I’ve been on vacation the last couple weeks.  I spent time in Minnesota visiting friends and family, and yes, relaxing.

Sure– in the back of my mind I was a little stressed about all the emails I wasn’t answering, the blogs I wasn’t writing, and the work I wasn’t getting done.

But sitting inside a cabin (where I did not have internet!) gazing at the lake, I was content.  Content to sit, content to contemplate life, content to watch the loons swimming and diving, content to listen to the water.  I was present and able to let go of all the other things that needed doing, because guess what?  They weren’t going anywhere.

Stress is a major issue in society today– we are constantly connected and the world keeps moving faster and faster.

But in reality, it’s not stress itself that is the issue.  Studies have shown that stress in fact makes us stronger and more resilient, and even more capable of happiness.  Just like when we stress our muscles by lifting weights, the stress is beneficial and helps us to be stronger and healthier.

The problem is our lack of recovery.

Just like when athletes train too hard and injure themselves, we are injuring ourselves by not giving ourselves time to recover from the stresses in our lives.

We need time to step back, set everything else aside, and just be.

This doesn’t have to be a major vacation by the lake. It can be taking time to go for a walk on your lunch break.  It can be just making lunch a time away from your desk.  Meditating, listening to music for 10 minutes, or taking a needed day off are all ways you can recharge your batteries.  But we do need this time for ourselves to allow our minds to rest and recover from our everyday stresses.

Yoga can be particularly powerful in this regard, because it is essentially a moving mediation, allowing the mind to release its hold on everyday concerns, and just focus on the breath and our bodies.  Many people seek refuge in a regular yoga practice simply because it is a way to recover.  We may tell ourselves we are doing it just to get some exercise, but it is also a time we can slow down and breathe.  And hey, getting a little physical benefit while we are at it doesn’t hurt either. 😉

So how can you add recovery time to your day? To your month?  To your year?  Take a bath, go to the gym, read a book for fun, take a weekend trip.  Whatever helps you set aside stress and the to-do list for just a little while.

Give yourself time to decompress and just be.

This doesn’t mean my vacation wasn’t punctuated by thoughts about work, or that I didn’t seek out internet a couple times, and answer a few emails, but it does mean that there were some periods where I did set it all aside.  And it felt good.

Now I’m back in the swing of things, but I feel ready to deal with everything I have going on, and everything that built up over that week.  It seems more manageable because I was able to recharge.

So how will you recover today?

Take 5 minutes and do something right now.  Let me know how it goes!

xo