R.E.S.T.
Receive. Exhale. Sleep. Time to play.
Be like this cat. Rest. Feel free to use my handy little acronym for some ideas of how to rest. Rest, by the way, isn’t always about stopping activity completely because most of the time we have to work and live and parent. Rest is about learning how to rest within our daily lives. Don’t wait until you retire to rest, learn how to reap the benefits of rest now, an active rest that replenishes.
R is for receive.
I was chatting to someone this week who said she wasn’t sure how to receive all that she has recently been given in her life. She felt like she had an abundance of what she needed and she was already thinking about how to give away the abundance. We had such a great conversation about the importance of receiving, and allowing what is given to really nourish the soul and then at the right time, to give away. It can be hard to receive from others, and maybe moms can be the worst receivers sometimes (? what do you think?). We find reasons to not feel worthy of receiving compliments, gifts, time, joy, love… But think about what happens to you when you never receive anything at all. If you can receive nothing, you can give nothing.
E is for Exhale.
Just breathe. Breath deeply in, hold it, and then exhale out slow and steady. This triggers a relaxation response in the body. You can read more about it here.
S is for Sleep
Sleep is important for good mental health. You can read more about it here. Good sleep makes all the difference in the world. This is not a given for everyone, people raising babies, and menopausal women may have significant sleep issues. Both external and internal factors can influence your sleep quality and so it is not necessarily a choice. But when you can, choose sleep. Put the devices down as soon as you can in the evening and read a good book instead. Put your work down and walk away. If you need inspiration to sleep, observe your cat.
T is for Time to Play
Again, observe your cat. They have a really good sleep/play balance. A cat we had while I was growing up would pretend to be dead to the world one minute and the next would pounce out from behind the curtain scaring the living daylights out of us. Play and playfulness bring joy and definitely a sense of rest within, even if momentarily, play is a reminder that life could be more, colourful, and different to whatever stress we face.
Now, excuse me while I go and play watercolouring painting with my sister this weekend!
