the Henny Flynn podcast

The Compassion of Rest And The Energetic Ripple Effect (S16E6)

• Henny Flynn • Season 16 • Episode 6

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In this episode, I share a piece of writing I rediscovered – something I’d captured in the quiet of a long-haul flight, sitting beside Anton as he slept. I had no memory of writing it, but when I read it back, it spoke to something that still feels deeply true: the idea of rest as a form of compassion.

I explore how the energy we hold – especially in those liminal, half-asleep states – doesn’t just affect us, but also gently ripples out into the world around us. Whether we’re lying next to someone we love, resting with a pet at our feet, or sleeping alone, there’s something powerful in noticing the waves we send out... and there's power in being discerning about the energies we receive.

This is a soft, spacious reflection – a chance to consider what we’re allowing in as we prepare for rest, and what we’re offering out. A moment to remember that even in sleep, we’re connected.

To read the full piece I wrote, I've shared it on the blog: https://www.hennyflynn.co.uk/how-can-rest-be-a-form-of-compassion

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Speaker 1:

As I came to record today's episode of the podcast, I thought, oh, I'll just take a little look at a document that I have on my computer where I capture ideas, thoughts, words, sometimes metaphors or imagery that might spark an episode in themselves. Force or imagery that might spark an episode in themselves. And when I came to look today I saw that at some point I wrote what I would like to share with you, and it is all about the idea of resting as a form of compassion. Welcome to the Henny Flynn podcast the space for deepening self-awareness with profound self-compassion. I'm Henny. I write, coach and speak about how exploring our inner world can transform how we experience our outer world, all founded on a bedrock of self-love. Settle in and listen and see where the episode takes you.

Speaker 1:

If you've ever shared a bed or a room with another person, or sat beside a sleeping stranger or a loved one on a plane, train or in a car, you may have noticed how sometimes, when you're wakeful, they begin to stir and it can feel like the shuffling, kaleidoscopic patterning of your thoughts has spread out from your darting mind into theirs. And so you go, still lying or sitting, as quietly as you can, willing them to sleep. Sometimes, of course, it's because we don't want the disturbance of their wakefulness, maybe for good reason, and that's a reflection worthy of its own attention. Or maybe simply because you're deep in your own disturbances and don't wish to add to theirs. And sometimes, of course, this deep awareness of their breathing, their presence, the surfacing of their awareness, helps us feel into the very essence of our own existence, perhaps noticing a tightness in your jaw that you quietly release so it doesn't spread across the pillows or the seat, waking them with its solid grip, grip Maybe there's an unclenching of the muscles of your shoulders, your back, your stomach, hips and thighs, softening back into the support of where you sit or lie, sending waves of rest and relaxation through the fabric of that support, through the ether that connects and separates you. And if it's safe for you to rest in the way you wish them to rest, this deep relaxation, this can bring a profound peacefulness, allowing yourself the softness you wish them to receive, the softness you wish them to receive. And if there is no one sleeping beside you, you can imagine the waves of this wakeful straining, this pressing up and out of the beguiling confines of sleep, pouring out from where you lie into the world, perhaps sending tendrils of tension into other homes, other lives, and likewise, of course, we can imagine the deep rest we can achieve, receive pouring out from where we lie on the edge of sleep. We can imagine gifting peaceful repose into others' homes so they rest more fully, and perhaps we do too. This to me feels like a gift of compassion that by seeing the impact we have, not purely in the immediately obvious, the practical actions that we take obvious, the practical actions that we take but also in the sleepy energy we send into the world and in our loving concern for others well-being, so we bring beauty to our own way of being.

Speaker 1:

I thought that was rather lovely and I have absolutely no memory of writing it whatsoever. I think I must have written it on the aeroplane to Vietnam on our trip this winter. It feels like I have a kind of resonance in my body of Anton sleeping beside me and me being so deeply aware of not wanting to disturb his sleep with my sort of juddering thoughts, my um range of emotion, my um unstillness, and and then and even as I say this, I, I, the memory is beginning to form, or perhaps I'm imagining the memory, but let's, let's say it is remembered, um, that then later on the flight, it was a long way from here, um, he did wake and I captured these thoughts on my phone and I've read them to you as they were, as I captured them. So you know, maybe if I spent a little time on them they could be tightened up in some way, but I felt, oh gosh, there was a, there was a lyrical sleepiness to them, almost like I'd written them partially.

Speaker 1:

In that dream state and as I reflect on them now, I really love this idea of really noticing the energetic waves that come out from us and that we receive from others in this most receptive state of sleep, or, as I write in this piece, this edge of sleep and and maybe there's something here it feels profoundly beautiful to me to be able to capture this idea, to explore this idea, sit with, be with, sit within um, this idea, if we, if we are feeling I just hiccuped, um, let's capture my thought again um, if we are to sit that there is tension in our body or tension in our thoughts and you know, maybe to play with, to experiment with, well, how is it, if we really notice either what we're receiving from the outside world and being really discerning, then, about what is it? What is it that we really wish to receive? What are we allowing in? You know, just as we are mindful if a stranger comes to the door, what are we allowing in to our unconscious state? What thoughts, what energies are we absorbing as we go into our dream place? As we go into our dream place? And that makes me think about so many things actually, about the TV that we consume, the books that we read. What are the energies that we're bringing in to this most precious, most holy time of rest, the time that our bodies are doing so much work on our behalf? So not only is this a practice in self-compassion, but we can also see it as a practice in compassion to the world around us, maybe the world that's immediately close by.

Speaker 1:

If you share your bed with another person, or if you have a dog or a cat sleeping on your bed, you know we also. We are energetic creatures, just as they are and we, we know that. You know, when we gaze into a dog's eyes and they gaze into ours, it not only releases oxytocin into our system, but it also releases oxytocin into theirs. So when we are rested and restful, so are they and vice versa. So, you know, being mindful of what's the influence that we have in this pre-sleep state and how can, reminding our bodies that it's safe, you know, please, let it be safe for us to relax, to let go of the tension and allow our bodies to do this, this most precious work for us, this digestion and cell generation and renewal that goes on overnight and also to be mindful of how, you know, we have a wider influence to this energy field from each of us. It stretches out, you know, threads throughout our world, our universe. We are made of stardust, after all.

Speaker 1:

So, yes, I'd like to leave you with that. I've, um, even as I I speak, actually, uh, I have this. This sense that you know, it's something that I often uh, talk with clients about is how we each stand at the center of our own pond and the ripples that we make, how they flow out from us and, of course, you know, all of our ponds are interconnected. None of us really is completely independent of each other, as much as we might wish to be, and, at the same time, there is something here about the boundaries. So, so, being really mindful of you know, um, what we are sending out into the world and what we are receiving in from the world too. So there we go.

Speaker 1:

That's today's reflection, and I really hope you liked that concept, that piece, that perspective, and please do share your reflections with me. If this speaks to you, if you're on Apple Podcasts, on the show notes, there's a little line at the top with a heart that says tap to send me your reflections and your message will get straight through to me. It's a really lovely way for us to connect to me. It's a really lovely way for us to connect and also, please do um, share a testimony or a review, um on apple podcast or wherever you love to listen. It's so helpful I can't tell you how helpful it is in in sort of, you know, letting the algorithm know that this is a podcast that's worth sharing, worth listening to. Hopefully you feel that way. All right, my darlings, and as ever, I send you a hug and a wave. Thank you, thank you.