Reclaim how you navigate rest

I am a big advocate for rest, sleep and naps. And not just on the weekends… but intentionally scheduling in rest through the week.

I was talking to a client about this last week and when the idea of her taking a nap came up, she told me that she couldn't nap because it would make her feel extremely guilty.

Have you ever felt guilt, shame or anxiety around resting? 

If so, I see you. And feel you. And want you to know this is normal. 

I hear this very often in my work as a coach and mindfulness facilitator. I've also had to work hard to re-claim what rest means to me personally. 

And it's not because we're broken or that there's something wrong with us if we can't nap. 

It's actually that society has conditioned us to think that rest is a bad, awful thing to do. 

That rest is weak.

That we have to EARN our rest as a reward for something else (ie. I'll work hard Monday - Friday and rest on the weekend).

That we are unproductive if we rest (and our worth is linked to our productivity), so therefore resting makes us unworthy.

Growing up with an immigrant single mother, this was very much how I was conditioned around work and rest.

Often my mom would work 12 - 14 hrs a day and still found time to pack our lunches, cook dinner, wash our clothes and made sure my sister and I completed our homework.

I commend my mom deeply for her work ethic and what she had to do to survive and raise two children in a new country. 

And for a long time, I operated in this way, too. 

I worked full time and went to school full time. Sometimes I'd even work side gigs at the mall and a nightclub. This meant at any one time I was balancing three jobs and school, and a social life, and a family life, and rest was pretty much non existent.

Thankfully, I don't operate like this anymore (phew!).

This is the place I believe, feel, and operate from instead:

I AM WORTHY OF REST.

I AM ALLOWED TO REST.

I GIVE MYSELF PERMISSION TO REST.

I AM NOURISHED DEEPLY WHEN I REST.

I CAN REST AND STILL THRIVE (ie. make money, grow my business, get that promotion).

WHEN I REST, I SHOW UP AS THE BEST POSSIBLE VERSION OF MYSELF.

Rest is a revolutionary practice.

And reclaiming how you navigate rest takes work. It means deconstructing the conditions you hold around it.

It means building ways to rest in your every day life that makes you feel safe, comfortable and nourished (not forced).

It means deeply believing that you are worthy of rest.

Ready to reclaim rest?

Here are a few journal prompts for you to explore:

• Write the above statements in journal or use them as mantras in your meditation.

• Reflect on where your stories around rest come from.

• Reflect on whether the conditions you have around rest truly serve you at this point in your life.

• Letting go of all the stories and conditioning around rest, and that there are no right or wrong ways to rest, how would YOU like to practice rest? What would it look like? How would it feel in your body, mind and energy?

• Ask yourself how you can build rest into our day to day routine.

Enjoy this journey of reclaiming rest. I know it can be challenging, but trust me, it is so worth it.

With gratitude and ease,

Victoria