. There’s that word again – rest. It’s finding your rest in Him, knowing he has plans for you and they are better than you could ever imagine them to be.
How Celebrating Advent Can Bring You Rest
As an FNTP, I have my reasons for why I write about advent on a holistic wellness blog. Aside from the fact feeding your soul can bring a sense of wholeness and healing to your body, slowing down and giving your mind + body rest allows time for your body to repair and relax. By resting, you are embracing slower living, and by embracing slower living you are nourishing your body. Pretty cool isn’t it?
“Find you.
The one with the full heart,
The light feet,
The buzz of joy,
Amongst the hard.”
Here’s why I love the Advent season – it embraces slower living, mindfulness, and rest – some of the same things I just mentioned above. It is finding rest for your soul and for the physical body. It is taking time to really feel things out, notice what you’ve been clinging onto that doesn’t serve you, release tension that is not yours to carry, and give yourself grace over and over again. It’s letting go and taking on a renewed spirit.
Now that you know the bare bones meaning of Advent and rest, let’s take a look at 3 reasons why you should cultivate more rest this magical season to support your body
By Resting
You are nourishing your body + spirit by making room for things you find great joy in. Embracing joy leaves little room for pain, sorrow, and suffering. It’s choosing grace over the hustle and letting your body take care of itself.
ex. participating in family traditions, trying new things, doing things that bring you joy, doing less, eating nourishing and comforting foods, and taking deep breaths.
You are open to more opportunities that sound fun to you. This can re-invigorate or motivate you to keep moving forward with things that support you, not drain you.
ex. volunteering in a Christmas pageant, baking for a gathering, engaging in a Christmas light walk in the neighborhood, or donating some of your well-loved Christmas items to a shelter.
You are able to make room for reflection. Reflecting can cultivate more gratitude in your life and encourage you to be more mindful in your decisions and with the thoughts you take captive.
ex. writing, prayer, reading, playing with kids + the family, re-visiting your successes and failures, or setting aside quiet time for each day.
As you can see, each of these reasons carries the same elements – nourishment, love, grace over hustle. The Advent season is one of light + love. It’s also one of nourishment and grace. Grace to live a slower life. Grace to say no to things. Grace to breathe. Grace to take care of yourself. Grace to rest.
The Health Spin
Your hormones, cycle, mood, digestive system, and immune system will thank you for slowing down. Your entire body will benefit from slowing down and finding rest. Resting brings your body out of “fight or flight” and into “rest and digest”, aka “heal mode”. It can modulate inflammation levels, tension, anxiety, depression, and exhaustion. Giving yourself the chance to rest gives your body the chance to recover, recharge, and be renewed.
Please take note that rest is NOT a sign of weakness. By resting, you are simply taking a breather + slowing down so you can be more present, grateful, and at peace.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
So, dear one, I hope you can celebrate the beauty + meaning of the season and cherish it tightly. Taking time for rest doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the gatherings, food, and spirit of the season. You’ll just be implementing some healthy boundaries for yourself and making room for stillness. It’s by taking a beat from everything that you’ll find you are able to do more of the things that give you joy and lift you up. You’ll find more opportunities to seek the lovely, day in and day out.
Seek the lovely.
Nourish your body.
Give yourself grace as you make way for rest.
Enjoy this beautiful season + all that it has to offer.
Sources
Crosswalk Editorial Staff. (2020). The Beautiful Meaning and Purpose of Advent. Retrieved from https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/the-beautiful-meaning-and-purpose-of-advent.html