In our culture some people work more than they need to, and others can actually become stressed out by leisure time. In the US News Article, “Buying Time Can Make You Happier Than Buying Things,” David Levine writes about research showing how sacrificing money for free time can promote a sense of well-being.
Ashley V. Whillans, an assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, has done a lot of research into what social scientists call “time famine.” As the lead author in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America in 2017, Whillans wrote that “people around the world are feeling increasingly pressed for time, undermining well-being.” Despite rising incomes across many parts of the globe, she writes, “increases in wealth have produced an unintended consequence: a rising sense of time scarcity.”
One way to think about time and leisure is to realize that leisure is a cessation of activity. Ease is a state of being, such as freedom from worry or anxiousness, agitation or boredom. Ease can exist even within activity.
Readers of Debra’s Tips for Well-being have heard how yoga can help you develop ease of being.
You may also find progressive relaxation very helpful for this.
Found also within yoga, progressive relaxation is alternatively tensing and then relaxing certain muscle groups. Sometimes tense-and-release exercises may exacerbate stress, but more times than not, it generates a welcome relief. Frequent use of progressive relaxation can substantially increase ease-of-being.
While there is no right or wrong way to do progressive relaxation, you may appreciate a script to follow as you learn the benefits.
Psych Central has a free printable progressive muscle relaxation script.
Grab your smart phone and slowly read the script, recording your own voice guide you through the release of tension. I have a few recorded as well, and you are welcome to let me know if you would like an audio version.
This week, find yourself making conscious choices about how you think and feel about work and leisure. Ease of being might just be one of your most important jobs….
Tips from 5 April 2010 to 6 August 2012 are here: Archived Tips
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Rev. Debra Basham
Voice or text: (269) 921-2217 Email: debra@scs-matters.com http://DebraBasham.com http://ImagineHealing.info http://SurgicalSupport.info Small Changes … Infinite Results™
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ~ Mother Teresa |