Balancing Productivity and Rest: Lessons from the Goddess Persephone for a Healthy Fall Routine
The Greek Goddess Persephone lived a powerful and challenging existence of sacrifice and duality. We can use her story as inspiration to honor productivity alongside self-love and introspection, creating harmonious habits and supporting your self-care throughout the upcoming months.
A Little bit about the Goddess herself
According to Greek mythology, Persephone was the goddess of Spring and innocence, and her mother Demeter, was the goddess of harvest and fertility. Demeter played a major role in the success and prosperity of food and agriculture in ancient Greece. The story goes that one day when Persephone, was playing in a meadow of flowers, she was forcefully taken by Haides and carted off to the underworld to be his bride.
Demeter was furious and searched the ends of the Earth looking for her daughter, she discovered that Zeus had played a role in the taking of her daughter and stopped the Earth from bearing fruit until she had her daughter back. Zeus agreed to help get Persephone back but damningly Persephone while in the Underworld had eaten a handful of pomegranate seeds, providing a taste of the food of Haides, thus she was forced to spend time each year with him in the Underworld. For the six seeds she consumed, she had to spend six months with him in the Underworld.
This is where seasons come in, Persephone’s return to the Earth came with flowers and fruit, but when she was forced back to the Underworld, the colder months blew in. This meant dying crops and a lack of growth in the natural world.
This might seem like a tragic tale, and in many ways, it is just that. A loss of freedom and innocence does not call for celebration, but Persephone’s fate also gave way to the seasons and greater change on Earth. We can draw inspiration from her mythology about balancing productivity and rest and making the most of the change between seasons.
Persephone’s transition between the Earth and the Underworld was certainly not easy, but it symbolizes the necessary equilibrium of work and periods of rest. As the story goes, the colder months represent Persephone’s transition down into the Underworld. We can use this period as a time of our own personal transition. For many of us, summer is a time of chaos and fun and it can be a stark contrast to the more demanding and introspective Fall months.
Here are some healthy and Inspiring Ways to Channel the Goddess Persephone this Fall
Find your Footing Between Work and Rest
Everyone's definition and lived experience of productivity is different. Take the time to discover what works for you. Setting goals is fantastic, but keep in mind that goals should always be doable and focused. If you do not zone in on what it is you are working for, and why, it will be nearly impossible to enter phases of true and intentional productivity. Further, it is important to pair productivity and work with rest and care, too much of either is unhealthy and unsustainable. For healthy studying, try out the Pomodoro method, this method breaks studying into periods of 25 minutes on, and 5 minutes rest. There are plenty of videos on YouTube with timers and nice music to keep you relaxed and on track while you work.
Reflecting and Caring for Yourself
The time that Persephone spent with Haides in the Underworld was contemplative, we can learn from this. Take the time to work on your mindfulness practices. There is space to breathe that comes around in the Fall, use this for your benefit. This is the perfect time to start meditating, journaling or even going for nice walks outside. Participating in activities that are grounded in the present and bring you peace, are some of the most beneficial ways to spend your time. Take the time to tend to the garden of your mind.
Finding Harmony Within Yourself
Finding harmony within yourself and your routine is another key aspect of channeling a balanced life, like Persephone’s between the Earth and the Underworld. Work-life balance is discussed often enough, but there are other life balance aspects to be considered, ones that exist fully outside of the realm of productivity. Especially if you are a person with a menstrual cycle, the phases that your body goes through throughout the month are real and it is important to learn how to work with them and not against them.
For example, during the follicular phase and the ovulation phase, it perhaps is the right time to take on pick up a couple of extra shifts at work, be more social, and try out that killer pilates class you will have the energy for it. Whereas during the luteal phase, you should be doing the exact opposite, taking extra time to rest and listening to your body’s needs and cravings. Never beat yourself up for what you are and are not doing during this time, you simply need to be patient and kind to yourself.
Living harmoniously requires a combination of finding the right schedule and the right mindfulness practices that work for you, take the time to discover what that means to you. There is no better way to spend your time and energy than by taking care of yourself.
In Conclusion
The transition between the Earth and the Underworld was not an easy one for Persephone, but it can be a lesson and provide insight between work and rest. As the story goes, the colder months symbolize her annual descent into the Underworld. May you use her story as inspiration to honor productivity alongside self-love and introspection, creating harmonious habits and supporting your self-care throughout the upcoming months.
More on Persephone here: