Creating Space, Resting Well, and Moving Toward Consciousness with Rod Stryker
We’re so used to being busy all the time because we live in a fast-paced world. When we do find time for ourselves, it’s frequently filled with noise from technology. More often than not, we are not resting well, reflecting, and connecting with ourselves. It is only through relishing in silence and creating spaciousness that our body, mind, and soul will be truly restored.
Rod Stryker joins us once again to talk about the importance of creating spaciousness in our lives. As a yoga and meditation teacher, Rod explains the significance of honoring our human need for resting well. And for those who feel like they’re too busy to be resting well, Rod shares some workarounds and bio-hacks to conquer that challenge. Lastly, we talk about how we can deal with life’s pains and difficulties.
If you want to know the secrets to resting well and feeling more connected with yourself, then this episode is for you!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
Learn bio-hacks to resting well and creating spaciousness in your busy life.
Find out why we seem to forget all our pain and suffering when we sleep.
Discover how to deal with pain upon waking up from a delightful sleep.
Resources
Pre-order Rod’s book, Enlightened Sleep.
Pre-order my book, You Are Radically Loved.
Create a daily meditation ritual in just seven days! Download BUILD YOUR DAILY MEDITATION RITUAL and other freebies on the Radically Loved website!
FREE Action Guide! Apply the lessons you learn from this episode as you listen! Sign up at RadicallyLoved.com, and I’ll send it right away!
Episode Highlights
How Spaciousness Allows for Resting Well
Life in the industrial world, especially with technology, isn’t conducive to the nervous system.
[04:12] “[The industrial world] is not a construct that's conducive to your nervous system to the human nervous system.”
We have disconnected from the body’s four basic rhythms: the circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycles, and rest and activity cycles.
Every 90 minutes, our bodies are meant to rest. When we slow down, we also become bored.
Boredom is critical to autobiographical planning, which is when our brains slowly begin to unwind and self-reflect.
[24:28] “We don't give ourselves the opportunity to have that patience because we've been so desensitized to being bored, to being patient because everything happens so quickly. We've sort of primed ourselves to having this instant gratification.”
This process creates spaciousness in our minds, and allows us to be more present and embodied.
Creating Spaciousness in a Busy Life
Using bio-hacks, you can create spaciousness even in your busy life.
Simply shifting from a narrow to a wide view can trigger your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for rest.
You can also follow the Pomodoro method. When you take short breaks, you allow your brain to go into exploratory mode. You’ll find it easier to work afterward.
In resting well, it also helps to watch what you do in the last 30 minutes before you go to sleep.
You need to be willing to step away from your responsibilities in your waking state and step into the mystery that is sleep.
What Happens When You Sleep
Rod explains sleep in terms of Yoga. As we extract ourselves from the physical, mental, intellectual dimensions, we move towards consciousness.
Consciousness is self-organizing, which means that as you approach it, you start to heal on all other levels.
Rod says that in sleep, we’re on the precipice of consciousness. We experience what Yogis call a floating delight.
In sleep, the body also enters a self-organizing state where it repairs and regenerates. However, when we wake up, we have to reconstruct who we were before sleep.
Unlike sleep, meditation offers an opportunity to choose how much of the “old you” you want to keep.
How to Deal with Pain in the Waking State
We humans prefer the familiar as opposed to the unfamiliar. We’d often prefer familiar pain to the unfamiliar cure.
[27:23] “We prefer the familiar, as opposed to the unfamiliar. And we would actually, in most cases, prefer the familiar even if it's painful than the unfamiliar even if it has the promise of being less painful.”
When we sleep or meditate, life seems harsher because we compare it to the peace and spaciousness that sleep and meditation provides.
The solution to this challenge is creating spaciousness and separation, and interrupting cycles of hyperarousal.
During the pandemic, teenagers experienced mental health problems the most. That’s because they haven’t experienced enough difficulties to know that they’ll be okay.
Stepping away from your grief or loss reminds you that other things continue to endure.
Becoming More Conscious
When you’re focused on yourself, you’re in subject referral.
Object referral is when you pay attention to things outside of yourself.
We switch between subject and object referral all the time, but neither depict reality.
To smooth out the harshness of reality and achieve clarity, try to walk the line between subject and object referral.
Consciousness is in subject and in object, but is transcendent to both.
The Power and Grace of Present Moment Perception
Rod recounted how years ago, his two children got very sick and were brought to a hospital by a life flight.
He thought that if he wanted to be of service to his family, he needed to tap into the power and grace of moment perception by moving towards his consciousness.
Although it was a difficult process, Rob was able to access spaciousness and handle the situation well.
Parting Words
Rod recounted how years ago, his two children got very sick and were brought to a hospital by a life flight.
He thought that if he wanted to be of service to his family, he needed to tap into the power and grace of moment perception by moving towards his consciousness.
Although it was a difficult process, Rob was able to access spaciousness and handle the situation well.
Powerful Quotes from This Episode
[14:18] “Step away and shift the rhythm. And then we begin to work more in sync with the nervous system and what it really does want.”
[35:13] “The idea is you practice awareness through the course of your life. You remember that you're neither your feelings and your thoughts, nor are you what the world seems to be doing.”
About Rod
Rod Stryker is a world-renowned yoga and meditation teacher and the founder of ParaYogaⓇ. He has been sharing his wisdom and guiding his students for over 40 years and has authored The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom. Rod has also recently developed the app, Sanctuary, for those who want to experience the life-changing practices of meditation and yoga Nidra.
Rod is known for his capacity to make ancient wisdom and practices accessible to modern people. He guides different kinds of students and audiences. He helps individuals wanting to improve their well-being and those seeking to apply time-tested methods to meet the demands of modern life.
If you want to know more about Rod and his work, you may visit his website. You may also follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
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