The Way We Rest
What does REST mean to you? Sleep, watching TV, or having dinner with your good friends? Or taking hikes in nature, being surrounded by creation?
Since the beginning of the pandemic, even though we are mostly working or studying at home, not very physically active, a lot of people actually feel very tired and drained of energy.
Feeling overwhelmed with the big pile of “to-do” list. We have to learn to have a new daily rhythm as our regular patterns are disrupted, our usual “anchors” like dropping kids at school, arrival at the office, attending social gatherings, or even going to the gyms are no longer possible. Times and days seem to fly by very quickly as we use more screen time for work or entertainment, day and night seem to have no difference anymore. Time seems to be frozen and stood still.
People mentioned how they are experiencing insomnia, where they cannot sleep at night. There are emotions of fear, stress, and anxious feelings as we do not want to get sick or get others infected. We are worried about our jobs, our career, our financial needs, are the kids able to follow up with the school work, how our family members and loved ones are doing, especially the elderly amongst us.
There is also the feeling of isolation, loneliness, which may trigger depression or despair as we deal with various losses and grief.
There are so many emotions and thoughts that are stored in our mind and body and there seems to be no way to release them, they are constantly being cooped up inside our mind and our hearts, constantly looping, spirally downwards, thinking to the worst situation possible.
We believe art-making and spiritual contemplations are vital for mental health and spiritual health, which are as important as physical exercises to keep our body healthy.
The process of art-making helps us to process our emotions and listen to our needs, drawing healthy boundaries and release spaces in our hearts to deal with the daily challenges.
As these emotions have a physical impact to our body, we need to listen to the messages that our bodies are telling us.
The spiritual contemplations are practices that help us to listen to our minds and worries. Our heart space is like a room, full of boxes and boxes of emotions and worries. If we do not clear out the space inside this room, it will just get more crowded and will feel increasingly overwhelming.
Be still and know that I am God. By listening to our body, our hearts and our soul, we release our limitations, our vulnerability and learn to trust and depend on others in the process.
In the Way We Rest group, we will learn to listen to our body through our senses. By focusing and paying attention to our senses, we learn to appreciate the small things and find rest in our daily lives, to learn about our blockages and our limits and weakness, paying attention to our various seasons in life, to let go of our sense of security and control and learn to embrace the uncertainties in life.
I remember when we were leading an exercise in the past, we asked the participants to think back to a time where they felt really joyful and peaceful. We asked them to reimagine the scene and remember what they felt through their senses. I remember one of the participants retellings of a time during the lockdown in the pandemic, where she was able to meet with a couple of friends outdoor, doing arts, the sun was shining on her face, where she felt a sense of warmth and energy. And her mom was baking cookies in the kitchen, and they can still the baking through the window. There were sounds of laughters, the bliss of the wind on her screen. It was just so perfect, so peaceful, that she couldn’t ask for anything more. Even thinking about it and retelling the story to our group and relive the moments, she felt really happy and joyful.
A lot of times, we believe that our grief or depression can be triggered by memories, words, or our senses. But our senses can also help us relive the joyful moments in our lives. That is why the Israelites always retell their salvation stories, remembering how God rescued them out of Egypt, reminding them how God is present to them even in the midst of their exile where they maybe losing hope.
Community is also an essential part of our support system. This Therapeutic Art Spirituality Group acts as a boat that conveys our participants safely in whichever weather or season (stormy or snowy winter) you are going through. Hopefully, you can find a safe haven where you feel safe and secure. It is a space where we will deal with the various emotions, stress, anxiety individually as we carry various questions and doubts in our life and faith journey. Together we navigate the stormy weather in the same boat with other companions.
If you want more information about this workshop or registration, please check out here
© JOSEPH WONG - THE WAY WE ART