This blog discusses how embracing the season of summer holds the value of slowing down in teaching us how to refill our cup. We will take a look at the quality of lazy and how it supports us as well as when lazy takes on the qualities that aren’t in our favor. The Yoga Sutras give us a word describing lazy when it becomes one of the obstacles of developing a calm and clear mind.
Raise your hand if you are ready for summer?!!! The truth is that I am a “Summertime Gal!” The Texas heat sends me straight toward my favorite water holes which I make a big splash in whenever I get the chance. Many of my students and friends know that I plan for a weekly trip to the San Marcos River throughout summer. I simply put it right on my calendar and stop work before 5 p.m. once a week. Then, it’s time to throw my tube in the car, get on my swim gear and take a road trip to a bit of paradise. When I arrive, I consciously begin to slow down walking barefoot to the luscious, clear green-blue waters. Turtles and reeds sway to the current as community plays in the cold water. I fall in love! I have mastered the art of getting in my tube the first time by sitting right in it and pushing off from the river bank. It becomes my official “lazy” time when I relax into my tube and absorb the goodness around me. Allowing for “lazy” means letting the current take me forward in a gentle nourishing way. This is ancient technology at it’s finest and a relief to take in nature versus continual emails, texts, and social media checks. I get lost in a good way. Time stands still.
Yes, learning to be lazy is a freeing concept. I once had a friend tell me that her mother would never let her remain idle in the summertime. She had to be or look busy every day or face criticism and reprimand. She reflects that this led her into a type of patterning in her adult life of overworking AND not feeling comfortable in embracing a schedule with some space. Can you all relate?
What does a constant state of busy do to our nervous systems? Do we get burnt out? Why isn’t play valued just as much as work? And…how did we get so out of balance? Other cultures certainly value more vacation time and I think we’ve all heard of the siesta.
And yet like most things, there are different qualities that exist within one concept…
The Yoga Sutras, I. 30 discuss qualities that lead to imbalances of the mind. One of those is called alasya. Alasya is translated to mean laziness or lethargy, physical fatigue. To go even further in breaking down the word, (a + las = not to shine)! Oh no friends…we are designed to Shine!
This is the quality of laziness that relates to lack of motivation in connecting to what charges our “inner battery”. This is the context that we have been taught to neatly place the word, lazy into = a negative space. Could overworking lead to the feelings of laziness? The kind where you just don’t have the energy to create connections, find inspiration and link to your higher purpose. The kind of lazy where we don’t feel like getting to our mats or going for walks. I love a good Netflix show as much as anyone but if I stay there too long (binge), I notice the post-digestive effect is one of feeling heavy, tired, and yes…LAZY! This is when lazy hinders me versus supporting me. I write often about using observation (not judgement) in checking in regarding how you align in the choices that you make. Like many things, even lazy has different qualities and we can understand how to cultivate it so the quality is in service to us.
Yes, summertime is here! I plan to get “all up in my Lazy”! LOL! I can’t wait to catch you exploring and learning what being lazy can do for you.