Relaxation

A cafe in Amsterdam is filled with people on a Sunday afternoon, but there’s not a laptop or cellphone in sight. Those meeting are part of the Offline Club, where a Wi-Fi signal is not needed, whose members check their electronics at the door, grab a coffee and a seat, and pretend like it’s the '90s.

Each meeting starts off with quiet time for reading, crafting, or just relaxing with your beverage. Then it becomes social for people who want to engage with others.

Co-founder of the club, Ilya Kneppelhout said, “The Offline Club is a way for people to detox from their rushed daily lives and ever-connected lives with notifications. And it is people who are unhappy with their social media usage or their phone usage and screen time and want to decrease that and get back to real connection."

It’s a simple concept, but participants say they really look forward to it. “You get to be very present in a way you didn’t come in realizing,” one member said. Kneppelhout added, “It felt a bit like traveling in time and made me feel nostalgic about the way bars and cafes used to be. Because nowadays, those are places we’re only going to with friends and people we already know and spend time doing digital things like work.”

The founders say they think the concept would work well in other cities, too. “We’re getting together with a franchising concept and we hope to have offline detox events in the entire world for people to reconnect.”

Che Guevara is known internationally as a Marxist revolutionary. As he recruited for his guerilla operations in Cuba, the Congo, and Bolivia he often encountered the half-heartedness of his volunteers.

Author John Lee Anderson quotes Che’s sarcastic evaluation of the freshly trained recruits who had just arrived to fight in the Congo:

In a ludicrous sideshow, the captain had also brought over forty new Congolese rebel ‘graduates,’ fresh from a training course in the Soviet Union. Like their Bulgarian and Chinese-trained predecessors, they immediately requested two weeks of vacation, while also complaining that they had nowhere to put their luggage. Che wrote, ‘It would be a little comic if it weren’t so sad, to see the disposition of these boys in whom the revolution had deposited its faith.’

Possible Preaching Angle:

The church also faces the same issue with those who are called to follow our Savior. We are not called to be part-time disciples looking for a life of leisure. Jesus calls for us to “take your cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). He also promises to give us immense rewards stored up in heaven for the sacrifices we make for his cause (Matt. 19:29).

Have you ever wondered what happens in your brain while you sleep? A good night's sleep does more than just help you feel rested; it might literally clear your mind.

A study published in the journal Cell shows how deep sleep may wash away waste buildup in the brain during waking hours, an essential process for maintaining brain health. According to one researcher, “It’s like turning on the dishwasher before you go to bed and waking up with a clean brain.”

Research sheds light on how deep sleep plays a crucial role in “cleaning” the brain by flushing out waste products that accumulate during waking hours. This process, known as glymphatic clearance, is driven by the brain’s glymphatic system to remove toxic proteins associated with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The study identified norepinephrine, a molecule released during deep sleep, as a key player in this process. Researchers observed in mice that norepinephrine waves occur roughly every 50 seconds, causing blood vessels to contract and create rhythmic pulsations. These pulsations act as a pump, propelling brain fluid to wash away waste.

These findings, which likely apply to humans, highlight the importance of high-quality, natural sleep for maintaining cognitive health. Poor sleep may disrupt waste clearance, potentially increasing the risk of neurological disorders. Researchers noted that understanding these mechanisms can help people make informed decisions about their sleep and overall brain health.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sleep is a precious gift from God, reminding us of the importance of rest in our lives. By modeling rest himself, God teaches us that taking time to recharge is necessary. Renewing our minds is crucial, and rest allows us to do just that—refreshing our thoughts and rejuvenating our spirit.

There’s a funny thing that happens when we finish a TV series that we love. We’re left with that bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye to characters who, in a semi-parasocial way, have become like friends. So, what do we do? We rewatch the entire series again, from start to finish. For many people, shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation or Friends become staples of comfort, like an old blanket or a warm cup of tea.

In a world that is constantly shifting beneath our feet, where nothing feels quite predictable, there’s something undeniably soothing about returning to a world where things rarely change. The same characters, the same jokes, the same arc we already know and love.

It begs the question: Why do we keep going back? The answer, in part, lies in a little thing called nostalgia—and it’s more powerful than we might think. Nostalgia can be summed up as a longing for a past that we associate with positive feelings.

According to research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, nostalgia can provide psychological comfort in times of stress, uncertainty, anxiety, or loneliness. It’s no secret that the real world seems increasingly chaotic. So, rewatching a familiar TV show provides that comfort and security, especially during moments when life feels anything but stable. The brain can relax, which in turn gives you that cozy, comforting feeling. You’re not tuning in to be surprised. You’re tuning in because you won’t be surprised.

