Greetings to all from sunny Athens! It’s been a while since I’ve written an article and lots of things have happened since then! Lots of travelling, including trips to Cortina, Italy, Hong Kong and London where Rebirthing/ Breathwork is steadily working miracles as people start to discover the power and potential of their own Breath.
My article this month is in the defense of Laziness! I love empowering and inspiring people and the truth is that most people often misinterpret laziness as being stuck, or classify it as a guilt ridden activity that shouldn’t be indulged in if one wants to be successful.
In our times, everyone is so busy! I often find the amount of work and activities that people fit into their lives truly incredible. As a matter of fact, it is super easy to fill up every hour of the day with work and activities, running from appointment to appointment; but how present in each activity can a person be when the next scheduled activity is just an hour or two away?
My life is full of work related travelling. Sometimes I wake up somewhere and don’t realize for a couple of minutes where I actually am… So this last summer, as most of you may know, I took the whole summer off and indulged in LAZINESS! It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life!
THE BENEFITS OF LAZINESS
It took me at least a month of indulging in laziness before I was able to overcome Infancy Apathy (the inability or unwillingness to do anything at all except sleep, eat and swim). I was so tired and polluted by city life and its demands that when I actually let myself rest, layers of exhaustion kept on coming up to the surface and every time I thought I felt better, I was enveloped by a need to sleep and rest some more.
In this period, I also felt guilty and bad sometimes about doing nothing at all. Thankfully my partner was there to re-assure me that it’s ok to relax and do nothing; I’m not missing out on anything or ruining my career by taking time off. Taking time off to do nothing actually benefits me and I would only see the benefits once I got past the stage of recuperation. I would only become clear about what I really wanted and how to achieve it if my body and mind had the space to relax and integrate all of the overstimulation I had experienced in the past years while focusing almost solely on my work. Only then I would really feel present again and want to do things with full life, love and enthusiasm. He was right and I gradually started feeling inspired again, appreciating my surroundings and surrendering to life and all of the gifts it has to offer when you are present enough to notice them. In this recuperation time I used the gifts of Mother Nature; Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Love, to regenerate myself and become HUMAN again.
Some things I integrated in my elongated period of lazy absence are:
• Mind Mastery is the creation of space and time by EXPANDING your reality to include things that you have never thought possible or realistic for you.
• One way to create time is to eliminate and delegate unnecessary time consumers so that your mind is free to CREATE instead of being occupied in the “doing” phase.
• Inspiration happens in the space between your thoughts (the time when you are not thinking), or in other words, during RELAXATION.
• Relaxation happens when you give up control, or surrender from the need to “do” things.
AFFIRMATIONS FOR SURVIVING LAZINESS
• It’s safe and beneficial to give up control.
• I am ultimately more productive when I trust and surrender.
• I am twice as efficient when I stop struggling.
• Surrender means to give up the struggle and TRUST my NATURAL GENIUS to bring together the right circumstances for my success.
• When I give up the struggle, BLISS follows.
• The struggle is my mental judgment and expectation of myself and others.
• There is PLENTY OF TIME to do what I want. The greatest achievements and insights come when I SLOW DOWN!
• I congratulate myself often and focus on my achievements rather than putting myself through the anxiety of thinking that I haven’t done enough.
• I am always in the right place, at the right time, engaged in the right activity.
• I stay present during the activity at hand to execute it efficiently so that I free up time and space for other things.
• I no longer need to prove anything to anyone.
• I am perfect just the way I am and enjoy fully being myself and doing what I love!
So enjoy your lazy moments and give more of them to yourself! I always love Leonard Orr’s affirmation for Laziness as it brings things into perspective:
“It’s ok to indulge in laziness as long as it is pleasurable!!”
In Truth, Simplicity and Love!
Katia Boustani
Breath Master, International Rebirther/Breathworker
