How to Find Rest During COVID-19
As I have been connecting with friends online this week, it has made me think about how to find rest during COVID-19. It is easy to say that since many of us are not working now that we are having a period of rest. I do not believe that is necessarily the case. Being a driven person, I have found that finding actual restorative time and learning how to rest is easier said than done.
Busy for the Sake of Busyness
It is easy to fall into being busy for the sake of busyness. The habit of always doing something and going somewhere is not an easy one to break. Often, we are just working through our day, getting the to do list done but not necessarily having a goal in mind. It is easy to fall into doing instead of having the mindfulness to ask ourselves what we are doing and why is it important?
Part of how we will find rest during COVID-19 is looking at our habits and asking ourselves some honest questions. Does what we do with our time bring joy and connection to others? Does it help us meet a greater goal? It’s easy to be busy and just fill our day with stuff. The question is are we filling our day with the right stuff?
The Slower Pace
Now that we are all are having to find the slower pace to our lives due to self-isolation and social distancing, we have an opportunity to create a different rhythm. With many stores on limited hours or closing, concerts and other group events are cancelled, we can feel a bit deprived and isolated.
So how do we find rest in a way that doesn’t make us feel stir crazy? From personal experience, finding rest and slowing down is not an easy thing. It can make us feel that we are trapped in our homes, it can feel like too much at times. How do we move to restorative and mindful behaviors over feeling anxious that we can’t do the things we would like to do?
Being Forced to Slow Down
Being forced to slow down isn’t easy. I have been asked how I am doing with everything. To be honest, the last few years feels like practice for this period of self-isolation and social distancing.
A few years ago, I went through a time where I was having major health problems. For about 6 months I had around 1 -2 hours of energy a day. Just climbing the stairs inside my home would leave me so exhausted that I would have to rest. As a very motivated person, it was a hard transition for me. I had to accept that my body had crashed and the only way I was going to recover was to rest.
I had to start making decisions on what would I do with my day. If I had so little energy, how was I going to use it? It was a huge transition for me. My schedule up to that point had been packed, every 15-minute section of my day was scheduled. There was no time for rest, and I felt that I was in control, that I could handle anything that was thrown at me.
I had to admit the uncomfortable reality that now I couldn’t. No matter how determined I was to do everything, my body was done, and rest was the only way to recover.
Being Purposeful
How do we find rest during COVID-19? By being purposeful. When I was sick, I had to decide very carefully what I would do with that precious hour of energy. I had to be very purposeful with that time. Did I spend that hour cleaning and doing errands, or did I use that hour on something restorative and mentally helpful?
It took some time to get used to a purposeful life. I originally continued to do all the things I thought I “had” to do. It didn’t bring joy, if anything it brought more exhaustion and with that feelings of anxiety and depression. I had to be mindful and purposeful on the things I spent my time on.
The reality was that I also couldn’t work on a task for an hour straight due to fatigue. I had to break tasks up into 10 to 15-minute activities. I started to spend time journaling and reading books that improved my mental health and provided restoration. This helped me to find encouragement during this isolating and difficult time.
Restoration in the Garden
One of my favorite things to do was to spend time in my garden. My habit was to spend time in my garden, but mostly to work. The idea of seeing weeds and leaving them wasn’t something I could usually do. I had to acknowledge that weeds were there. That yes, I would like a perfectly manicured garden, but it wasn’t going to happen at that moment. Instead I would spend time outside just being. I took a lot of naps outside in my garden that summer. It ended up being part of my restorative time. I had to rest, and why not rest in a place of beauty?
It is important that during this time we figure out the things that bring restoration. There are things that make us feel hopeful and better about where we are at. There is so much we can’t control right now, but what we can control is our reaction to things. We can see this as a time to reset and a time to gain purpose. We can fight against how isolated we feel.
Showing Self-Compassion
Showing self-compassion is a really important element of finding rest during COVID-19. It’s probably one of the hardest parts for me. Perhaps without realizing it, many of us have our identity in the things that we do and the careers that we have. This forced idleness can wreak havoc on our sense of self. We focus on what we feel we should be doing and accomplishing, instead of just living in the moment.
Self-Compassion for Ourselves
During this time, we need to accept ourselves at the place that we are at instead of evaluating our success based on outside influences. Self-compassion is a very difficult thing. When you are dealing with strangers or acquaintances much of the conversation is around what you do, what you’ve accomplished or what you have planned.
When I was sick, I really had to reframe that for myself. How could I tell an average person that didn’t know my background story that my highlight for the week was that “I managed a 15 minute walk, which is the furthest I’ve walked in 2 months without getting vertigo or resting.” Most people don’t get it and that’s ok. It’s important that we see our own little victories as victories. That alone is enough.
Compassion for Others
We need to show compassion not just to ourselves but to others. Coming from a place of self-compassion, I no longer ask people what they do for work or what their plans are. It is a question that can bring the need to justify our actions or performance.
Now when I meet new people, I ask them to tell me something about themselves, not what they do but who they are. It’s been interesting because some people have paused and have had to think about it. Many of them have not been asked that question in that way before. I like that question because it moves to a person’s passion and their heart over what they do. Instead of putting them into a box, a demographic, or a to do list, it lets us see people for who they are.
Take Time to Dream
During this time of finding rest during COVID-19, it’s important we take time to dream a little and start some new habits. Perhaps this connecting with friends that you haven’t talked with recently. Maybe it’s starting that art habit of drawing or painting once a week. It could be taking time to learn a new skill that you always wanted to learn. During this time of quiet and rest, why not dream about the things that you’ve always wanted to do?
If you use this time effectively to pursue things that you usually don’t have time for, this season of COVID-19 can be seen an opportunity. As Andy Stanley says,
“When the story of COVID-19 is just a story we tell, let’s make sure our stories are stories worth telling.”
How are you Finding Rest?
I would love to hear the ways that you are finding rest during COVID-19 and how it is affecting your habits and life during this time. Feel free to contact me directly or comment below. Stay safe and find restoration this week.
