What Nature Teaches Us About The Vital Importance Of Rest

One of the things I missed most about fall while living in Los Angeles was observing the changing color of the leaves. Growing up with the woods in my backyard in Georgia brought me in close contact with the changing seasons. The array of fall colors, from bright reds to vibrant yellows, made the fall such an enchanting time.

I remember collecting leaves of all shapes and sizes for collages, searching the forest floor for a leaf as big as my face, and the simplicity of enjoying the beauty that comes from acknowledging the shift in season, the reminder that we will soon turn toward the dormancy of winter.

In nature, dormancy is a natural process in a perennial plant's life where growth and development are put on pause, allowing them to conserve energy and survive in climates where part of the year isn't ideal for aerial growth. Many plants have a biological clock that alerts them to slow down their activities, preparing them for a period of rest. When unfavorable weather conditions arise, and the plant is unable to receive essential signals from the outside environment, its energy turns inward.

In this redirection, the plant relies on its own innate wisdom and rhythms that have been around for millennia. Seeds might continue dormancy despite favorable conditions, giving them time to come to maturation. Seeds hold the potential for abundance over their lifetimes, which is why they remain dormant until conditions are most favorable to them. In any given season, this might reduce the yield, which isn't ideal for big agriculture but is highly desirable in nature, as many seeds only germinate once in a season, often in spring.

Rest is part of our blueprint. Human conception itself is a migration and a journey of resilience. On day three of conception, when the egg and sperm come together, they rest for a full 24 hours before their first division. This is after the egg initially makes its way to the fallopian tubes and rests in a specific portion of the tube called the ampullar-isthmic junction for 24 to 30 hours.

Flowers are symbolic of life, openness, and beauty. This rest practice is a simple and effective mindfulness exercise from the Taoist tradition known as "flower gazing." In this custom, flowers are an object to focus on as well as a living being whose unique energy can be deeply restorative and support us to connect with our own innate power to rest.