We’ve all had moments of peace.
A few days of deep rest, on vacation. A few hours of digital silence, on Christmas morning.
A few heartbeats of human connection, caught & snatched between emails, phone calls, to-do’s & obligations.
We all know what Sabbath feels like — it’s a dedicated moment of peace. A resting place. A sanctuary. A chance to drop out of the world of ‘I should’ and into the realm of ‘I feel’.
Like most people, I’ve always lived in two realities: Real Life (chaotic, noisy, demanding, unrelenting) and Sabbath (comfort, serenity, spaciousness, ease).
But lately, I’ve been wondering:
Why can’t Real Life feel more like Sabbath, all the time?
Why can’t we infuse the spirit of Sabbath — the spirit of ease, calm & grace — into every hour, every day, and every season?
Maybe if we did, we wouldn’t experience escalating levels of burn-out, exhaustion & anxiety.
Maybe if we did, we wouldn’t count the minutes till the weekend — or the next vacation.
Maybe if we did, we’d be … happy.
It’s worth exploring, wouldn’t you say?
In the spirit of divine integration, here’s 5 ways to invite the spirit of Sabbath into your everyday life. Starting, oh … now.
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Give yourself space to stumble.
Weren’t expecting this one, were you? It’s easy to fall back into old patterns and behaviors at first, they’re behaviors and patterns for a reason, right?
Bringing Sabbath into your life offers you a chance to press the pause button. This is your time to release things that aren’t working for you. If you slip up, it’s ok – be gentle with yourself. There is no berating, there is no talking down, there is only tenderness, there is only trying again.
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Unplug.
Yeah, you were totally expecting this one. Spend some time unplugged from email, social media, blogs. Take a break from your usual haunts so you can explore new ones. Amp up the quiet time, notice the small moments, journal, connect voice-to-voice or face-to-face.
It doesn’t have to be some super long time, you can start with a half hour, you can begin with an evening. Everything – the emails, updates, notifications, messages – it will all be ready and waiting for you when you plug back in.
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Listen to what it is you are truly needing.
These are the moments where you can loudly and joyfully invite heart-fulfilling change into your life. Had a crappy day at work and ready to zone out in front of the TV for a few hours? Will that refill your cup, refuel your soul?
If the answer is yes, do it – I’ve been known to rock a marathon of Charmed a time or two (or five). If the answer is no, think about things that would bring space into your evening. Would taking a hot shower or drinking a mug of tea or going for a run give your evening a sense of spaciousness and ease? How about connecting with a dear friend, playing with your kids or curling up with a book? Sabbath is a means to invoke grace, lightness and peace into your life, the ways you can choose to do it are limitless.
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Slow it down.
Breathe slower, chew slower, speak slower, walk slower, drive slower. When I’m jumping around between tasks and to-dos, I feel scattered, jagged, literally out of breath. I’m not present, I’m not there.
When I slow down, I am sitting nestled inside of each moment, hours mosey on by, days last longer, there is no sense of racing against a clock. It’s just me and the moment, it’s just me and whatever it is I’m doing. Slowing things down lets you be more aware, more mindful, more connected with the world around you. You’re not racing, you’re savoring. You’re not scattered, you’re grounded.
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Say thank you.
Extend gratitude to everything – big, small and silly. Stuck in traffic, say thank you. Dealing with work drama – say thank you. Come home to a beautiful letter, say thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. There are lessons all around us, just waiting to be seen and heard. When you begin to see every single thing that happens to you as something to be grateful for, your heart breaks open. Let gratitude start to fill it.
This one can feel tricky at first, being grateful for the things that hurt you or make you angry, whaaat? What is that? How can I even do that? The answer: You can do that, you can say thank you, you can start to find peace in the chaos of whatever it is you’re going through. And if at first you’re gut reaction is irritation instead of gratitude, that’s ok. Refer back to item number one: Give yourself space to stumble. There is only tenderness, there is only trying again.
Oh, and one more thing…
If you love the idea of blending Real Life and Sabbath, but don’t know where to begin (yoga? meditation? scented candles? whaaat?) or how to make it work (um, hello? deadlines! kids! demands! needs!) I’ve got an invitation for YOU.
Here it is: 1-on-1 Self-Care Coaching. You + Me. This autumn.
Our mission: To bring focus, simplicity & unplugged renewal into your everyday life. Because surrendering to Sabbath is so sweet.
I’ve got 5 coaching spots open, this autumn.
Click here to apply — and let’s talk about ease.
Oh, universe, you’re so hilarious. This is exactly what I was contemplating while writing my morning pages today. Now that I’m well and truly On My Own as a biz person/creative, I’m suddenly finding I could actually only work four hours a day. And that’s both terrifying and exhilarating. I’m tentatively thinking about how every day can have built-in ease – unplugging, doing non-work creative stuff, reading, walks. Kinda awesome.
So beautiful Jenn. This piece flows with that invocation of grace you were talking about. It’s essence is palpable behind the words. I can always feel it when writing is coming from that true place, it lingers in the words like a scent, like the breath between the letters. I can feel you were in this space you are speaking of when you wrote it. That’s the REAL THING.
Beautiful.
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