WHY RECESS MATTERS

School kids do it, Congress does it, even plants during winter snows do it.  (If you know the tune, please sing along.)  Fact is, taking recess is an occurrence in both the natural and the human-made world.  It is us adult bi-ped’s who are not very reliable for knowing when to take one.

Every week I send out an Audio Recess for the sake of you taking a break right in the midst of all the demands in your life.  I trust you’ve figured out how to listen to it and still look terribly busy.  Because as we all know… if we’re busy, we’re productive.

Oh contraire!  If we’re chronically busy, it’s likely we are operating not at peak performance but more at “numb speed”.  That’s my term for “head down, pushing through, and taking self way too seriously”.  I’m hoping it will find its way into the general lexicon.

Who has time for recess!  Atheletes, artists, musicians, builders, writers, leaders, cooks, teachers, physicians, coaches, farmers, creators – they all know the role of taking a break, giving something time to come to form, letting things rest, getting perspective, clearing their heads or resting their bodies.

We’re hyped up and melting down.  The source of most disease is stress (yep, there’s plenty of science to support that).  So the game is not go faster and manage your time better – by cramming more in,  but to manage your energy.

Taking a recess (even a 2-minute one) gives us a chance to hit the reset button – interrupt the overdrive and downshift into the best gear for the grade we’re traveling on.

Albert Einstein, when working on solving a problem, would take a break and go play the piano.  He was known to often exclaim “I found it” while at the keyboard – away from working the problem.

When we take a break, we are releasing ourselves from the limits of our habitual thinking and seeing, and plugging in to the All-ness of the Is-ness of the Now-ness of the Whole-ness a.k.a. a greater intelligence than just us.  And we can still take all the credit.

Since your second grade teacher isn’t around to announce Recess, it’s up to you.  What power you have.

The highest performing atheletes (the Winter Olympics are happening right now in Vancouver, BC) are masters at tuning into themselves before their capacity diminishes and restoring themselves so they can perform at their best.  Recess is a part of their greatness.  Ours too.

Listen to the Audio Recess below for more on this subject.
You can count it as one of your breaks today.

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PRACTICE OF THE MONTH

Step back – enough to get perspective, fresh air, and your sense of humor in case you misplaced it.  The more flexible, the more creative.  Give yourself a break – alone or with others.  But not just once a week or a month, but daily – maybe several times a day.

Track your productivity and mood for a week when you don’t ever stop and compare it to a week when you do.

Don’t make someone else have to send you on a Time Out.

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GREAT WAYS TO PRACTICE

The next  Embodied Abundance tele-course begins March 31st (last one until fall).  It’s all about living in flow – that’s timing at its best.  And there’s no commute time. It doesn’t get easier than this.

Just for Alpha Women (us over-achievers who are too good at what we do), I’m starting a coaching group – all done by teleconference – on March 16th. You know who you are.  Check it out.

For all women who are ready to deeply nourish their soul so they are revitalized with a greater sense of ease and purpose, do consider the Women’s Retreat to the Sacred Isle of Iona in Scotland this May.  It’s heaven! Just a few spaces left.

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