Part of being well entails having an optimally functioning nervous system. The problem is that most of our nervous systems are not in great shape. We are a highly stressed culture, and a whole host of digestive, cardiovascular, psychological, sexual, immune and various other diseases start to happen when our nervous systems get out of whack. I always say dis-ease causes or worsens almost every disease.
How do we get out of fight/flight/freeze of sympathetic stress mode into parasympathetic rest/digest/ (and also sexy) mode?
Theres a clue buried in the question.
Rest.
We forget to rest, even when the world is on pause, we are chomping at the bit to get back out there. We only seem to feel alive when we are moving a mile a minute or it’s crunch time and the countdown clock is ticking. But living this way is a setup for burnout. Most of us are addicted to the fast pace but we’re completely frazzled and fried at the same time. When we try to rest it seems too quiet, we start thinking “something is wrong here.”
Even in our free time we can’t seem to rest. I joined a hiking group which was really fun at first. Then somehow our moderately challenging 7 mile hikes turned into 15 mile hikes on treacherous gravely slopes which somehow turned into people shouting at me to pick up the pace and run the trail as they lapped me. I’m a sort of competitive person, I used to be an athlete, so of course I was pulled into the madness. Then one day I thought “how am I supposed to enjoy the scenic views, appreciate nature, smell the fresh air, listen to the birds?” I was there to do all of that too, getting some exercise was supposed to be a nice bonus. I guess I wasn’t doing it fast enough. 🙁
We are part of nature, we are animals. Animals rest. A lot. Have you ever observed a pet, they sleep damn near half of the day and look at us like we’re crazy. Maybe my dog is a genius. Doubtful.
We humans seem to think bragging about how hard we are working is a thing. I guess they can carve that on our headstones. But maybe being a smarter human entails finding time to rest and recharge and preserve your telomeres and live healthier and sexier lives.
Just a suggestion.