At Nexus, we believe all people deserve joyful and abundant lives filled with the rest our bodies, minds, and spirits need. Reclaiming Our Own Time (ROOT) is for BIPOC people to embrace rest and restoration as fundamental pieces of all work toward justice. The program is run by Nexus staff members Sook Jin Ong, Rosalva Mujwid Hernandez and Susy Morales. Get to know the team in Part 2 of our Q&A below!
Missed Part 1? Read it here!
What is your favorite way to rest?
Sook Jin: Part of being restful is being seen. In this season of my life, I engage a lot with poetry — not just reading but writing as well. Being able to savor beautiful words by poets who share similar identities to mine has helped, especially when I don’t feel as seen or I’m grappling with words to figure out why I’m restless. Reading good poetry helped me find myself, and then to write with other people or by myself, I’m engaging in the act of creating and reclaiming my narrative in a restful way.
Susy: Someone asked me recently if I were at the Olympics, what would I be there for? And I said naps. I think they’re great. Painting is another thing I gravitate toward, and I really like to paint nature-related things: flowers or mountains or the night sky. Being reminded I am connected to the earth and that there’s so much about our plant relatives I want to learn can feel very inspiring. And I’m a dreamer, right? So I love to read books that allow me to enter worlds where a lot of the things we’re dealing with don’t exist. Or just romance books where I’m like, “Oh, this is so cute!”
Also being able to talk to my family, especially my parents, aunts and uncles, about their lives and who they were, who they are now, always feels restful. I feel more connected and a sense of happiness. Even if the story is hard, even if whatever they’re sharing is hard, it always still brings me a sense of warmth to know more about who I am and where I come from.
Rosalva: I love a good book, podcast, audiobook, or playlist because it does create that sense of being in a new time, like I went through a portal. It creates a different way of being that allows my mind to relax from what it’s super focused on. Lately, I’ve been deleting some apps off my phone so I can own my own time a little better. I wake up and instead of grabbing my phone first thing, I’ll get up and look out the window. Now my first connection is with the outside world instead of with my phone, which really shifts my lens and time management throughout the day.
I also do a lot more cooking now. Sometimes it’s for others, like meal prep for my partner and my son, and sometimes I feel like making something that’ll take me all day. I can go from a recipe where I have to actually grind up spices to a meal where everything’s already premade — it’s just the act of creating something that gives me some peace and allows me to rest in that moment.
What are some rest practices everyone should keep in their self-care toolkit? What would you recommend for people who feel they are too busy to rest?
Sook Jin: I go back to the wise words of Tricia Hersey (also known by her work at the Nap Ministry): You do have what you need to rest. We don’t need “things” to rest. I’m not negating that we live in oppressive environments where there are a lot of oppressive -isms forced upon us. It does make it hard to access that brilliance, that spark we have in us. Being able to figure out over time what feels restful and being gentle in that exploration of what works for you is key. For me, while the weather is still gorgeous, I like just walking out into the backyard. I have a tiny backyard. It brings me joy to walk out there and have a change of scenery, quite literally, to have that change in mind.
Susy: I think we underestimate the power of our breath. If we turn to science, when we breathe, we’re bringing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. And what plants do is convert the carbon dioxide into oxygen. I remember watching this TED Talk, and I can’t remember who the scientist was, but he describes this relationship we have with nature and calls it a dance — like we are dancing with our plant relatives. It’s amazing to think that when I take the time to sit and breathe intentionally, I’m not alone. I’m with the plant relatives and they are providing this rest time for me, too.
Rosalva: As part of my journey this year, I’m practicing and learning more about curanderismo. There’s a saying, yo soy mi propia curandera, which means “I am my own healer.” It means being intentional about caring for yourself, your hands, your breath, your thoughts. Those are all your own powerful ways of being the medicine to yourself, and our plant relatives are a large part of that journey as well. I encourage folx to spend some time in nature when possible, even if it’s for a tiny moment to breathe in and root yourself into space.
What are you most excited about for the upcoming Sabbatical Fellowship?
Rosalva: Whether we’re the facilitator or participant, we don’t practice in a way that centers one person as the teacher and the others as the students. It’s a shared learning journey. I’m excited to bear witness to others’ reflections, joys, griefs, all those things — but also during that journey, having my own reflections, thoughts and grief. It’s just such a beautiful and rich experience to be a part of. I’m looking forward to being in partnership and community with others.
Susy: And I think I’m most excited to just hear people’s stories when they take their sabbatical: hear about what they do, what they learned.
Sook Jin: I also hope by putting this out in the world and by people being so visibly excited, it’s a call for others who are well resourced to do the same — you know, funders, employers, if you have a way to resource-up someone else’s sabbatical, do it.
The fact that there’s all this excitement really says that this deep rest is so, so, so, so, so needed. We hope more people join us in recognizing the importance of rest as a way of reclaiming our time.
