“Rest is the basis of all activity. Stillness is the basis of all dynamism.” Sadghuru

Hello to you as you climb back into the world, and happy summer solstice, 

This Saturday, as lockdown eases, life begins to feel like it’s flowing a little faster, and we find ourselves perhaps feeling a little “busier” - we wanted to promote and give you full permission to join thousands of others on the longest day of the year to do nothing. Yes, a day of nothing. Hmmm. What does that even mean?

This rather brilliant and inspiring concept - brought to you by day of nothing is not to literally do nothing, but rather to pause from what we feel like we are “supposed” to be doing. An opportunity to step away from the never ending ‘to do list’. Time to pause for a few hours, tune out of the every-day tasks and just see what happens, safe in the knowledge you have full permission. 

As humans, we’re usually always busy doing, we live in an age of productivity, measures and immense activity, we live in an age of content, and stimulus - our poor frazzled brains are bombarded with information, almost constantly. And especially in the past few months, our nervous systems are on red alert for what’s next. And really who knows what’s next. 

So this Saturday - we are giving you - and ourselves, full permission to tune into the collective intention and energy of breaking away from what we think we need to be doing, To simply be human beings, and not ‘human doings’ - together. 

When we break away from our common thinking, activities and behaviours, the “got to, got to, got to” mindset, we create space for the good stuff to flood in. And it sounds so simple doesn’t it? Doing nothing is so simple, and so powerful, yet it is so hard to do. As humans we need “something”, give us something, anything”!?

So our day of nothing, does involve a little something. The day has been thoughtfully curated with mindful activities, general tips and guidance to help you pave the way for doing less, without the guilt. There will be suggestions on what not to do - no cleaning, social media, no god damn technology full stop, no rolling news, working or shopping. Take a moment now to think about what will be on your “not-doing list”, write it down - then you have a framework of at least what you won’t be doing.

And while you may not know exactly what it is that you do want to do on the day itself, this is perfectly normal. The point of this day is to switch off from planning mode and just sense what you feel like doing. Perhaps a walk in the woods, a paddle in the sea, reading, sketching, daydreaming, dancing, stargazing, sleeping. All the day requires is that you give yourself the opportunity to feel your way onto the day and immerse yourself in sensory experiences, in nature. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself - just trust the process and see how your day unfolds.

Go gently, move slowly, don’t feel guilty and see how your day goes. You don’t even need to let us know how you got on - see that’s one less thing to do already. We’re right with you, let’s do nothing together - for ourselves and for each other.

Your mind is brilliant and precious, let’s give it some well deserved space this Saturday. 

Switch off. Tune in, Bliss out. 

To find out more you can visit https://www.dayofnothing.co/

Author: Emily Graves