Rest More

By Mark Aquino, BMus, RMT, DOMP, DScO Osteopathic Manual Practitioner specializing in Biodynamic and Cranial Osteopathy at Blueberry Therapy Pelvic Health and Pediatrics

Dr. James Jealous, the osteopathic physician who developed Biodynamic Osteopathy (an extension of Manual and Cranial Osteopathy), wrote extensively.

Below are some of his other thoughts:

• Our drugstore is inside us.

• Love is the most potent food. It is the best supplement and treatment.

• The reserve to heal. Nothing fully heals unless there's enough reserve power to heal. It is rare that there is reserve in someone who does not rest.

• A low functional reserve does not allow anything else to take hold: exercise, diet, energy. A low reserve cannot be cured with anything other than rest, neutrality and self-knowledge.

• Even too many diets, treatments, supplements or exercise programs can deplete an empty tank. They only cause the system to burn fuel it doesn't have. Do they support or do they deny the true cause of the depletion? When do you address the cause behind the depletion? It may mean taking a break until the reserve tank has more fuel.

• One of his writings that has stuck with me is "Rest more than you don't."

  
  

We rarely finish healing

As I digest these concepts over the years, I've begun to rethink how we look at aspects of health recovery. It has been my experience that we rarely complete the healing process. Almost everyone, after an injury, surgery or trauma, tells me they went back too early, could have taken longer, or should have given themselves more time to recover. Even if we accept an adequate period for healing, complete tissue recovery requires more time than is often allowed.

Rest is part of restoration

Rest is part of the word restoration. Is rest a foreign word in our world? Are you burning both ends of your candle? Are you over-whelmed, over-tired, over-exhausted, over-stimulated, over-stressed, over-done? Without a rest, musical notes do not shine. Without a comma, sentences make less sense. Without a pause in speaking, it's hard to breathe. Without space, there is less awareness of the true self, and this makes it difficult to grow. Without rest and space, there is no room for our body's reservoir to gain access to healing.

Reserve has many meanings. I think about it as a means to re-serve ourselves: to take the needed time and return back home, to give back some space, to give ourselves a rest. Our reserve cannot rebuild if there is insufficient rest. We need rest in order to recover, refill, refuel, recharge and restore our authenticity and balance.

What fills your tank

Consider the word exhausted. A tank that is ex-hausted has no more fuel. What are you currently filling your tank with, and what fills your tank with what you really need? What fills your tank with fire? What inspires you? What gives you a win?

I often ask people to imagine what it would feel like to go away for a 3 to 4 week health resort experience, somewhere they could rest and recover in the mountains or near a lake. A well-deserved rest with light exercise, walking, swimming, stretching, eating well, saunas, mineral springs, sunshine and fresh air. Most people smile: "That would be nice."

Bringing the resort home

So what do we do in a society that does not allow the option to get away for a few weeks to recharge? Clinically, 3 to 4 relaxing cranial appointments help to begin to reboot our systems, like a resuscitation. We can also add aspects of a resort to our daily or weekly routines. Below are simple protocols I send along after an initial appointment.

Create a 1-hour window in your schedule to rest and decompress with any of the following:

• Epsom salt bath: 2 cups of Epsom salts, 20 minutes maximum. Sip water during, finish with a cool rinse, then lie down to cool off afterwards.

• Pillow nest: Rest on your back or side with lots of pillows to create a "nest" (20 minutes or more).

• Decompression: guided video (10 minutes or more)

• Breath: guided video

• Yoga Nidra: guided video

• Treatment: Find a type of treatment that helps you.

Give yourself permission to rest well.

Let your reservoir fill up again.

Rest and Reserve deserve a friendship.

Rest more than you don't.

Give it a try. :)

Book with Mark. Mark Aquino is an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner and Registered

Massage Therapist at Blueberry Therapy Pelvic Health and Pediatrics, 14 Cross Street, Unit B, Dundas. Book online at blueberrytherapy.janeapp.com or call 289-238-8383.