Tag: The Nap Ministry

“You’d don’t belong on the grind” p. 11

“We are divine. Our bodies are divine and a site of liberation. Wherever our bodies are, we can find, snatch, and center rest.” p. 26

“What stories are we holding deep inside that are untold and uncovered because we are too exhausted?” p. 26

Imagine a world without oppression.
Take more time here. Visualize softness.
Breathe deep
Envision a world of justice
Stay here. p. 11

“Resting is ancient, slow and connected work that will take hold of you in ways that may be surprising. Let deprogramming from grind culture surprise you. Let your entire being slowly begin to shift. Get lost in rest. Pull up the blankets, search for softness and be open to the ways rest will surprise and calm you.” p. 17

“We sleep and regenerate. Our cells begin a sacred rhythm of repair and release. And when we wake we are more whole, less inflamed, more aware. And, of course, we sleep, that we might dream.” All things promise to us in scripture. p. 153 of “This Here Flesh” by Cole Arthur Riley Sleep is a part of the Resurrection promise

“Can you imagine a few hours a day of not being connected to your phones or email inboxes. What feelings rise inside when you imagine it?…Would you have more time to daydream, rest, nap? Would you go to bed earlier?” p. 69

Do you remember daydreaming as a child? p. 95

“To hear the simple and bold proclamation ‘You are doing too much. You can rest. You can just be. You can be’ is revolutionary.” p. 96

“For many, rest is not a familiar proposition. It can be unsettling to experience the unknown ways rest can save you. We must continue to learn, trust and experiment. If we lose hope, we must take to our beds and dream ways to ind motivation again.” p. 97

“We taught you he capacity to dream?…When ddi your desire to daydream fade away?” p. 98 (some people think that ritual is the capacity to dream together

I’m reading a fascinating little book by Byung-Chul Han called *The Disappearance of Rituals.* In it, Han makes the provocative implication that ritual is actually a kind of “play.” With the disappearance of rituals (communal performances that cultivate recognition and stability), “The holy seriousness of play gives way to the profane seriousness of work.” Thus we become an atomized, isolated, and narcissistic society oriented toward industry instead of community. 

Han writes, “Rituals and ceremonies are the genuinely human acts which allow life to appear to be an enchanting, celebratory affair. Their disappearance desecrates and profanes, transforming life into mere survival. we might thus expect a re-enchantment of the world to create a healing power that could counteract collective narcissism.” 

Not self care, wellness https://youtu.be/zUe5EAJkYfA

“Our rest is centered on connecting and reclaiming our divinity, given to us by our birth.” p. 62

CORRECTION “The concept of filling up your cup first so you can have enough in it to put to others feels off balance. It reeks of language that is part of our daily mantra. Language like ‘I will sleep when I am dead,’ “rise and grind,’” and is geared to women p.62 esp. marginalized!!! 

“I propose that the cups all be broken into little pieces” Something about communion here p. 63 , Celebrate Communion, but Make it Extravagant, Talk about how Jesus Broke the Bread and Completely poured himself out so no one else would have to–no dinky cups, share with everyone–make it a feast, a picnic or just give everyone overflowing cups and bread

Resting can look like p. 85-86

1. Closing your eyes for 10 minutes
2. A longer shower is silence
3. Meditating on the couch for 20 minutes
4. Daydreaming by staring out the window
5. Sipping warm tea before bed in the dark
6. Slow dancing with yourself to slow music
7. Experiencing a Sound bath or sound healing
8. A Sun Salutation 
9. A twenty-minute timed nap
10. Praying
11. Crafting a small alter in your home
12. A long, warm bath
13. Taking regular breaks from social media
14. Not immediately responding to texts and emails
15. Deep listening to a full music album 
16. A meditative walk in nature
17. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting
18. Playing a musical instrument 
19. Deep eye contact
20. Laughing intensely 

Capitalism was created on plantations. We as a culture class over this historical truth. We must grieve. Grieving is a sacred act and one of the ways we can begin to reconnect with out bodies, as we craft a rest practice.” p. 15

