The Importance of Rest

After 2020, I thought it was very important that we offer our people the opportunity not only to move their bodies but also to find much-needed rest. Rich and I are pretty fortunate to live in Southern West Virginia, in the middle of mountains and streams. We could not be happier to open what now call home to our BDY family. We have built our business the foundation of movement. But over the years, we’ve seen people suffering from immense burn out because they’re trying to check all the boxes and complete all the lists. So many people come to yoga because of stress and burnout at work and at home. Often, they choose the full-out sweat sessions to burn off the crazy. But more often than not, they find that the answer is not in the moving, and then they fall right back into patterns that weren’t serving them in the first place. Rest has become a dirty four-letter word in a world of busy. If we fail to take time to recharge, we quickly reach a point of either diminishing or no return. On this first of what we hope to be many weekend retreats, we’ve allowed for hiking, outdoor movement, community time, and yes, rest.

It’s easy to respond to our unending stream of tasks by simply powering through. While we believe in pushing yourself to your highest potential, we also believe there’s no glory in overdoing it. Sure, scheduling an extra meeting, making one more call, and answering just one more email gives a temporary feeling of satisfaction. You are “getting #%^* done,” and that can feel good, but at what cost? Go, go, go and do, do, do is often counterproductive, and can wreck your nervous system.
Taking time to rest and rejuvenate is an essential part of living a full and balanced life, and that’s how you get things done.