So, the next time you find yourself wanting to watch Phoebe sing “Smelly Cat” or laugh at Liz Lemon’s fall into chaos for the umpteenth time, know that you’re not just watching a TV show. You’re seeking comfort in a world that feels anything but predictable. And in doing so, you’re finding a little piece of peace in the chaos.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In the same way, the search for comfort, security, and knowing how things will end should lead us to Scripture. In them, God provides a sure hope in times of stress and the unshakeable hope that everything will turn out for our good.

While booze has, for thousands of years now, been the most socially acceptable form of self-medication, its many health detriments have pushed some to seek alternatives: shrooms, weed, pharmaceuticals, kratom, or some other wellness industry offering.

But why not just skip the drugs? What’s so bad about sobriety? In an article in Vox, Rebecca Jennings notes: “The world is really tough. The world has only gotten more anxiety-inducing and more challenging over the past decade or so. People are looking to numb out, they want to medicate their anxiety.”

But Jennings concludes with some startling observations about the movement, ones that point well beyond alcohol replacements:

There’s a dream that basically everyone in the world shares. It’s the dream of an alcohol that isn’t quite alcohol but almost is — a substance that will make you feel free and happy and sexy and chatty but also won’t get you addicted, won’t shave years off your life, won’t make you groggy and achy and anxious the next day. It’s the dream of a substance from which taking an entire month off as part of an annual challenge would be laughably absurd because why would anyone ever need a break from it?

Possible Preaching Angle:

If this sounds like the search for utopia, you’d be right. For her part, Jennings is deeply skeptical this utopia is ever possible: “Such a substance could never be more than fantasy because of course human beings would find a way to render it destructive.” But for Christians there is the always available, always effective promises of God (Psa. 23:1-3; Phil. 4:6-7).

Lee So-hee, a 30-year-old office worker, used to live alone in Seoul. That changed in November when a friend gave her a rock. “If you really think of your rock as a pet, I do think it makes things a bit less lonely and more fun,” she said.

Pet rocks, a kooky and best-forgotten fad of 1970s America, are resurfacing in South Korea.

South Koreans, who endure one of the industrialized world’s longest workweeks, have a tradition of unwinding in unusual ways. They have lain in coffins for their own mock funerals, checked into prison to meditate, and gathered in a Seoul park each year for a “space-out” contest.

Pet rocks are the latest new thing. Lee, a 30-year-old researcher at a pharmaceutical company, made her pet rock a winter blanket from an old towel. It came into her life during a demanding stretch at work when she was working long hours in the lab, often late into the night.

“I’d occasionally complain to my rock about what a tiresome day I had at work,” she said. “Of course, it’s an inanimate object that can’t understand you. But it’s kind of like talking to your dog, and can feel relaxing in some ways.”

Choi Hye-jin, a 39-year-old Seoul homemaker, picked up a stuffed cloth trinket in the shape of a rock at a tourist shop next to one of South Korea’s famed rock formations. She takes pictures of it when traveling and has brought it to concerts and autograph-signing events of her favorite singer, who now recognizes her because of it, she said.

Only a fifth of Americans have experienced “true comfort” in the past 24 hours, according to a new survey. The poll of 2,000 Americans reveals that true comfort—feeling completely relaxed or at ease—can be hard to come by, as just 21% say they’ve been able to reach this state.

The survey also finds that the average American only feels comfortable for a third of the day—roughly eight hours.

The survey reveals that more than anything else, taking a nap (47%) is the top way respondents find true comfort. This is followed by taking a walk outside (41%) and having a spa day (36%), rounding out the top three ways respondents prefer to find comfort in their day.

When temperatures drop, respondents say they also find true comfort in taking a hot bath (34%) and creating the perfect temperature at home (25%)—which is 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Christian does not look for unreliable temporary comfort in the things of this world but genuine and lasting comfort through our Father in heaven, who personally comforts us (2 Cor. 1:4), with eternal comfort (2 Thess. 2:16), through the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31), through his promises (Ps. 119:50), and by means of his rod and his staff (Ps. 23:4)

If you’re waking up feeling more exhausted than when you fell asleep, you’re not alone. According to new research, the average American wakes up feeling well-rested only three mornings out of the week. The survey of 2,000 U.S. adults reports that the average person doesn’t get anywhere near the quality or amount of sleep they want.

