All things rest

Rest. Where do you even begin in a world that is constantly moving all around you?

Recently I was meeting with my therapist and she told me something I couldn’t stop thinking about. She said, “you have to find a way to rest or you are going to keep depleting yourself and you will never get better.” This hit me really hard because in that moment I realized how much I was pushing and pushing and pushing in my life, and physically and mentally I was not ok. I have been battling some health issues that all revolve around a dis-regulated nervous system and I was making things way worse by being stressed, worried, and anxious all the time. But after, I was hit with this massive panic of how I was going to figure out how to rest when bills need to be paid and jobs need to be worked. I freaked out and it caused me to really take a hard look at my life and realize how much I had sacrificed true rest in my life. I started to see all the things I couldn’t control in my life instead of all the things I could.

I used to have such a strong routine centered around rest and now I feel like I can’t sit still. My mind is constantly stressed about something. I have forgotten how to just be with myself because I have been in so much pain for so long that I have begun to resent myself and my body for it. It has caused me to revert back to old unhealthy patterns centered on not putting myself first and feeling worthless/hopeless, leading to a continuous loop of self-sabotage.

So I sat with this idea of rest and to be honest I am still sitting with it. Rest looks different in my life right now then it once used to. So, what once worked for me, might not work for me right now in my life. It’s all about meeting yourself right where you are at. So finding what rest you need right where you are is the key to figuring out how to truly invite rest back into your life. Before it used to be physical rest that I needed and now I need mental rest, a true break to give my mind/body exactly what it needs instead of ignoring it.

If you are feeling lost or exhausted start by doing one thing that you know makes you feel like you again. Find rest in simplicity. Begin to prioritize time with yourself again whether that means grabbing a good book, going for a walk, getting out in nature, or writing in your journal, just find one thing that connects to you to yourself. And don’t forget to breathe.

🫶🏼