We recently ran a remarkable piece by Pema Chodron, Laziness As Our Personal Teacher, where we asked the following question:
What helps you lean into your laziness?

I really enjoyed the richness in the reflections. Liz shared how trust in herself helps her lean into laziness. It is easy to have tunnel vision when we are going through a patch -- Liz's sharing encourages us to take the long view of our life, remembering how many times we were going through such patches and were able to get beyond it.

For David, it is "understanding that laziness is what I feel when I don't want to do something that I am supposed to do, as determined by someone else or myself, and my laziness has something to offer. Laziness can open me to new possibilities and to finding what I do want to do."

Jagdish shares the importance of accepting the body's natural rhythms. He notes, "When I am tired, my body wants and needs to rest and relax and go to sleep. If I do not listen to the feedback that my body gives, I become my own enemy. I have been learning and practicing to befriend my tired body and provide that restful space. It is natural laziness."

Gail found herself with new insights after accepting laziness and letting go of judgments. Pravin shared:
"Until recently, the word Laziness had a negative meaning for me like 'Procrastination', 'Coward', 'Loser' etc! But now, it has become my best friend. It is like a deliberate 'pause' in otherwise mostly 'unconscious' living! It is like a brief unscheduled Meditation moment. I love it. When I come out of 'Laziness', I am energized"

Pema Chodron's piece and these reflections reminded me of an older Awakin piece titled, In Praise of Idleness, excerpted from a book of the same name by Bertrand Russell. Here is an extract from that piece, in Russell's words:

It will be said that, while a little leisure is pleasant, (humans) would not know how to fill their days if they had only four hours of work out of the twenty-four. In so far as this is true in the modern world, it is a condemnation of our civilization; it would not have been true at any earlier period. There was formerly a capacity for light-heartedness and play which has been to some extent inhibited by the cult of efficiency. The modern (human) thinks that everything ought to be done for the sake of something else, and never for its own sake.

In gratitude for the thinkers who have gifted these thoughts and for all the reflections that people have taken the time to share. Would love to read further thoughts on the question or the pieces as comments on this post.