An Evening of Learning to Rest
Designed by BearmoreWhat if it was a skill you could learn?
Stop the day before it stops you. A slow breathing session, your chosen music, one question that helps you to name what's feeling heavy, and twenty minutes reading a book that has nothing to do with work.
The runsheet
Permission to breathe
Breath workConscious breathing is the body's most immediate off-the-clock signal. Ten minutes of slow nasal breath with longer exhales. This kind of breathing relaxes your body and your mind comes along with it.
10 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing breath work before listening to music (mindful)
This works well because a calm, open state can help you listen more deeply and feel music more emotionally.
Music to slow down with
Listening to music (mindful)Listening to music is sensory input that starts to let you know you’re off the clock. Fifteen minutes with music you enjoy, it’s not a productivity playlist. Sitting, listening and relaxing, not doing anything else.
15 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing listening to music (mindful) before self-guided inquiry
This is one of the stronger pairings because music brings up specific emotions and memories that give self-guided inquiry concrete starting points to explore.
Work with one question
Self-guided inquiryTonight's prompt: what am I holding on to that isn't mine? Sit with it before responding. It’s not forced problem-solving that’s required, more like observing and writing.
15 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing self-guided inquiry before reading (mindful)
This works well because reading mindfully gives any reflections a quieter space to keep settling.
A book that’s for fun
Reading (mindful)Twenty minutes with a book that has no work value attached to it. Choose reading that rests you and doesn’t pretend to be productive. Fiction, poetry, a novel from years ago, the older the better.
20 min activityTime well spent.
1h 12m spent doing something good for yourself.
The breakdown
Burst evaluation
Wellbeing focus
About this Burst
Israa Nasir (who this Burst was inspired by) argues that worth that’s tied to output is the problem; the move is to practise rest before you get exhausted. This Burst sequences four practices: a slow breathing session to let your body know that you are clocking off, deliberate sensory input through music you chose, some writing and reflection on one question that’s important to you, and a stretch of reading that has no work value attached to it. The point is not about an outcome, it’s about the experience.