Pause, Rest, Be with Octavia Raheem EP 185

The Space For Magic Podcast with Patty Lennon

Patty has a great guest joining her on this episode. Octavia Raheem has received national attention for her work training yoga teachers and diversifying the yoga and wellness industry. She’s the author of Gather, A collection of soulful sayings, poetry, and flashes of insight woven together into a single sacred garment.

Her latest work is Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change. Patty met Octavia when she saw one of her social media posts. It really spoke to her, and Patty wanted to know more.

Why is rest important?

Octavia shares how she came to rest, kicking and screaming. She describes a perfect storm of exhaustion that required her to be hospitalized. From that place, she reckoned with the fact that her physical issues were related to her inability to pause, to be still, to stop.

Shifting from hyper-productivity was something she recognized that had to change. She was already a yoga teacher focused on the athletic movement. Her first restorative class didn’t go as planned, but it was step one in her path to healing. Hear how transformation happened for Octavia.

What is the value of stillness?

In a culture of productivity, stillness isn’t something we associate with value. Hear how Octavia explains the shift and how stillness is truly the path to being creative and productive.

“When we resist rest, we resist God.”

Octavia explains how she brings a practice of rest and stillness into her day. Rest allows us to leave room for something greater than us. It gives us a space to remember who we are, and where we come from.

Hear how you can implement a rest practice.

Patty and Octavia discuss what it means to rest, and how to be mindful. It’s not just about activity (or the lack of activity) it’s also about the spirit and quality we bring to our practice. Hear how she explains the power of both/and.

“Rest is a practice of receiving.”

What if we all laid down to rest and allowed? We might receive healing, creativity, and a much-needed moment of nourishment.

What is liminal space?

It’s the space of no longer, and the space of not quite yet. It can feel like nothing, and everything. It’s the space in between and unknown. For many the unknown can bring feelings of uncertainty. Octavia suggests that it could be a place of possibility instead.

We can choose to pause, to linger. We don’t have to rush to the next thing, instead Octavia encourages to allow the pause. Be present to the possibility.

Patty and Octavia end the podcast with a lovely call to acknowledge your own pause.

Connect with Octavia

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Website

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