Permission to take time out!

YES, that’s right.  And if you are stressed, it’s not just permission – it’s advice you NEED to take seriously!

Take some time to look after yourself.  Put the ‘To-Do’ list down and your feet up.

For many of us, our lives are so busy that unstructured time seems a foreign concept or a luxury reserved for the lucky few.  Yet it is so essential to our general well being and happiness.  We run from one place to the next, taking care of this and taking care of that – taking care of everything and everyone other than ourselves.

We forget the value of taking time to rest, but this is where the magic happens!  When we slow down our minds and our bodies have the chance to catch up.  To regenerate.  To recharge.  To rejuvenate.

Personally, I am a MASSIVE fan of unstructured time (so much so)!  I savour those moments in life when I don’t have to rush around.  When I don’t have to be anywhere or be anything to anyone.  The blissful moments when I get to relax in a steamy hot bath tub and close my eyes.  Or, when I get to listen to a beautiful piece of music, simply for the pure pleasure of the sound.

When it comes to unstructured time it doesn’t matter what you choose to do.  All that matters is that your schedule goes out the window, your goals are put on the shelf and for fifteen minutes (or however long you choose), your activities are based on pure GUILT-FREE bliss.  When we allow ourselves this time, we can return to our lives and our schedules with renewed energy and focus.  So set some unstructured time aside every day.

And remember – unstructured time is different to leisure time.  Leisure time is generally based on social activities or the pursuit of pleasure through hobbies and the like.  These things may bring you immense joy, but they still revolve around schedules and expending energy.   No matter how much fun they are, they can still be exhausting.  Unstructured time is about YOU and about SWITCHING OFF.  It’s about feeling the life force running through your body.  Nothing else matters.  It’s about BREATH.  It’s about PEACE.

Your world is not going to fall apart by allowing yourself this time.  Your problems are not going to magnify because you have stopped watching them for a second. In fact when you stop watching them perhaps you will realise that they are constructs of the mind.  Or that letting go somehow reveals a fresh perspective.

Immerse yourself in the feeling that, other than the safe and peaceful moment you are in, nothing else matters.

Originally posted on Holistic Stress Management October 25, 2013.