The Missing Step in Your Productivity Plan

In yin yoga, after each pose we do a repose: a few moments in stillness in a complimentary pose. This pause allows the body to integrate the effects of the main pose.

During sleep, new information we learned is processed and connected with existing knowledge, a process known as memory consolidation.

Integration: The Secret Ingredient

In life, we need periods of down time for integration to process what we’ve experienced, learned, and absorbed.

This is built into the rhythms of nature:

• New and full moons
• Winter season
• The “winter’ within every season
• Sabbaths
• planetary retrogrades

Some disciplines naturally build this into their systems and frameworks:

• The rest between sets when weightlifting.
• The reposes between the main poses in Yin yoga.
• Savasana at the end of a yoga practice.
• School schedules, with regularly scheduled vacations and breaks.

But when we get into adulthood and the “real world,” it’s often harder to find — or create — these moments of integration.

3 Things That Interfere With Integration

Why is it so hard to create space to integrate?

(1) Constant Influx of New Information

We live in a 24/7 world, where the volume and pace of new information is only getting larger and faster.

Things don’t shut down just because we need a break.

(2) The Internalized Pressure to “Keep Up”

We might feel an internalized pressure to keep up with the flow to stay informed and more easily form connections.

We are hard-wired to seek belonging; nobody wants to be the person at the dinner party who stares blankly when everyone else is talking about the latest news or trends.

(3) “Productivity” Conditioning

Cultural conditioning in the west is rooted in Puritanical standards of “hard work.” High achievers often beleive that we must constantly produce and show how hard we are working to do it.

When you add in to a chronic perception of time famine, it’s a recipe for avoiding anything that looks or feels like “doing nothing.”

Sitting around and “doing nothing” feels like a “waste of time” — especially when you have so many things to do.

What We Lose When We Skip Integration

Any of these factors alone or in combination sets us up to skip the most important part of the process.

• We rush through sets in the gym without adequate rest, and we run out the moment we finish.
• We are glued to the news, the internet, social media, and other sources of information and stimulation.
• We binge watch and binge read: going from one episode to the next, or one book to another, without pausing to process.

Here’s the thing:

Without integration we don’t get to keep the new knowledge that we learned. Integration is what enables us to apply what we have learned.

Without integration we won’t keep the gains we worked so hard to earn. The body gets stronger in the rest periods.

Without integration we can’t effectively clear out what we no longer need to hold. We “memory consolidation” for the mind, body, emotions, and on the cellular level.

Without integration we can’t effectively share the fruits of our experiences. It’s only in the space of integration that we can engage in the reflection and meaning-making that enriches our experience.

The Skill to Create Effective Integration

Effective integration requires strong boundaries.

This isn’t just about boundaries to the outside world, but boundaries within.

It can feel uncomfortable to “do nothing” or to sit and journal about an experience without producing something that you can share with others.

But remember that the growth happens in those moments of downtime.

What looks like doing nothing is the most productive act of all.