My Rest Essentials
Allow me to introduce you to… my Rest Essentials.
These are the foundations for my RES(E)T journey that I walk with my clients in a 6 week group journey.
Resetting for rest is all about creating your individual blueprint for rest and taking inspired action (or lazy inaction) towards it.
Why is rest important?
We live in a society that conditions us to put ourselves and our needs last.
This mindset goes DEEP in our society. Rooted in our ancestral lines, in our culture & history (all the way back to the industrial revolution), in modern society, and in our personal experiences as we move through this un-restful world - starting from childhood.
The result? As I found, people pleasing, being unboundaried and putting myself, my health, my passions and those who I love the most last. All in the pursuit of what I thought “success” looked like.
I started my personal journey to reset for rest in 2019 when I was a jet setting Head of Marketing for a globally broadcast sport. As I walked this path of more rest and deepened my connection to my body. I realised how depleted my body was after working harder and not smarter (or restfully) through secondary school, university studies and a 14 year corporate career in entertainment and advertising. Plus discovered an autoimmune condition that I had been “powering” through at the expense of my body.
Has it been an easy journey? Far from it, and my journey continues! Grind culture habits run DEEP, and healing these ancestral lines may take work beyond my lifetime. But I know that when I am rested and resourced, I show up in greater compassion, kindness and love - for myself and for others. A journey that is deeply healing and fulfilling.
My Rest Essentials
There is so much more to rest than getting those nightly Z’s and precious time off work. Dr Saundra Dalton Smith has identified 7 types of rest; physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, spiritual.
The beauty of these are they can fit into many moments of each day. Including into micro moments of rest when you just have a few minutes to recenter and ground.
In resetting for rest, it is important to do this from a place of centring YOU and your personal ecosystem. We each have our own pressures (including work and care giving), passions, interests, rhythms and cycles.
So we start by centring ourselves to the wisdom that lies within to understand what rest will be most restorative, inspiring and achievable for us.
This is a journey of commitment, compassion & grace
I am committed to my journey to prioritise rest. Energy flows where the intention goes, so each morning I set my intentions to rest.
Given how deep our conditioning is to work harder and rest less, there will be bumps in this road to rest. So it is important to move through this journey with compassion and grace as you navigate this path.
Always remembering that when we step over those energetic boundaries, that is where we learn and grow. Moving forwards with action to rebalance and those important lessons for the future.
When I need to remind myself of this, I speak these magic words to myself:
I am committed to my journey to prioritise rest. I grant myself compassion and grace as I navigate this path. Knowing that when I am rested and resourced, I show up in greater compassion, kindness and love - for myself and for others.
If you journey with me in my upcoming RES(E)T group journey, you will have the support in your restful path of me and our RES(E)T community. Plus we will dive into mindset work to set you up for restful success!
embrace micro moments of rest
No matter how busy your schedule is - there are rest practices that you can bring in to each daytime to support you. Including into micro moments of a few minutes in working days.
These help to give us much needed mental, sensory and creative rest. Connecting us into simple, restorative moments without screens or headphones distracting us.
Start by identifying small and simple micro moments of rest that you can bring into each day. To deepen this practice, connect into I call the 3 A’s: Awareness, Appreciation and (where you feel inspired) Awe.
For example:
A 30 second rest practice where you stop, connect inwards and take 3 deep breaths.
“Stopping to smell the roses” in nature. Going for a walk in nature, or simply connecting with a tree, the sky or even a plant growing through a crack in the pavement on your travels. The awe that I experience in nature never fails to bring me creative rest.
Not looking at your phone or watching TV when you’re enjoying a cup of tea, treat or meal. Mindfully sipping or eating, fully present with this gift of nourishment.
Write down your intention each morning for a few simple moments of rest that you commit to each day.
Greater rest starts here, and if you join me to RES(E)T then we build these practices out to ensure that you are prioritising all 7 types of rest in your life.
3. Check in with yourself daily
How often do we lie to ourself about how we really feel? Unfortunately, it’s probably A LOT because we are conditioned to keep going, no matter what.
Our mind is a powerful player in trying to convince us that everything’s great, we’re ok to keep going.
One simple question that you can ask of yourself daily is:
Dear body, how am I really feeling today? What rest to I need to prioritise to support me?
In my 6 week RES(E)T group journey, you will learn how to connect into and communicate with your body’s intuitive wisdom. With the tools to quieten the mind and get a true read on that inner battery. Through mindfulness and meditation practices that drop you from mind into body.
My next RES(E)T group journey begins on 24th January 2024, with 6x weekly 90 minute workshops every Wednesday at 6.30pm UK time (plus replay sent after if you can’t make it live). You will also receive weekly Seeds of Rest bonus content including guided meditations, nature connection workbooks and journal prompts. All 6 weeks are just £99 for this workshop series, with an additional 25% off if you register by Monday 15th January. Find out more and sign up here.