I love how horses can sleep standing up and sleep when the buzz of the world is carrying on around them as normal.

By Anita Neilson

The horses in the field were having their usual mid-morning snooze, seeking shade from the unusually hot temperatures we are experiencing this week.  Cars sped by on their usual morning school run.  Some suddenly slowed to a crawl, their occupants’ necks craned out towards this lovely spectacle, children gesticulating excitedly in the back seats.

I could almost hear them shrieking, “Mummy, slow down.  Horses!  Look, horses, mummy.  Slow down!”

For their part, the horses stood motionless; at rest, at peace.  Their senses somehow switched off, they appeared unperturbed by the stimuli of the external world.

I love how horses can a) sleep standing up; and b) sleep when the buzz of the world is carrying on around them as normal.  They simply ‘tune out’ and take the rest they need.  They’re so good at it.  So, how can we tune out and take the rest we need in this chaotic world?

• Establish a quiet corner, or a room in your home, which you can use only for the purpose of rest (in this case we’re talking about rest, not sleep).  This sets up a vibration of restfulness and stillness, as well as a positive habit being formed and reinforced in your mind.  This will make it easier for you to rest each time you go there.  You are conditioning your body and mind with a new habit of rest.
• Have a few of your favourite guided relaxation/mindfulness meditations on your phone.  Short ones, say 5 minutes, are good to take a quick break from work stresses, again establish a quiet place where you can do this – the bathroom? your car?  Colleagues will get used to you disappearing for a daily 5 minute ‘time-out’.  Do not allow ridicule from those who misunderstand to deter you from this.  Neither should a time-out be viewed as a weakness. It really will benefit you enormously (see my article Sit in Inner Stillness) and the change in you will percolate through the office, improving the atmosphere to one of calmness and resilience in the face of pressures.
• When you take a cup of tea or coffee, or eat your dinner at night, switch off the television and your media devices.  Give your senses the rest they need from external media stimuli.  Concentrate on the food in front of you, eating slowly, savouring the variety of flavours and textures and giving gratitude for the blessing of such an abundance of food.  Talk with the people who are with you.  Ask them what good things happened that day, or what they’re grateful for today and so on.  Veer the conversation towards positive topics rather than concentrating on alarming news headlines!  Remember, the body-mind needs rest!
• If you have a garden or balcony, make a new habit of sitting out in it for a time each day.  Put up a bird feeder and watch the interactions of the birds at feed.  It’s wonderful and makes you forget all your worries.  It gives your emotional mind a rest; this helps to relax the physical body.  The more you do this, you start to feel a greater connection to the natural world, something which many of us have lost through leading such busy lives.

I leave you with these thoughts:  don’t go standing under trees tonight trying to sleep but do take regular periods of rest throughout the day, untroubled by the hubbub of life happening all around.  Just don’t get involved in it all!  You will soon discover that calmness really does lead to wellness.

About the Author:

Anita Neilson is an author, spiritual poet and blogger.  She writes for many mind, body, spirit and chronic illness publications.   She has Fibromyalgia and M.E. and aims to show that we can all make a contribution to the world regardless of any limitations we may have.

Connect:  http://anitaneilson.com/;  fb@AnitaneilsonAuthor; and  instagram@soulmurmurs.  Her book, Acts of Kindness from your armchair is available from your preferred online retailer.  Anita’s new book, Soul Murmurs, a mix of spiritual poetry and prose, will be released early 2019!