Why Rest and Reflection Are As Important As Work

I spend at least 8-10 hours in bed daily.

Why?

Rest is as important as work.

I publish 10 or more blog posts most days between articles, videos and podcasts. Being refreshed, energized and ready to serve daily allows me to publish a decent amount of content.

Reflection is important for me too. I spend 3-4 hours daily engaging in:

• meditating
• doing yoga
• exercising

to observe my thoughts, feelings and actions. Why do I work how I work? I become more aware of my thoughts, feelings and actions daily.

Human beings live experiences based on thoughts, feelings and actions each human chooses. Being well-rested, refreshed, energized and increasingly aware of your thoughts, feelings and actions lets you change course if you yearn for greater freedom.

Of course, the Western world in particular teaches people to burn the candle at both ends, to sleep less, to work more and to push self. More sleep? Sleep is for wimps! Meditate? What a waste of time! Work needs to be done! Be disciplined! Push yourself!

Unfortunately, force negates. Sleeping less and less, working harder and harder and pushing yourself makes life a big struggle. Fatigued, exhausted, unaware individuals basically become the walking dead, being blinded by their fears and completely ignorant of their thoughts, feelings and actions.

Near Death Experience

I contracted giardia in India, did not eat or drink anything for about 10 days and almost died of dehydration. My near death experience came about in part because I pushed myself brutally for a sustained period before I fell ill. I even took meditating too far, forcing myself to meditate for 2-3 hours daily when my intuition told me 20 minute sessions would have been appropriate for me. I did not rest enough, stopped thinking clearly and made a few idiotic decisions leading to my sickness.

Nearly dying woke me up to my fatigue, exhaustion and utter lack of self-awareness. I slept more. I worked less. I thought through my blogging campaign because I became more aware of my fears and passions, facing my fears to liberate myself from these energies deluding me, deceiving me and lying to me.

Instead of sleeping 5 hours a night because you FEAR not working enough, how about sleeping for 8 hours each night by facing, feeling and releasing the FEAR, through a devout meditating campaign? Are you disgusted with how your bad back eats into your work productivity, since you cannot sit at a desk for more than 20 minutes before agony sets in? Start doing yoga for 45 minutes daily.

Rest, recovery and reflection fosters:

• trust
• knowing
• detachment
• generosity
• calm
• peace
• clarity
• focus

in a largely:

• doubting
• worrying
• attached
• stingy
• chaotic
• fighting
• unclear
• unfocused

world.

Give humanity a shining example to follow. Rest more. Reflect more. Observe how quickly the quality of your work improves as you think clearly, work with focus, and begin your day from a calm, rested, relaxed energy.

Living in places like Bali, Fiji, Thailand and India for months at a time taught me to take it easy more, to rest more and to reflect more to actually enjoy life. Following these habits yields many worldly benefits as clear-thinking, calm, well-rested people tend to reach the top of their chosen fields.