Elizabeth is over at Velvet Ashes today . . .

I love floating on my back. I love the weightlessness I feel when I’m on the water. I love the way my sense of hearing becomes momentarily muted. I love the way I’m free to focus on breathing. In and out, in and out, in and out.

I close my eyes and don sunglasses to block out even more of the light. I can easily slide into sensory overload in this city, and floating on my back cues my system to stop thinking so stinkin’ hard and so ridiculously much and just exist.

It’s my opportunity to tune out the auditory and visual clutter. Even the mental clutter starts to dissipate as I focus solely on my breath. My muscles relax, and sometimes even my headaches and neckaches begin to lessen. Being on the water like this is about as close to bliss as I get.

Finish reading here.

Elizabeth is at A Life Overseas today. . . .

Last year I flirted with burnout. I was camping out along its edges, and I didn’t even know it. Only after some conversations with my husband and with a spiritual director, did I recognize what was going on and how I’d been complicit in my own spiritual sickness.

These are the things I’m doing to carve out rest and Sabbath in my life and to move farther and farther away from burnout. I’m no expert, and this is by no means a comprehensive list. They’re just things that seem to be working in my life. Some are deceptively small and simple; others are larger and more extreme and took more courage to do.

Read Elizabeth’s list of 10 ways to find Sabbath and avoid burnout.