On average, Americans only get six hours of sleep on any given night, while a majority aspire to get eight or more in the new year (58%). Parents in particular claim to struggle with nighttime routines. Thirty-five percent of respondents who are parents say their nighttime routine suffers, with a similar percentage of parents sharing that they have trouble winding down before bed most of the week (34%).

It’s not just parents, however, as two in three Americans (66%) report that they need a full two hours or more to wind down before being able to fall asleep. Respondents from the Northeast (38%) and “night people” (53%) are most likely to struggle with winding down.

One icy night in March 2010, 100 marketing experts piled into the Sea Horse Restaurant in Helsinki. They had the modest goal of making a remote and medium-sized country a world-famous tourist destination. The problem was that Finland was known as a rather quiet country, and the Country Brand Delegation had been looking for a national brand that would make some noise.

The experts puzzled over the various strengths of their nation. Here was a country with exceptional teachers, an abundance of wild berries and mushrooms, and a vibrant cultural capital the size of Nashville, Tennessee. These things fell a bit short of a compelling national identity. Someone proposed that perhaps quiet wasn’t such a bad thing. That got them thinking.

A few months later, the delegation issued a slick “Country Brand Report.” It highlighted a host of marketable themes, (but) one key theme was brand new: silence. As the report explained, modern society often seems intolerably loud and busy. “Silence is a resource,” it said. It could be marketed just like clean water or berries. “In the future, people will be prepared to pay for the experience of silence.”

People already do. In a loud world, silence sells. Noise-canceling headphones retail for hundreds of dollars; the cost of some weeklong silent meditation courses can run into the thousands. Finland saw that it was possible to quite literally make something out of nothing.

The next year, the Finnish Tourist Board released a series of photographs of lone figures in the wilderness, with the caption “Silence, Please.” Eva Kiviranta, who manages social media for VisitFinland.com, explains “We decided, instead of saying that it’s really empty and really quiet and nobody is talking about anything here, let’s embrace it and make it a good thing.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Bible also emphasizes the need for occasional restful silence in our pursuit of God. Prayer (Luke 5:16), seeking God’s will before making decisions (Luke 6:12), and rest from a busy ministry (Mark 6:31) all led Jesus to model withdrawal to quiet places (Matt. 14:13).

There’s a new trend at gym classes around the country. Americans emerging from more than two years of pandemic are looking for something new in their workouts: A good rest. Gyms say they are seeing increased demand for gentler classes, and they’re expanding their mellower offerings. They’re also rolling out dedicated “recovery” rooms equipped with massage lounge chairs and self-massage gadgets.

One participant said his workout reminds him of preschool nap time. He lies on a mat with pillows in a dimly lighted room and follows an instructor through a series of gentle stretches while calming music plays. Aptly named Surrender, the hourlong class in his Houston gym has been packed. The chain has increased the number of Surrender classes by an average of about 50% across its locations compared with 2019.

Months of stress and sweatpants have shifted priorities for gym-goers, with many saying they now care more about how they feel versus how they look. A recent survey of 16,000 Americans reported 43% are exercising to feel better and 59% to reduce stress. As one fitness expert said, “Leaving it all on the gym floor doesn’t seem like a priority as much.”

In 1879 the modern world changed forever with a patent. It was issued for the invention of a carbon filament made of cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways. This process which, after fine tuning, would launch a company the following year dedicated to commercial production of the electric light bulb. The Edison Electric Company offered its customers a safer, cleaner, cheaper alternative to gas light. As electric power began to replace gas in homes and factories, for the first time in human history work was no longer limited to the time between sunrise and sunset.

With his modern utterance of “let there be light,” Thomas Edison invited humanity into a world that never sleeps. Edison himself believed sleep was a waste of time. He was known to work over 100 hours a week, to hold job interviews at 4:00am, and to insist that his employees adhere to the same sleepless schedule he did. He adhered to and promoted a philosophy that rest was the enemy of productivity. In 1914 he said that there is really no reason why men should go to bed at all.

It appears his vision for a sleepless humanity has come to pass. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared a sleep deprivation epidemic among Americans. Though Edison’s “let there be light” may have ushered us into sleeplessness, the divine creator who uttered, “Let there be light” also benevolently declares “Let there be rest.”

Reiki is a relaxation practice that claims it promotes physical and emotional healing. The International Center for Reiki Training reports that more than four million people have completed their courses. Several major hospitals in the US and Canada offer Reiki to suffering patients. Practitioner uses their hands to either lightly touch or hover over the patient’s body to manipulate its natural flow of energy.

