Much emphasis is placed on our holidays each year. Where we plan to go, the budget, the time of year, do we go with friends or keep it intimate. The truth is that we put so much pressure on this one activity, that it can often lead us to feel quite exhausted and ready for another holiday. Just packing a suitcase can become an acquired and necessary skill and I won't mention unpacking! Then there is the pressure of our finances as we all tend to spend more that the allocated budget. The truth we need to tune into is, why we make such a big deal of going away and why we raise such high expectations of this single event, gambling with these odds. Really, what we ought to do is to have a mechanism where we de-stress every day for 5 mins at least. We don't really realise how things create tension; the things people say at work, the mundane routine, the late train again or traffic jams, the stressful trip at the supermarket all create footprints of stress in the mind and body and they won't go away until you address each imprint - the conscious areas of tension and those you are not aware of all, building up all the time. It seems ridiculous that we work to have a better home life but are too busy and preoccupied to really enjoy it every day. Once we damage our physical or mental health the body will say STOP anyway!! At this point you won't have the choices you have now. For those that note this familiar feeling I say do something now.
It's a human right to live well and be happy, but this truth must come from you and you need to believe its possible. So forget having to give up only one or two weeks a year to take time out, because in truth you aren't really, you are just adding to your 'to do list' not reducing it. Go on holiday but don't expect it to be all or nothing; put in some provision for relaxing every day as yoga has something for all of us, the lazy, the physical, the creative, the calm, the silent and the critical. Something to think about as we address real solutions to tension and everyday responsibilities we hold. Get back some control!