Tomorrow is Saturday in week 6 of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course and as always we have an All Day Silent Retreat. Despite its formidable title it always turns out a calm, enjoyable, restorative day.
These days we are under continual pressure to do better, to be fitter, to be thinner, to get more education, attend more courses. It is almost as if rest equates with laziness. We so surrounded by hyper-achievers who are constantly overscheduled that we are tempted to consider busyness not only normal but right. Rest for some is a sign of weakness, a lack of ambition. And we can fall into the same approach even in how we approach our inner life. Even attending a MBSR Course or doing meditation can become another way to "fix" ourselves or another, latest, "self-improvement" project.
However, one of the most neglected of all inner pursuits seems to be quiet and rest. One of the most needful things for our sense of meaning is simply rest. A quiet day allows us this, a day without goals, just more time to be with our experience, whatever arises - a day of kindness to ourselves.
