Do you judge yourself for being lazy?
“Lazy” is a term I’ve used against myself my whole life. When I’m low energy I label it as lazy and chastise myself thinking a better person would have the energy to accomplish more. I have some story in my mind that I haven’t earned the right to slow down until I attain a particular level of accomplishment, which is an elusive target.
In truth, I am a highly motivated person. Without break, I completed ten years of school while working two jobs, I launched 3 versions of a business, wrote a book, threw away a book, and started a new one…blah, blah, blah...you get the point.
Over the last few months, I’ve had multiple clients tell me they think there is something wrong with them because they have brain fog and low energy. Some even had their doctors’ run tests and appeared slightly disappointed when everything checked out OK, then shrugged off the suggestion that they might be experiencing burnout. (Brain fog and low energy are two common symptoms of burnout.)
I’m fascinated by the idea that a diagnosis is easier to accept than admitting it’s time to slow down.
I’ve been reading the book Laziness Does Not Exist by Dr. Devon Price who gives a fascinating look at the history of our beliefs around laziness and what Dr. Price identifies as the “Laziness Lie”.
Dr. Price brings us back to Colonial America when the colonies wealth was based on motivating the enslaved class to work harder. They used religious teaching to create a “productivity-obsessed form of Christianity” convincing the enslaved class that “suffering was morally righteous and that slaves would be rewarded in Heaven for being diligent” and that laziness meant “there was something fundamentally corrupt and wrong with them.”
Dr. Price believes that “decades of exposure to the ‘Laziness Lie’ has had a massive effect on our public consciousness. It’s made many of us critical of other people and quick to blame victims of economic inequality for their own deprivation. It’s made us hate our own limitations and to see our tiredness or desire for a break as a sign of failure.”
We’ve been brainwashed into believing that our personal value is directly linked to the level of our productivity and because of that we don’t see ourselves as someone who "deserves" a break.
Restorative yoga invites students to spend an hour resting on the floor with blankets and pillows and is typically the least attended yoga style that I--or any studio--offers, which reflects our culture’s inability to be properly lazy.
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines LAZY as:
disinclined to exertion;
moving slowly;
encouraging inactivity;
placed on its side (my personal favorite);
not rigorous or strict
These definitions are surprisingly neutral compared to the negative connotation I layer onto the word.
My relationship with lazy is slowly shifting to be more pleasurable. I now see LAZY as an ally that tells me when it’s time to slow down. I've learned that if I'm feeling lazy it’s likely that I’ve already pushed myself beyond a point of overexertion.
Because we’ve believed the Laziness Lie for so long, it can be hard to tell whether our tiredness requires more activity or more rest. When we're first learning how to be lazy we need some way to determine which it is.
I tell students who come to my active classes claiming they feel lazy to check in with themselves 15 mins. into the practice. If, after 15 mins. of moving, they feel more energized then movement is what they needed to move out of the inertia they are feeling; however, if they still feel lazy then I recommend lying down to rest instead.
What’s your relationship to lazy?
Do you use it against yourself?
Do you heed its invitation?
I'll leave you with the wise words of Anne Lamott:
"Rest and laughter are the most spiritual and subversive acts of all.
Laugh, rest, slow down."
