Well being

I brought up the idea of "minimalism" in a recent post as a potential subject of future posts, but after further thought, I realized that I'm ultimately interested a little bit broader of a topic. The best phrase I can think of to describe it (so far) would be "well being."

That may encompass a number of things, really: mental health, being organized, physical fitness, food and diet, humanitarianism, minimizing, etc. Again, not that I'm an expert on any of it, just the things I discover as I go. What do these subjects have to do with aikido or judo? Well, as I try to look for ways budo can influence my whole life, not just the practical, "self defense" aspects of it, these are some of the areas it takes me.

One web site that I've discovered lately is Zen Habits. While I am by no means an expert on the subject of zen, I have found the posts on this particular useful to a very broad audience, ideas that would benefit anyone. One particular post that caught my interest lately had to do with the subject of resting one day a week:

"Ask any physician and they will tell you that rest is essential for physical health. When the body is deprived of sleep, it is unable to rebuild and recharge itself adequately. Your body requires rest....

"Ask most religious leaders and they will tell you that rest is essential for the soul. Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha’i, and Wiccan (among others) teach the importance of setting aside a period of time for rest. Your soul requires rest."

Throughout most of my life, Sunday was the customary "day of rest", as it was, naturally, the "sabbath." I had a hard time with that, and in fact, I still do. When I consider how pressed for time I am during the week, and how often I fail to get done what I need, I naturally want to spend any free time trying to catch up.

Having read the article, though, has caused me to look at things a little differently. Now, I think I'm going to "try harder" at doing nothing (or next to nothing), and get the rest.