How did you sleep last night, dear one? When you woke up, did you feel refreshed, ready to greet the day? If not, how are you doing right now? Take a deep breath and feel into your body. Where do you experience sensations? What do they tell you?
There is a tendency to discount recovery and rest in our society, and we have this constant notion of having to get done more, achieving more, and not being enough as is, or being perceived as lazy when we take time out or off.
We tend to live in a global culture of extremes at the moment, where there is a lot of seeking out experiences and we get rewarded for pursuing goals – and the only one who can speak up for taking time for ourselves to slow down and recover is we ourselves. Let my words be a gentle reminder that you are allowed and encouraged to take good care of yourself.
There is plenty of research showing us that we are more effective and resilient and happier when we get enough rest, and this is no news to you, so let’s dive a bit deeper this week in why that is not yet practiced to the extent that may be most beneficial to you, and how we might shift that.
The questions I’d like to put out there for observation are:
- Do you sleep well? How many hours do you usually sleep?
- How well rested to you start into your day? Into the week?
- After a long day, how easily do you fall asleep?
- After an intense meeting, how do you decompress?
Just observe over the next few days, just note what is currently going on.
You have all the knowledge you truly need inside of you – my love notes are just a reminder to find your center and dedicate some time to your practice. And so you know that I am doing the same consistent practice: Last night, I went to bed way late getting caught up in a project I care about a lot (more on that soon to come), and had to get up super early this morning, with the consequence that this morning I felt like I had a little gremlin inside my head. Physically I can deal with it with a big glass of cold water for a bit, mentally it takes more diligence 😉
- If you are not where you’d like to be in your recovery routine, can you kindly acknowledge that yourself?
- And think about what little shifts you might want to make?
- What would really good rest and recovery look like to you?
Time is only one of many factors, there is also nutrition, the set-up of where we rest, the activities the hours before, and our mental and emotional states. If you can ‘dream up’ what good recovery looks like, there is a way to get to it, even if it is one step at a time.