I often talk to people who have never done inner work but have spent their lives working and making a place for themselves in society, raising their children, caring for their elderly parents, making their marriages work and contributing to being good citizens. Yet at the end, they feel exhausted and frustrated.

We all live under the influence of social norms, implicit rules that prescribe proper behavior in society. Mass media, corporate executives, high school and university teachers or sports coaches, all seem to have a limited vocabulary: excel, progress, evolve, improve, control, succeed, win…

Contrary to the rhythm of nature, where everything is harmoniously balanced by opposing cycles that complement each other – like the seasons -, it seems that modern humans have only one direction to ensure their survival: always stronger, always further, always better.

It is all about surpassing oneself, carving out of the fabric of one’s personality a suit that conforms to standards, where not a thread of fantasy protrudes, not an incongruous attitude, not a provocative word. Uniformity is the norm in a ruthless environment, organized in a hierarchy where the one above crushes the one below.
It is the race of the hamster in its wheel, until it dies. PROACTIVE from the cradle to the grave!

This excessive materialism cuts us off from our soul, from our heart, from everything that makes us unique and precious.

Even in personal development, you have to be efficient: create your reality, have a goal, a life mission, create your financial abundance, find your soul mate and even kill your ego!!!
People who have gone a long way in personal development often find themselves disoriented after a few years: “I have meditated for years; I have read tons of books; I have attended dozens of courses, seminars, retreats, where I have fasted, I have found my inner child, I have practiced forgiveness and compassion, I have balanced all my chakras and my feminine and masculine side. And I still feel caught in emotional and thought patterns. I am lost”.

Even sadness, boredom, melancholy and depression are now suspect and listed in the diagnostic manual of mental disorders. Society wants us to perform and be productive, at all times, like a machine.

What is going on? What is wrong with us? Are we missing something?
Or should we let go of something?

Just as nature rests in autumn and winter and is reborn in spring and summer, we must return to an organic rhythm of life. Going through phases of rest allows us to integrate what we experience in our more active moments.