Читать книгу The Book of Rest - James Reeves - Страница 10

We’re going to take you on a journey to your most rested self.

We’re going to show you that whatever you have going on in your life right now, part of you is always at rest. Part of you is completely calm, completely balanced, completely satisfied and completely shatterproof.

This is a journey that anyone can go on. You don’t need to know anything. You don’t need to do anything in preparation. You don’t need any kit. You don’t need any skills. You don’t need a particular body, diet or mindset. You don’t need any particular kind of anything to take this journey.

You only need you. Exactly as you are, right now, however you are.

You’re already ready.

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Whether you’re sleep deprived, stressed, ill, agitated or even just grappling with a nagging feeling that something isn’t quite right, you are still, deep within yourself, just as OK as absolutely everyone else alive right now. At the very depths of your being, there is no resistance, tension or tiredness. There is no judgement, pain or fear. This is the very essence of who you are.

But we know this might not be a possibility you can entertain right now.

At no point on this journey do you have to ‘get your head’ around anything or force yourself into taking on a particular attitude. This is a book of gentle enquiry and incidental experience. It should require little effort other than the act of reading itself.

On the surface of things, the subject of rest might appear to be about taking a nap or getting more sleep or perhaps even kicking back with a glass of wine, but while these are some of our most favourite things to do and can benefit us in many ways, they can also distract us from the true experience of rest.

In the same way, although we are teachers of yoga and meditation and practise them often, these techniques are not in themselves always restful or always peaceful. Methods like these are intended to help us find a sense of space within our lives, but for many people they instead end up becoming something else we are adding to our experience. They become loaded with more actions, goals, frustrations and desires. . . this is not restful.

Perhaps you’ve tried yoga or meditation or other practices that you thought would leave you feeling more rested; perhaps you haven’t. It doesn’t matter. Our aim is not to train you in any of these but instead take you straight to the heart of the very thing they attempt to point towards: the constant unchanging awareness that lies at the heart of your existence.

We’re going to demonstrate that rest, and being restful, is something that is always there within you, rather than something you must weave into your experience.