Anne Bokma, in her book My Year of Living Spiritually, investigated a wide variety of alternative spiritual practices, one of which was Reiki. Most “Reiki Masters” invoke spirit guides. At the start of one session Bokma was told: “The room is filling up with beautiful divine beings.” Through the Master the divine being said: “What a delicious feeling it is that you can sense me with your physical form.” And “You can communicate with us and ask us for guidance and clarity any time.” Another Master invoked the Archangel Michael, who is wielding the “sword of truth” to break Bokma’s chains.

A Reiki Master Teacher Training director writes:

If I need guidance, I find it works best for me to stop whatever I am doing, take a deep breath, say a prayer, invoke the distant healing symbol, and ask that the Reiki energy help connect me with my guides. When I feel the energy flowing, I will ask a specific question, stay very quiet and pay attention to what I hear. Now I don't usually audibly hear voices, but I FEEL them. For example, I knew I was to move to a new home in Colorado, however I wasn't sure where. To discern this, I asked my guides to tell me where my next home was to be. Then I just felt a warm glowing sensation in my heart and had an idea of a place that I had never been, but was feeling very curious about. I immediately went to this area, and within two hours had found my new home.

Everyone could use a little sunshine in their life right now, so a Wisconsin farmer decided that's what he was going to do, and planted more than 2 million sunflowers in his fields.

Scott Thompson's family has been farming for more than 70 years, and this is the first year that flowers are decorating the landscape. Usually, the pick-your-own farm consists of strawberries in summer and raspberries and pumpkins in the fall. But this year, Thompson Strawberry Farm is drawing people to a simpler family outing where they can picnic, wander fields of florals and take home a dozen sunflowers.

Thompson and his wife thought with everything going on in 2020 it would be ideal to spread a little happiness to their customers. He said, "We just did it ... and we just kept building. As the season went on, the pandemic never went anywhere ... and we thought people might be looking for something to do, and what a great way to social distance and ... smile, basically."

Thompson ended up with more than 22 acres of flowers. It makes for over 2 million blooms of sunshine. The flowers are planted in more than 15 fields to provide room to social distance and spread out. In addition to sunflowers, Thompson also planted a field of zinnias, a field of wildflowers, and Mexican sunflowers that are known for attracting butterflies.

He said, “One of the things that's so cool about this is everyone is so happy. We get all these comments on Facebook, or if I'm out in the field, everybody is like, 'Thanks for doing this,' (and) 'This is what I needed.' People are so happy to be out there and have a place to go." He said that people come to enjoy a small break from reality.

In 2013, Netflix ventured into new television territory by releasing all 13 episodes of their new show “House of Cards.” Even Netflix was shocked by how many viewers watched multiple episodes in one sitting. Although “House of Cards” was 13 hours long, Netflix reported that thousands of viewers consumed the entire series in one gulp over the weekend of its release. A later Netflix poll of TV streamers found that 61 percent defined their viewing style as watching two to six episodes at a time.

Grant McCracken, an anthropologist paid by Netflix to investigate (and promote) the habit, reported that “TV viewers are no longer zoning out as a way to forget about their day, they are tuning in, on their own schedule, to a different world. Getting immersed in multiple episodes or even multiple seasons of a show over a few weeks is a new kind of escapism that is especially welcome to today.”

This new habit of viewing TV morphed into a new word—binge-viewing. The word became widely used in 2013 after Netflix begin releasing their full seasons at once. It even prompted the Oxford Dictionary to add it to the language and also shortlisted as the Word of the Year. (The final Word of the Year for 2013 was “selfie.”)

Possible Preaching Angles:

Notice the phrases used to describe this practice (or spiritual discipline) of watching TV—“tuning in … to a different world” and “Getting immersed in multiple episodes.” That is how we should be able to describe our life of prayer, worship, and paying attention to God.

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station sits upon two miles of glacial ice at the bottom of the world. It is one of the remotest places on the planet, more than 800 miles from the nearest human beings. A small group of 50 to 150 people gather here to support scientific research done by the United States Antarctic Program. Brett Baddorf is one of them, commissioned as a missionary to the others.

Baddorf expected to find that the silence and solitude of the South Pole would deeply rattle his connection with Christ. Instead, he discovered what he now calls "the blessings of solitude":

I should have known better. Christ frequently withdrew to desolate places [like the desert], often at night. So while our environment elicits plenty of side effects and moments of tension over time, Christians especially here have leaned into, instead of away from, the solitude.

