How to Restore your Energy
What is restoration?
The Cambridge dictionary defines restoration as:
“the act or process of returning something to its earlier good condition or position”
A poem for restoration
When I think of restoration, I
think of an old piece furniture.
Forgotten.
In a junk yard or at a car boot sale.
In need of love and affection.
The bones of her, still strong, her exterior
a little dull and flaky.
The legs and doors a little wobbly, she’s missing something.
All is not lost, she’s there all the same.
Present.
Patient.
Waiting for the right moment,
the right energy, the right time
for a fresh perspective, a new outlook.
Love and attention.
Ready to reignite her
presence in the world.
When is the time to rest?
This is unique to everyone, building awareness of your needs and thoughts through meditation or mindful practice will help you to determine what you need and when you need to rest. To get started, here are a couple of key points:
Seasonally, winter is a key time for us to restore our energy as the energy of winter is stillness. Culturally in the west, permission to rest in the winter in difficult but this is a good time to reflect on how winter has been for you. This reflection can help you throughout the year in other phases of “winter”.
Often during our monthly cycle, we experience an essence of winter. Energetically we may have the desire or need to be still for one of two days a month. Yet often we ignore this, carrying on with this yang energy feeling like we are going against the grain.
What holds us back from resting?
Often when we need to rest or take time to restore it can lead to feelings of guilt. Perhaps we feel selfish for taking time out for ourselves, perhaps we have grown up with an idea that we need to be busy to feel good or feel accomplished, maybe the pressure of life just doesn’t allow us time out for ourselves.
What happens when we don’t take time to restore our energy?
We can experience overwhelm, perhaps become stressed out, our anxiety increases, it becomes difficult to be patient and compassionate with others. We can even experience feelings of resentment, frustration, this can sometimes manifest as physical symptoms in our body such as headaches or other types of pain.
What does restoration mean to you?
I love the idea of using the restoration process of furniture on ourselves. This is a really beautiful way to begin to accept the parts of ourselves that are less than perfect.
Take a few moments to answer these questions in your mind or write them down.
What does restoration mean to you?
Have you ever restored an old piece of furniture? How did you do it?
What skills / emotions does it takes to bring that piece back to life?
Can you use those skills to restore yourself?
What parts of you need your love and attention?
Underneath the new outlook, lies the original piece of furniture is still there? What parts of you can you learn to love?
Some actions we can draw on when we think of restoring furniture. Can you apply these to restoring your energy?
Attention
Love
Patience
A fresh perspective
Love of the imperfections
The character of the scrapes and scratches
Gently sanding
Stripping back
Peeling off old layers of paint
Ready for something new and fresh
Underneath it's still the same but the outlook is different
Accepting
What is your restoration story? As always, I love to hear from you.
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