The Restpiration story can be summed up in three words: expressivity, inspiration and rest.
In fact, the very name Restpiration is coined from two words- rest and inspiration. I have had the unprecedented privilege of observing Restpiration in its formless essence (idea) and I will therefore like to share with you the Restpiration story. I hope you find this story inspiring and refreshing.
🚫 This article is an excerpt from Adrenaline January, 2022 Issue
A couple of years ago, the consciousness of human existence started to creep into my hitherto unconscious mind. Instead of immersing myself actively in the incident-reaction process of life, I found myself craving for the deeper meaning and principles behind the incidents and the reactions as well. Of course, I didn’t fully understand all these principles back then and neither do I now but I have gone further along the pathless path of information and thought to make some discoveries for myself. Restpiration is pretty much a narration of my journey thus far.
Restpiration = Rest + Inspiration
Let’s talk about the expressivity element of Restpiration. So, what is this expressivity element all about? I’ll answer this question by narrating a real-life story.
There once lived a successful journalist in France whose life came to a standstill when he was suddenly attacked by stroke. He became paralysed throughout his body but was able to move just an eyelid.
Even in this deplorable state, Jean Dominique Bauby managed to write and publish his final book- the diving bell and the butterfly- before his demise. You may wonder how a paralysed man could accomplish such a feat.
It is said that all the French alphabets were presented to him on a board. Once the letter that he desired was pointed, Bauby just moved his eyelid. Although this method of book writing took like forever, Bauby still managed to author a book.
With the blink of an eye, Bauby authored The diving bell and the butterfly
In neurology, the name given to Bauby’s paralysis is locked-in syndrome. The “locked-in” expression really resonates with me.
How many of us even without suffering a major stroke feel locked-in… that we are not giving vent to who we really are?
I think it was Dr. Maya Angelou that said that there’s no great agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
Although Bauby was in much pain physically, he eased his inner agony by telling his story.
Are you lessening your own agony? Of course, this isn’t limited to writing a book, but is there anything you can do to manifest your inner treasure and potential…anything??
The next element of Restpiration is inspiration. Inspiration connotes some level of freshness (like when you inhale fresh air). We all need this freshness in our lives. Even with our physical bodies; we bathe, brush our teeth, put on clean clothes and even give ourselves a new cut just because we love this feeling of freshness, or newness.
Similarly, we also need some freshness in our inner life; we need to sniff some good fresh information that shifts our consciousness to experience life from another realm. When we have such a multi-faceted experience of life, why settle for staleness?
The final element of Restpiration is rest. It is not uncommon to mistaken rest for inactivity and idleness. But when I talk about rest, I’m talking in terms of flow. Let’s use this analogy to better appreciate this:
Imagine a twig floating on a stream. The twig is completely at rest on the stream but does that imply that it makes no movement? Of course not! The twig gracefully moves with the flow of the stream. Its movement isn’t forceful or self-induced, it is an unforced rhythm of flow.
Therefore learning to rest isn’t a matter of staying long hours in bed but it is basically about understanding the nature and rhythm of life and cooperating with it.
This gives you a sense of being carried by life as opposed to trying to make life happen.
So that’s the Restpiration story. It is my desire that you also become a Restpirant by being expressive, inspiring and restful.
Restpiration 