Weekend Wellness

It’s time to reclaim joy, ease, and simple pleasures

Here’s to your upcoming weekend. It’s two days. Just two days, and usually over before you’ve had a chance to get “dug in.” Before you can display a peaceful smile that says “Right now, at this moment, all is right with the world.” Have you forgotten that smile? You may have lost it in the last year, so it’s time to reclaim it. Even when things are not yet fully right with the world, such moments are precious — when there’s an opportunity for grace and new, life-affirming possibilities to emerge.

So to embrace the upcoming weekend before it’s come and gone, here are some offerings to encourage your inner smile, to help you relax for those hours that are yours and yours alone to do with what you like — so your outer smile can reappear of its own accord. Here’s hoping you find something vitalizing to strengthen your spirit and spark your interest for the week ahead.

6 “Rs” for Rejuvenation

1. Restore

Make sure you catch up on sleep Friday night if you need to, otherwise you’ll experience lag time the whole weekend. Who wants those hours marred by sleep debt? Anxiety has caused chronic sleep disturbances this year, so this is a vital reboot to help elevate your days if you find yourself sinking. When you replay your weekend highlights on the drive to work Monday morning (or on the thirty-second walk to your home office), you may find things more vivid, memorable, and satisfying if you were alert enough to notice all the good things around you, available to come your way.

Consider: Make getting a sound night’s sleep a priority Friday and Saturday nights (not just Sunday, before work). Once you find your energy increased and more vibrance in your world, you may actually enjoy this. Then you’ll start Monday in a state of readiness, minus any weighty sleep debt that may force you to “hit the wall” by noon. (Latte round three, anyone?) Fun is more fun on the weekend when you’ve had deep rest.

2. Resolve

Make a conscious choice that this weekend you’ll experience things anew, to help reset your COVID-weary nervous system. You may still do some of your favorite activities, but view them with a fresh perspective.

Consider this scenario: Perhaps last week at your standing tennis game, your serve didn’t (you have to admit) serve you well. First, consider how glad you were — and are — that you were able to play tennis outside with no imposed social distancing. If you’re a highly competitive person, this week try leaving the relentless racketer behind and play with the objective of having fun rather than trounce your opponent (though you may find you win anyway), or try warming up slightly differently to give your muscles a break from habit. Bearing fifty-two weeks of limited freedoms may indeed limit the scope of your body too. Those things have a way of creeping in. With a small physical change in your warmup, it’s possible you’ll find better flow, ease of movement, and — minus any striving to achieve — your best serve yet.

3. Reawaken

Find your sense of wonder. Where did it go? Decide to try something different this weekend that moves you beyond routine and your comfort zone. That means breaking a different type of boundary.

Consider: If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at painting a landscape “en plein air,” why not get some paints and do just that? Weekend guitarists may like the challenge of writing a song, instead of plucking a few standby tunes they have at-the-ready to play for dinner guests. For that dinner, perhaps try purple Peruvian potatoes if you’ve never had them — or create an imaginative dessert with Dragon fruit compote. Riff on your mother’s favorite recipe and see how it turns out. Innovate pasta, beans, or rice with herbs and spices. It may become a favorite, or may not. Either way stretches you.

4. Rebuild

Yourself and your surroundings.

Consider: Strengthen the body that carries you. This doesn’t just mean exercise if you haven’t moved throughout the week (which of course shouldn’t solely be a weekend-warrior task). It means getting a massage for tired muscles, or booking the trim you’ve been putting off. See how you feel when you put a shine on your shoes, actually use favorite items tucked away that you never see (silverware, jewelry), and toss tired, worn, ripped clothing that looks and feels depleted. (Give to the Goodwill, or keep exclusively for painting the kids’ rooms.) Also chip away at little tasks like mending a front door latch that squeaks each time you enter your home (and irritates you just a tiny bit each time). All of this nurtures you and your environment. It will create more positive energy that can be felt tangibly over time.

5. Renew

Take a half hour, an hour, afternoon, or evening to wind down or stimulate your creativity. Tune in to what your body needs. More calm, balance, or uplift?

Consider: Listen to evocative music that inspires (see list below). Perhaps sit under a tree and quiet your mind while you listen to the wind, birds, or hum of cicadas. Meditate if you like, or just allow yourself to “be” with no imposed expectation that you have to get up and do something productive. Try a favorite funny movie and laugh fully, freely, and as often as you wish to — from the gut. (No repressed chuckles.) If it appeals to you, take up gardening and plant your favorite herbs, or perhaps travel a new path either alone or with a loved one. As neurologists report, exploring new pathways may help create new pathways in your brain too.

6. Revive

Contact old friends or long-lost acquaintances to catch up, especially if you’ve been reticent to do so this past year. Also settle any grudges or resentments you may have within you that deplete energy and don’t serve your well-being. These can clog your weekend with discomfort and a sense of “dis-ease.” While self-care is essential to keep your life in tune, loving relationships are the notes that comprise the symphony.

Consider: Reach out to those people who nurture you. Be open to forming new friendships and discover how fulfilling expanding your horizons can be. It’s time to make peace with the world “out there” again. Perhaps volunteer at a shelter to help socialize the animals. The depth of gratitude reflected in an abandoned cat or dog’s eyes alone will be reward enough for stopping by to say hello. Adoption is wonderful, but so is being part of the caring continuum.

Remember, life is short, and weekend time should be more than just a stopgap that never fully satisfies week to week. Here’s hoping you find something to bring spontaneity and peace into your life this weekend. Beautiful opportunities await, as life moves in the direction of healing and vibrant new possibilities for us all.

Masterful Music

Uplift

Antonio Vivaldi — The Four Seasons

John Coltrane — A Love Supreme

Ludwig Van Beethoven — Symphony 9, Fidelio Overture

Calm

Claude Debussy — Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn

Miles Davis — Kind of Blue

Johann Pachelbel — Canon in D

Balance

Johann Sebastian Bach — Brandenberg Concertos

Joseph Haydn — Cello Concerto in C, Adagio

Johannes Brahms — Symphony N. 3 in F major

Stimulation

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — The Magic Flute

George Gershwin — Rhapsody in Blue

Igor Stravinsky — Rites of Spring

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