March 16, 2018

Finding Rest: Learning from Hermits

Anxiety & Depression
Mental Health & Wellbeing
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“You need rest.”

You hear these three words from your friends, your family, and even from yourself. When you occasionally heed the advice you might try your best to get those coveted eight hours of sleep or plan to lounge around on the weekend, hoping that will do the trick and yet, the tiredness returns. This past year the National Safety Council conducted a study and found that 97 percent of Americans engage in at least one of the leading risk factors for fatigue, including working late nights or early mornings, working more than 50 hours a week, and working long shifts without breaks. On top of that, consider all the many “threats” our minds and bodies experience in our daily living that robs us of our energy resources, such as economic uncertainties, constant anxiety-provoking news stories, family stress, and the never ending buzz of our cellphones through texts, calls, emails, and social media.

You can find rest! Consider a hermitage.

A hermitage is most commonly known as being a dwelling removed from civilization where hermits live in isolation in order to discover the gifts of solitude. As hermits remove themselves from the lifestyles of civilization they are able to reflect, process and integrate the civilization they left behind. When you remove yourself from your lifestyle within your civilization you provide yourself with space to reflect, process, and integrate the civilization you left behind. You say you need rest, why not try a hermitage.

This can easily be done over a weekend, getting you the reset and rest you need. Below is an example schedule to help you get started thinking through planning your own hermitage. Tweak as needed! For example: if you need to sleep in on Saturday without setting an alarm- do it! The point is to rest.

Use the schedule below to begin your restful hermit practice.

Note: Try to limit your technology usage to emergency situations only. The more you isolate and limit technology, the more your provide space for yourself to reset.

Location:

Somewhere with an environment different than your everyday environment. Ideally a place in solitude. Utilize Air B&B or friends and family’s spaces that are more isolated if possible.  

Schedule:

FRIDAY

5:00 PM | Find a place to eat dinner out.

Start to allow yourself to slow down by eating your food slowly and savoring each bite through mindful eating.

6:30 PM | Arrive at your destination.

Slowly unpack your belongings, placing each thing in an intentional place. Try not to over pack, but bring only the necessities.

7:00 PM | Free space

This is your time to do what you want. No need to try too hard on anything.

10:00 PM | Sleep

Let yourself rest and sleep. Be gracious with yourself if it is hard to wind down.

SATURDAY

7:00 AM | Wake & Eat

Let yourself roll out of bed, moving slowly, allowing your body to wake up at it’s own pace.

If you desire to sleep in more, do it! Just make adjustments to the remainder of the schedule.

8:00 AM- 11:30 AM | Intentional Living

Paying attention to what you need, choose activities that are different/restful compared to your normal schedule. Check out the Intentional Living Activity List below for ideas and add any of your own creative ideas.

11:30 AM | Mindful Meal

Prepare your food slowly and then try paying attention to your five senses while you prepare and eat. Aim for whole, nutritious foods that will fuel your body.

1:00 PM – 4:30 PM | Intentional Living  

Paying attention to what you need, choose activities that are different/restful compared to your normal schedule. Check out the Intentional Living Activity List below for ideas and add any of your own creative ideas.

4:30 PM | Mindful Meal

Prepare your food slowly and then try paying attention to your five senses while you prepare and eat. Aim for whole, nutritious foods that will fuel your body.

6:00 PM | Free Space

This is your time to do what you want. No need to try too hard on anything.

Mindful Moment: for one minute observe any differences between your desires for Free Space from the day previous day.

10:00 PM | Sleep

Let yourself rest and sleep. Be gracious with yourself if it is hard to wind down.

SUNDAY

Take your time waking up, eating breakfast, cleaning up your space, and leaving your hermitage.

On your way home slowly reflect on your weekend, giving yourself grace for whatever you may or may not have learned.

Intentional Living Activity List

  • Journal about your hopes, fears, dreams, or concerns.
  • Listen to some music with all of your attention.
  • Try on doing nothing for a period of time.
  • Discover a new relaxing activity.
  • Contemplate your aloneness in this practice. What feelings are brought up.
  • Write a list of things you are thankful for.
  • Simply sit and breathe for 10 minutes. Focus on the subtle movements your body makes.
  • Take a walk at strolling pace. Listen to nature. Notice what it feels like to move slowly.
  • Read a book receptively. Receive without generating an action.
  • Sit somewhere and notice what surrounds you:
    • Name 5 things you see,
    • 4 things you hear,
    • 3 things you feel,
    • 2 things you smell,
    • 1 thing you taste.
  • Pray. Either out loud, in a journal, or maybe without words.
  • Create something out of the nature around you without claiming any positive or negative value on your work.
  • Write a list of possible areas of unresolved grief.
  • Try some of these restorative yoga poses (PRINT OUT BEFORE HERMITAGE)
  • Attempt writing poetry about this experience.

The goal is to recharge and refuel your life. The pace we often keep is not sustainable. While escaping every weekend isn’t sustainable either, routinely cutting everything out and going on a hermitage can be invaluable time! Hoping your carved out hermit space is exactly what you need it to be.

Written by therapist Keri Sawyer

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