Practices
Practical suggestions on how to make room for Sabbath, how to begin and end a practice, and what to do with the space you create.
When Mariah and I first started practicing Sabbath we had no idea what we were doing. We felt drawn to live Sabbath-shaped lives, but we had no mentors to guide us, no peers to walk alongside us, and no childhood experiences to draw from. We just had to make it up as we went.
Almost 20 years later, we’re still making it up as we go, but along the way we’ve learned a lot, encountered some wise guides from whom we’ve learned much, and have had a lot of chances to fail. Here is a collection of some of the choices we’ve made, practices we’ve created, and ideas we’ve come up with to stimulate your creativity in designing your own weekly Sabbath practice.
Above all, approach your Sabbath practice playfully, and have fun with it. So much of our lives are so serious. Remember that Sabbath isn’t about perfection, it’s not about doing it “right” or “wrong.” It’s just about making space and showing up. Make space for play and delight and fun and pleasure, and then show up to it. When you do so, you will realize God has been there waiting for you all along.
The most important thing we learned in the first few years was the necessity of having a plan.
Know what day you’re going to practice, about what time you’ll start and end, and come up with a loose structure for your day. This can help you make room by resisting work- and tech-related distractions, and help you fill that space with restful and delight-full things.
Click on the adjacent image to download a PDF that will guide you in designing your first Sabbath experience.
Watch this video to get a sense of how Mariah and I begin and end our Sabbath.
Create a Timeless Day
One of the most clever and effective practices we’ve developed over the years is covering the clocks in our house (and vehicle!) for the duration of Sabbath. This creates the effect of a timeless day in which we are not governed by the tyranny of the clock or the production schedule. Instead, we are freed up to cultivate a new, life-giving, liberative, playful, and embodied relationship with time.
We eat when our bodies tell us we’re hungry, not when the clock says it’s eating time. We rest when we’re tired, walk when we’re antsy, and feel like we have all the time in the world.
Drive the Speed Limit
Sometimes one small choice
makes all the difference.
Several years ago a student of mine told me they were adopting the Sabbath practice of driving the speed limit. Every Sabbath he was going to live into the slower rhythm by setting the cruise control exactly at the speed limit, and then paying attention to what happened in his body while he drove.
Intrigued by his ingenuity, I decided to try it for myself. I have always had a “lead foot.” So much so that my grandfather would refuse to follow me in a carpool because he didn’t feel comfortable driving at the speed I went. I knew this would be challenging, but I wanted to take the Sabbath seriously, and this felt like a good place to start.
It was hard at first, but after a few weeks I noticed a shift. I started leaving earlier for appointments, I began noticing that I was calm and present when I arrived at my destination—instead of anxious and hurried like I used to be.
Poet and life coach Michelle Wiegers put words to what I was experiencing in her poem “Slow Down.”
What if driving slowly
is the only way
to live my best life,
to keep from running so fast
that I go right past myself?
I’ve been driving the speed limit for several years now, and I can honestly say it has been one of the most impactful and transformative spiritual practices I’ve ever engaged. I encourage you to try it! And for a bit of inspiration, click on the adjacent image to read Michelle Wieger’s full poem.
Short Video Meditations
Life around us is moving so fast. But the life within us is moving too fast as well. It is not uncommon to find yourself hurrying on the inside, even when the external world is not clamoring for you to speed up or get a move on. We are just so accustomed to rushing around, we’ve forgotten how to sit still and pay attention to one thing.
These short video meditations are simply that: brief videos of slow yet beautiful things that we’re generally too busy or distracted to even notice—a giant snail crossing the path, tea slowly steeping into hot water. The faster we go the more we miss.
Give yourself a moment and sit quietly to watch one or all of these videos. They are not set to music. There are no effects or filters. Just life happening in its exquisite, sacred, mundane extraordinariness.
30-Second Tea Meditation
3-Minute Snail Meditation