Could This Be Rest?

This essay initially appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 4/22/24.

“This plank can be your rest.”

… Not exactly the words you want to hear midway through a very difficult, very hot CorePower yoga class.

In fact, when I heard the instructor say these six words, I had to bow my head and stare down at my mat – as if I was intensely inspecting it – in an effort to hide my surprised, perplexed facial expression. The plank = rest?! While my shoulders burn, and abs shake? As-if!!!

But I have to hand it to the instructor – week after week, I’ve thought of this phrase as I drop into a plank during class.

Thinking of the phrase doesn’t make it easier, but it does make me appreciate things about the exercise that I otherwise wouldn’t. When I think to myself, this can be my break, I find myself appreciating the fact that I’m holding still and not moving around. I recognize that I am able to catch my breath for a minute before moving onto the next thing.

A plank is not a restful activity. But in the context of a 60-minute yoga sculpt class, it can be.

I’ve been thinking about this reframe outside of exercising too. At work right now, I’m on a fast-moving, demanding project that will take up a lot of time for the next month and a half. I feel a bit stressed when I think about the work ahead and how much there is to do. But instead of letting this stress reverberate throughout the rest of the day, I’m asking myself, in the context of work right now, what could be my rest?

The question is helping me reframe other things on my plate. Typically, in this situation, my instinct would be to treat any other meetings and other assignments as draining to-dos standing in the way of me and getting work done. But asking myself if any of them could be rest? That changes things.

Yes, it is all still work, but with the reframe, I start to appreciate things about the other projects on my plate – like the longer timelines, having team members to lean on, certain predictabilities – that, otherwise, may go unnoticed. And it starts to feel like my workday does have some breaks built into it, even with the fast-moving, demanding project taking center stage.  

This question – what could be my rest? – doesn’t diminish the need for real, deep rest… but I do think it’s a helpful reframe, especially when there is something on your plate that demands a lot of you. Maybe the question reframes how one approaches doing something ordinary, like household chores or a commute, or turns something routine – like going to bed or blow drying your hair – into what feels more like a ritual.

Asking and identifying answers to the question puts speed bumps in our day, reminding us that the activity at hand could be restful and therefore changes how we approach and how we experience it.  

I don’t know about you, but I’m all for some more restful moments in my day.

So, let me ask: in the context of right now (and only right now, not forever!), what is a hard thing on your plate and what could be your rest?