During the workshop, we will try to find out why it is so difficult to slow down and rest in this busy, hyper-productive and overstimulating everyday life, and then I will lead relaxation, mindfulness and imagery exercises.

We will start with a conversation around our beliefs about rest and the narratives about productivity that are present in culture and society

I will propose an exercise that is a form of inner work with one of the beliefs that you hold and that you feel is not serving you well (we often carry beliefs such as: “rest is laziness”, or “a person’s value depends on how much they are able to produce”, etc.) and which can be replaced with a more supportive message based on your authentic needs. Each person will work individually on this with my guidance, a notebook/paper and a pen will be useful

Then you will be able to just rest and relax. I’m aware that it can be quite difficult for some to slow down like this and that’s why I’m going to help everyone enter this state of relaxation with simple techniques (a mix of Jacobson’s progressive relaxation and yoga nidra). Afterwards, you will have some time just for yourself and you will be able to enter into a state of deeper relaxation, drifting off, or even dozing off (or observe your reactions to this situation)

The last exercise will be related to imagination and to visions of the future

At the end, each person will have the opportunity to share what they experienced and what it was like for them

Host: Kinga Kozłowska

The name of the workshop is taken from a book by Tricia Hersey: “Rest is resistance: Free Yourself from Grind Culture and Reclaim Your Life”, which I highly recommend everyone to read.
The reflections in the book resonated with me and my own experiences and observations from a 7-year long period that began with migration to Iceland, then turned into maneuvering between Poland, Iceland, and several other countries, studying/training in several things at once, and working in a dozen or so different roles. Eventually, I realized that I could no longer live in such intensity and multitasking.

Over the last year that I spent without leaving Warsaw, I began to look more and more closely at my non-human surroundings and to consciously notice that nature is cyclical and that the period of stopping and resting is just as important as the period of activity and doing things. I feel that as human species, we have completely lost this balance and become too one-sided in this rush of productivity. By hosting workshops about the importance of rest and slowing down, I would like to contribute my part towards greater balance and sustainability encompassing all levels (individual, social, ecological, etc.).

As for my background, I am currently training in a systems/solution-focused approach, and I also finished a programme in process-oriented psychology (a Jungian-experiential-somatic approach) and ethnological-anthropological, as well as philological studies at the University of Warsaw. My website: https://kingakozlowska.com/

The workshop is for ~10 people.

Please sign up by writing me an email: kinga.j.kozlowska@gmail.com
Suggested donation (if you’re able to): 2000kr