7 Days of Rest

DAY 1

DAY 2

a 7-day journey: reflections and practice offered by shelley ostroff

In the weeks/months before the first 7 Days of Rest, 7 musings for each of the days came through in meditation. Encoded in these musings, that are also informed by the 7 chakras, is inspiration for a healing journey. These 7 offerings have accompanied the diverse events over the years, their essence holding a relevance beyond the particular themes of the year. This year, I offer simple invitation as guidance - reflections and practices for the journey inspired by the invitations of the days. May this offering nourish you in your journey of deepening intimacy with Rest.

As we begin this journey of the 7 Days, you are invited to open a deep space of communion with the essence of Rest.

day 1

1. Your relationship with Rest: Create a dedicated space of silence to honor rest and to reflect on what has been the nature of your relationship with Rest in your life journey thus far? Move beyond the initial associations to allow yourself access to deeper patterns, conditionings, experiences, voices, insights and inspirations that have shaped your relationship with Rest. Attend to your body's wisdom, and the embodied responses and their messages as you allow the memories and insights related to rest to reveal themselves. What insights emerge as you reflect on this journey? What would you like to invite in to your relationship with Rest as you move forward? This process can be most beneficial through intuitive writing, movement or painting where you allow your creative flow to lead the way.

2. Communing with the essence of Rest: Prepare a quiet space to commune with the essence of Rest, and gently, with gratitude, invite in the presence of Rest. Notice what happens, and how Rest comes into your awareness as you embark on this first day of the journey of the 7 Days of Rest 2025. What are the images, associations, words, feelings, sensations and insights that emerge? What do you share with Rest in this encounter, and what does Rest share with you? You may wish to share your gratitude with Rest for her presence, and offer an intention for the continuation of deepening your relationship with her.

3. Releasing that which is unrestful: In quiet space, as you listen to your breath, imagine yourself shedding all that no longer serves you - all that stands between you and deep rest. Imagine shedding the noise and the toxins, the habits and the fears - and the feelings that hurt yourself and others. Imagine releasing that which is stale and rigid and lifeless and all that which has constrained your creativity and compassion. Notice what happens as you invite in and allow this to become. Be gentle with yourself. Take as long as needed and know that this can be a deeply layered process to be revisited over time. You may want to create a ritual of release for the completion of this first layer of this process - a ritual that includes forgiveness and perhaps gratitude for all that has been released. Allow yourself to sense into the power of this process and how it may want to continue as a practice.

4. Restful Practice and Inspiration: Explore the offerings and the practices on the website (you may want to dip into previous years as well for inspiration) and consider what you feel drawn to to include in your day and in the week ahead. Allow your intuition to guide you to what feels natural and inspiring.

5. Honoring the Emergent: During the day and as the day ends, honor the journey of the day, the insights and intuitions, the embodied experiences and the subtle and the clear revelations and inspirations, the roots and seeds of possibility that may have emerged in the moments of spaciousness. Sense into what and how you may want to water these seeds as the journey continues.

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4

DAY 5

DAY 6

Rest in Loving Essence

As we begin our journey of healing,

We ask to release from our lives all that no longer serves.

We agree to let go of the noise and the toxins

And the habits and the fears

And the feelings that hurt ourselves and others.

We shed that which is stale and rigid and lifeless

And relinquish that which has constrained

Our creativity and compassion.

We go deeper, listening patiently as the veils clear,

And fresh spaces open to new breath.

And in for-giving space,

Essence reawakens

Sprouting fresh roots

As it stirs in readiness

To dance again in love with all that is

~ From the first 7 Days of Rest 2018

Rest in Loving Senses

And we begin to surrender body and soul

to the language of Life,

To the shapes and colors and smells
and tastes and textures

And sounds and sensations

Within and around us.

We notice the shifting interplay
of rhythm and patterns

That weave beneath and beyond -

A host of loving possibilities

Breathe through us,

Awakening us to honor their presence,

To engage in sacredness with their gifts.

We hold the rainbow spectrum

With awe and tenderness

As the creative energy stirs within us,

Waiting to unfurl in joyful, sensual service.

~ From the first 7 Days of Rest 2018

Rest in Loving Movement

And we give ourselves to the moment

To the movement

That knows the way.

And the waves pulsate intimately through our veins

In the core of our being.

A calling . . .

A direction is being woven,

A commitment of love’s meeting,

Calling us beyond reason

A call of passion,

Of hope

Of compassion and contribution

To the richness of our co-creative wholeness

And the nourishing interplay

Of all that moves with love

~ From the first 7 Days of Rest 2018

Rest in Loving Contact

And in the rootedness in essence

And in the sensing and the movement

And the listening,

A love is birthed - birthed from the revelations,

And the harmonies

That whisper through the newly opened portals

Of tender attention . . .

A love that births itself again and again

In celebration of a new found friend,

A smile, a tree, a bee, a cloud

A wink of spirit shining through

Inspiring us with tender touch

To softly step on sacred ground, and offer forth

That love to share and birth

And birth and share again.

~ From the first 7 Days of Rest 2018

Rest in Loving Communication

And now the sounds and forms and colors dance

In breathful splendor

Taking us with them

Through the seasons of surprise and surrender

The lean and sumptuous beauties

With their infinite turnings and returnings,

Move through us and beyond us,

Rippling out waves of wonder

Heartful messages

That speak a universal tongue

Received and shared

Even with those who may seem far

Yet shine back love like stars

Who know our common dusty past

And love all that we are.

