I've taught a lot of people meditation and mindfulness practices for a lot of years. And almost invariably, when I ask the folks I've taught a particular meditation to how it went and how they feel after it, almost invariably they say, “I feel rested” or “relieved” or somehow “restored”. I hear “restored a lot”.

Why do you suppose that is? Regardless of what I've taught them, regardless of what meditation they've done, whether it's breath counting or something more elaborate, meditation is restorative.

Why is that, you might ask?

Here's one theory. I believe we are all or most of us are weary at some level. What are we weary from? We're weary from carrying the burden, the weight of all of these various roles we play. I'll just take myself for example. CEO, psychologist, concerned citizen, dutiful, loving partner, caring parent, responsible citizen, man — all of these roles can carry a certain weight to them. Most of my thoughts are related to needing to do something in one or more of these roles. Meditation of so many sorts allows us to put down these roles, to put down these identities, and take a deep rest, even if only for a few minutes or an hour.

To just take a deep rest and not have to be one of these things that we've taken on.

Treat yourself to a deep rest.