Increase Your Thought-Stamina

This is a mental exercise for when you want to challenge yourself. When resting, see if you can get up just a minute or two before being “fully rested”. Say you eat and then relax after rehearsal. Maybe you are chilling out in the hammock and taking a nice siesta. You know the feeling of “resting out”? When you feel your state of recovery – body and mind – and there's a point where you feel “fully rested”, and ready to get going again? It feels great, doesn't it? Rejuvenated, reinvigorated. Sometimes, it may be time for you to get ready for the next workshop before you feel completely rested and refueled, and you're not quite ready to scream "carpe diem, baby" from the top of your lungs. Either way, as your full recovery and the time for your next activity approaches, every moment is leading you closer towards that sense of feeling as rested as possible.

Now, the challenge is this: When you feel you're approaching this “fully recovered” state – or it's getting time to get up for that next workshop – see if you can be mentally ready for action a bit earlier than usual. Just a little bit, maybe a minute or two. And if you do feel ready, do it, get up and into action mode. How does this feel? If you were ready, you should feel equally energized as if you had taken that extra last minute or two to rest. It's not easy! But if you manage to do this a handful of times throughout this week, you will find your thought-stamina starting to increase and your mental recovery quickening.

It is also a great exercise to help you become aware of the transition from “resting for recovery” to “joyful lazing”. It's a subtle shift, but you can perceive it. Say after class you're exhausted and lay down on the grass to recover. The first thing you'll note and enjoy is probably the physical relief of effort and the ability to literally relax your muscles. After a while, your mind will follow and begin to relax, too. Eventually, you'll notice that you feel reinvigorated and ready for your next adventure. It's not an exact point in time, but there's a moment when you realize that you are now well rested. It's a feeling.

If you continue lingering past this moment – maybe because it's such a lovely day and we all know that watching clouds invites wonderful reveries – the purpose and feeling of resting changes. Having the capacity to, in any given moment, recognize the state you're in, and being able to be consciously aware of the purpose of what you're doing, can be a valuable resource.