~ From the first 7 Days of Rest 2018

Rest in Loving Wisdom

And visions from the future bless,

As gentle guides who show the way.

They answer calls that ask to serve

Creation in its path of Love

As in-sight flows,

New paths of promise waken.

Instinct and imagination play and wisdom grows -

With past and future mixing fertile longings.

A time of peace and health and joy,

Is seen upon our inner screen,

And swept up by the clarion call,

With inner compass clarity,

We let go and we let come -

To take our place along the way

Into the mysteries of the day.

~ From the first 7 Days of Rest 2018

Rest in Loving Grace

And She and He are blessed with Grace

And bless with grace the wholeness.

They came from there

To leave their roots,

Forget their source

and then return

with Grace.

The time has come of this return,

Compassion found - a healing ground,

For-giving Life’s embrace

Where all have space

To live and love and learn,

The path of generosity

And gratitude

And Grace.

~ From the first 7 Days of Rest 2018

Q: Why 7 Days?

7 Days of Rest holds both symbolic and pragmatic significance. On a symbolic level, the number 7 has profound meaning in many spiritual traditions and the concept of 7 levels of space, time, color and sound can be found across cultures.

A week is a unit of time, a cycle of activity and rest according to which we organize ourselves in modern life. A week offers a natural opportunity for participants to undergo a significant journey, a process of deepening immersion into the vibration of rest and healing.

The first day of the new year, 1.01 amplifies the energy of a fresh beginning - seeded through a sacred collective process from which a new blueprint for a thriving planet can take root and grow.

Q: How to participate/register?

You can sign up as an individual and/or community
Create an event with your friends / community / neighbourhood (it can be very simple, there are examples on the event form. (Optional)
Join the Facebook event
Join the Facebook Community space where all participants are welcome to share inspirations and activities related to the event.
As we approach January there will be important information about the event on the homepage of the website, including the participant and event map.
The website will serve as the primary notice board during the event - so please be sure to visit regularly for updates. We will also be in touch via newsletters with important information. To make sure you receive our emails, please check your promotions/spam mailbox and, if relevant, add our email address to your safe senders list.
The way in which people participate is very individual. Some may choose to honor the 7 Days in a silent retreat by themselves - others may choose to initiate and/or join peace-building ecological activities, meditation, art, ritual, learning events - or any other activities aligned with the purpose of the event. During the event participants can check our interactive map to see what’s happening both close to where you live, as well as the global events online that can be joined from anywhere.

Q: Does the event cost money? Is there a product or service being sold at the event?

The event is created in the spirit of generosity and all events are free of charge. If any costs are incurred the event organizer may invite donations to cover them.The event has no income. Nothing will be sold.

Q: Where is the event taking place?

The event has both local and global elements co-created by stewards, participants and partners across the world. Anyone who creates an event will be able to share that event on our global map which we will put in place closer to the event. Events will also appear on the website on the Calendar page closer to and during the event.

Q: Let me know what I can do/ What kind of support do you need?

Thank you for offering your support! Here are a few things that you can do:

As an open, co-creative community we invite all participants, stewards and partners to help nourish the larger event by engaging on social media. Please:
- Like, follow, share and invite others to the Facebook page, share the video (fb) video (youtube) and website, and comment on the posts
- Follow and share/repost memes and posters from Instagram, Twitter and Facebook page.
- Join the Facebook event and share it with your friends.
- Join the Facebook Community space where all participants are welcome to share inspirations and activities related to the event.
- Adopt the 7 Days of Rest and Radiant Diversity Facebook cover photo.
- Help with translation (primarily for the video and posters).
- For more information and resources for sharing, please visit the Social Media Resource Kit
Organize an event in your local area that aligns with the event’s concept. Some possible ideas we can suggest: A group meditation, Daily gatherings in your community during the week, yoga events, a concert of sacred music, dialogue groups, activities devoted to compassion, ecology, awareness raising etc. Whatever your passion is aligned with the 7 Days of Rest & Radiant Diversity you can create an event around it and inspire others

Q: If I live in the city, should I take the time off and retreat to a place that is closer to nature?

This is a personal decision. The rest we envision invites resting from business as usual to move forward in the New Year in a new and healthy way for all. This intention can be manifested in many different ways - both through a personal retreat in nature - to finding new, healing and replenishing ways in the midst of city life.

Q: What is planned to happen after the event is over?

With the completion of the 7 Days & Radical Healing 2021, individuals and communities will be invited to continue to connect as a global community. Our intention is to build the foundations of an ongoing virtual community platform that will enable a vibrant co-creative sharing space where we can together evolve a new form of eco-governance and sacred stewardship of the planet. The community platform will align with Codes for a Healthy Earth as the core value system and organizing principles. Codes for a Healthy Earth provide a unifying framework for citizen-led self-organization towards cultural and systemic transformation and healing. You are invited to learn more about Codes for a Healthy Earth and consider joining the Codes Community as well.

Contact#new

EVENT 2019 GATEWAYS 2019 CALENDAR 2019 PARTNERS 2019 STEWARDS 2019 GALLERY 2019

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Co-creating a global field of intention and experience for the Healing and Replenishment of the Planet and all its inhabitants