“We should use every tool we have to constantly repair what grind culture has done to us” p. 16 

“We have been trained to believe that everything we accomplish is is because of our own pushing alone. This is false because there is a spiritual dimension that exists in all things and in everything we do. To understand that we are spiritual beings navigating life in a material world opens us to the possibility os rest as a spiritual practice. Our entire living is a spiritual practices. Much of our resistance to rest, sleep and slowing down is an ego problem….We can do nothing alone.” p. 18

“Fear is a function of grind culture..” p. 22

“From a very young age we being the slow process of disconnecting ourselves from our bodies’ need to rest and are praised when we work ourselves to exhaustion. p. 23
“We become rigid and impatient when our checklist isn’t completed to perfection” p. 24

“We believe we are only meant to survive and not thrive. We see care as unnecessary and unimportant. We believe we don’t really have to rest. We falsely believe hard work guarantees success in a capitalist system. p. 24

“What stories are we holding deep inside that are untold and uncovered because we are too exhausted?” p. 26

most concise ways: “Rest makes us more human. It brings us back to our human-ness. To be more human. To be connected to who and what we truly are is at the heart of our rest movement.” p. 27

“Grind culture has traumatized us and then begin the lifelong process of healing from thistrauma. This work is about more than simply naps and sleep, it is a full unraveling from the grips of our toxic understanding of our self-worth as divine human beings. Grieving in this culture is not done and is seen as a waste of time because grieving is a powerful place of reverence and liberation.” p. 28

“You are worthy of rest. We don’t have to earn rest. Rest is not a luxury, a privilege, or a bonus we must wait for once we are burned out.” p. 28

“Rest is not a privilege because our bodies are still our own, no matter what the current systems teach us….Our bodies and Spirits do not belong to capitalism, no matter how it is theorized and presented.” p. 28-29

“I see the brilliance and miracle of human beings. We are not machines.” p. 74

“Is the Nap Ministry just for Black people?’ The question itself stems from a white suprematist mindset that refuses to accept this truth: Black libration

is a balm for all humanity and this message is from all those suffering from the ways of white supremacy and capitalism.” p. 75

White people have had their humanity stripped from them via white supremacy. They are spiritually deficient and blinded by the idea that they are superior to other divine human beings. The lineage of terror, violence, enslavement resides in those bodies and hearts.” p. 76

“Also, what does it help me to live in a world where I am the only one who is liberated form the grips of grind culture.” p. 76

Exhaustion: Have you been called to be a machine?? “There were times when I was deeply caught in the machine-level pace of living that our culture calls for and I knew it did not feel normal. Every time this happened, I felt something was wrong. My body could never truly relax or pause. My mind was always going as I constantly thought about the next thing I had to do, the newest bill to be paid, the hours I had to work this week to save money, the side hustles I could create to pay for an expected expense. Every single moment of the day was dedicated to what I could accomplish.” p. 80

Warning: “Anyone co-opting our message without crediting our work and the scholarship of Black people are caught deeply in the grips of grind culture, and could not possibly be embodying rest. They are to be carefully critiqued as an agent of capitalism and white supremacy thinking.” p. 78 i.e. they must be selling something. 

Grind Culture Detox

p. 83-84

1. Detox from social media weekly, monthly or more
2. Begin to heal the individual trauma you have experienced that makes it difficult for you to say no and maintain healthy boundaries.
3. Start a daily practice in daydreaming.
4. Accept that there is no quick fix, magic bullet, or instant change.
5. Slowly accept you have been brainwashed. Your socialization in a capitalist culture makes this true. Begin to deprogram by accepting this truth.
6. Slow down.
7. You are enough now. If you have to repeat this to yourself every day, do so. Begin to repair the way white supremacy and capitalism have wrecked your self-esteem and self-worth.
8. Understand exhaustion is not productive. You are not resting to gain energy to be more productive and to do more.
9. Listen more.
10. Create more systems of community care.