None of the Christians here feel called to spend the rest of their lives in the desert (Antarctica is technically a desert, with little precipitation). But it is impossible to deny the benefits of a season set apart. If anything, it would help to remove a few more of the amenities here, at least if a goal of coming to Antarctica were fostering spiritual growth.

In the modern, non-Antarctic world, it can be difficult to find places to be alone. We are surrounded by real and virtual community throughout good portions of our days. When we do need to set apart moments of meditation with our God, knowing how to handle stillness can be almost as challenging as finding it.

True rest seems to be elusive for most Americans. Only one in seven adults (14 percent) set aside a day a week for rest. And on that one day a week, what do they do? Mostly, they work. Only one in five (19 percent) of this small group say they don't do any work at all. Even fewer Americans commit to daily time alone (16 percent) or with God (21 percent) or to activities that recharge them (12 percent). Only 12 percent of American adults say that they intentionally set aside a time of day when they don't use electronic devices.

Proper sleep habits have long been understood as essential to physical and mental health, but the exact reasons why have still remained a matter of scientific intrigue. However, a research team released findings that shine some more light on the natural processes our bodies undergo during sleep. They found that during the hours we are unconscious, the brain takes advantage of the opportunity and actually shrinks the synapses that connect the brain's neurons by up to 20%.

The reason, the researchers presume, is to remove inconsequential information and make room for new memories to be made. Without this process, the synapses would become overloaded with information and not be able to cope. "It is critical to have pruning back at night, so that the huge amount of information encoded by temporary synapses during the day won't overwhelm the brain," says Russell Foster, a sleep researcher at the University of Oxford. "Pruning ensures that only the most important information is retained." The study also noted that this neurological activity is likely only one of many "housekeeping" items that take place during a good night's sleep, emphasizing how important rest truly is.

Potential Preaching Angles: We may often consider the theological implications of regular Sabbath and rest, but it can be fascinating to consider that God actually built humans to rest regularly.

While elaborating on loving one's neighbor, apologist Michael Ramsden spoke of a colleague who while in Asia asked his audience to close their eyes and imagine peace. After a few seconds the audience was invited to share their mental pictures of peace. One person described a field with flowers and beautiful trees. Another person spoke of snow-capped mountains and an incredible alpine landscape. Still another described the scene of a beautiful, still lake.

After everyone described their mental picture of peace there was one thing common in them all—there were no people in them. Ramsden commented, "Isn't it interesting, when asked to imagine peace the first thing we do is to eliminate everyone else."

An article on Quartz begins, "In an era of limitless technology and information, life can feel at once empowering and overwhelming—especially in jobs where employees feel pressure to be swamped. But just how busy are we, really?" The global marketing firm Havas Worldwide wanted to know the answer, so they surveyed over 10,000 adults across 28 countries. The bottom line was stunning: People feel compelled to lie about how busy they are.

When the respondents were asked the question "I sometimes pretend to be busier than I am," over 51 percent of Millennials answered yes. And when asked that question about other people, between 57 percent to 65 percent of those surveyed think other people pretend to busier than they actually are. The conclusion from the researchers is very revealing for how we live our lives: " … our tendency to lie about how busy we are comes from our belief that being busy is equivalent to 'leading a life of significance' and not wanting to be 'relegated to the sidelines.'"

Everybody seems to be looking for a little peace and quiet these days. But even such a reasonable idea can go too far. The quietest place on earth, an anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota, is so quiet that the longest anybody has been able to bear it is 45 minutes.

Inside the room is so silent that the background noise measured is actually negative decibels, -9.4 dBA. Steven Orfield, the lab's founder, said, "We challenge people to sit in the chamber in the dark—one person stayed in there for 45 minutes. When it's quiet, ears will adapt. The quieter the room, the more things you hear. You'll hear your heart beating, sometimes you can hear your lungs, hear your stomach gurgling loudly. In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound."

But the room isn't just for torturing people. Companies test their products in it to find out just how loud they are. And NASA has sent astronauts to help them adapt to the silence of space. For you and me, however, the room is a deeply disorienting place. Not only do people hear their heartbeat, they have trouble orienting themselves and even standing. Orfield said, "How you orient yourself is through sounds you hear when you walk. In the anechnoic chamber, you don't have any cues. You take away the perceptual cues that allow you to balance and maneuver. If you're in there for half an hour, you have to be in a chair."

So the next time you wish for some quiet time, remember that it could also drive you crazy.

Possible Preaching Angles: This illustration can be used for silence and solitude, but it can also illustrate the struggle of spiritual disciplines in general—we want to practice the disciplines, but they turn out to be more difficult than we imagined.