Do You Need An Excuse To Really Relax?

The question of whether I need an excuse to completely relax showed up for me this week.  Logically I don’t need an excuse…like being sick, being on a cleanse, having a child sick, being away on vacation…to take a break.   Yet when I looked at my actions, the reality is that I often don’t take a deep break unless there is something big going on. 

Sure, I take little breaks all the time.  I do regular yoga and meditation for relaxation and renewal, I read regularly as my night time form of letting go, I take hot baths, I watch movies about once a week.  But take a whole day or even half a day to really set it all aside and let go?  Not very often.  Why?  The answer, I’m sure to all of you as well, is obvious.  As a working mother, there always just seems like too much to do.  House work, yard work, business development, errands, cooking, kid activities.  Yet, like my continually rotating “to-do list”, these things will never fully be done.  I might finish the task of the moment, but it is a repetitive cycle.  Which means, if I wait for the cycle to end before taking a break, it sure isn’t going to happen!

So this weekend I did as little as possible.  Yes, I’m on a cleanse and was feeling tired so had a good point of motivation (notice the change in words for “excuse”) and yes, it was a bit of a tug-of-war to ignore the yard, sticky wood floors, business issues…but I did it!  I read an entire book, watched a movie, laid in the hammock, watched a record 4 episodes of the “Gilmore Girls” which my daughter got me hooked on, slept in and really relaxed.  And…I feel fabulous.  Not only am I ready to open the new gifts of today but I’m doing it with a sense of calm rather than pent up frenetic energy.

And, I’m going to do my best to do this more often…even without any external point of motivation.  How about you?