Lazy Days
Ever since I got COVID-19, which stuck around for me for two months, I have these lazy days. I have a hard time getting up in the morning, which is quite unusual for me. I like to sleep in, but for me that means I get up at eight. These days I have been sleeping in even more and moving slower in the morning, which bothers me because I usually work at a fast pace. I like getting up early in the morning and starting my day when no one else is up yet. But lately this has not been happening.
Is It My Age?
I used to be able to function on no sleep, and now I require no less than eight hours. What changed? I have thought about this a lot. In my younger years, I fell asleep much quicker, and I would jump out of bed the minute I woke up. I was excited to get up, like a dog is in the morning, wagging its tail and getting excited to go outside, rain or shine.
Now in my fifties, I am moving slower. When I get up, it takes me at least an hour to go through my morning routine, which is why it bums me out when I wake up late. My day gets thrown off. I try to stick to a schedule, but it’s not easy. I do like my “lazy days,” when I just put on a facial mask, watch movies, and drink my favorite tea. Is this due to aging? A lack of purpose?
What Is a Lazy Day?
I am all into getting my beauty sleep, but the issue is I have been waking up feeling lazy and unmotivated. Do you ever feel this way? Do you ever feel like you want to pull the covers up to your chin, watch Netflix, and call it a day? Please tell me I am not alone! I have a deep suspicion that some of you feel the same way.
Life gets overwhelming and exhausting at times, especially after an emotional event comes up. We do not realize the power of our emotions and how they take a toll on our bodies. Giving our bodies rest and quiet time to recover is good. Do not feel guilty! For so long I would feel guilty when I went into my room, pulled a blanket over me, and just watched movies and drank tea. I would feel like it was a waste of time and that I should be accomplishing something.
Lazy days are a necessity in life. On one of my lazy days, I might draw a hot Epsom salt bath, light a fire in the fireplace, read a book, put on a facial mask, dry brush my body, try new products, make a new recipe, watch a documentary or movie, or just sit in silence. Lazy days are good for us. They remind us that our bodies need a break from everything.
What Lazy Days Do for Us
Our bodies often know when we need to rest better than we do. So before your body shuts you down by getting sick or overwhelmed, listen to it when it says it needs a complete break and a day of nothingness. Be in tune with what your body is asking for.
Lazy days serve a purpose, believe it or not. They give the brain and the rest of the body time to recover. Recovery is key! After a hard workout, your body needs to recover. Life is no different. We get thrown a lot of stuff, and various emotions come up. We need time to recover from those too. We need time to let our body do nothing.
I can hear all my overachievers saying no. But there is a reason why bodies shut down for no reason, even in the most healthy people! Our bodies can take only so much. Sometimes we may feel it but ignore it. Stop ignoring it! When your body is tired, drop everything and rest, even if it’s just for thirty minutes.
We easily forget how quickly we move these days and the amount of information that our bodies absorb. We live in a very different time than those before us. Every decade brings something vastly new. I cannot treat my body the way I did in the seventies or eighties. Wellness is everything right now. I think the past two years especially have shown us that. We were all forced to slow down and reevaluate how we were running our lives.
The Pandemic Actually Encouraged Lazy Days
During the height of the pandemic, lazy days were welcomed, and slowing down became the thing to do. Lots of people had different opinions on what supplements to take and how to combat this crazy virus that quickly took over our lives. One of the side effects for me when I had COVID was a complete lack of energy. I did not want to do anything.
Weird, right? Some people lost their sense of smell or taste. In addition to feeling unmotivated, I had all the usual symptoms. I was tired, had low energy, coughed nonstop, and got chills. I felt so horrible that I thought something was wrong. It was the worst flu I had ever had. Little did I know that a couple months later we would be in lockdown and everything would shut down. I immediately went to my doctor to get tested for antibodies since I had no idea what bug I had. Sure enough, I tested positive.
Lazy days became unavoidable in daily life. Gyms were closed, and nobody was even going outside to walk. The universe was telling us all to stop and enjoy this lazy time. I found it difficult. I am so used to go-go-go. I had to find new outlets, which became writing and connecting with myself and others. These were challenging times, to say the least. Life as we knew it had changed dramatically and continues to do so.
Give Yourself the Gift of a Lazy Day
One of the best gifts you can give yourself is a lazy day. I don’t necessarily mean a vacation, just plain and simple lazy days where you do nothing. Anyone who travels knows we often need a vacation from our vacations! Traveling takes a lot of energy and work.
Sometimes what you need is not a vacation but instead just some quiet alone time to regroup and let your body catch up. The biggest gift is being able to say no to all the tasks, invites, dinners, and so on. Give yourself the gift of me-time. Listen carefully to your body.
Also, don’t compare your energy levels with someone else’s. We are all different. I cannot keep up with some of my friends, and the other half cannot keep up with me! I used to compare myself in this way, but I would feel terrible that I couldn’t keep up with their endurance.
The truth is I am not supposed to keep up with anyone else except me. I am not in a competition. Racing and training involve a different mentality and lifestyle altogether! If I were to guess, even the best athletes know that a day of being lazy actually helps them in the long run.
Lazy days are here to stay: new weekly work hours, working from home in pajamas, sleeping in an extra hour, no commuting, you get the idea. Lazy days are not about sitting around drinking beer and watching TV—although that is okay once in a while. Lazy days are about resting our minds and giving our bodies space to catch up with our minds.
Lazy days are a necessity in life, so enjoy them!
