We need to give ourselves permission to rest and recalibrate. In every season and especially after seasons of grief, trauma, stress, or struggle.
For years I operated in a cycle of pushing myself past my energetic and emotional capacity, of ignoring the wisdom of rest trying to tend to everyone’s needs and manage my home and life with perfection, and then falling ill. I used to feel relieved when I’d get sick and be forced into rest. Getting sick was the only way I felt permission to clear my calendar and lie on the couch for a weekend. I am not alone in this.
When we prioritize rest, we cultivate creativity, and we are able to maximize our productive hours. We live more joyfully as we ebb and flow intentionally from filling our tank to pouring out our gifts. We live resilient and rooted in self-awareness and self-compassion as we allow our bodies and brains time to restore, we give space for processing emotion, for building our support systems, and for reconnecting with our true selves under all the noise.
The most important relationship in your life is the relationship you have with yourself. Because no matter what happens, you will always be with yourself.
Diane Von Furstenberg
give yourself permission to rest guilt and judgment-free
Lack of rest is connected to mental health issues like anxiety and depression. If you are affected by anxiety, stress, or depression, then making rest a priority could be the change your brain needs. A study by the University of California – Berkeley found that insufficient sleep amplifies
levels of anxiety and, conversely, that deep sleep helps reduce such stress (source).
Brain scans of participants after a night without sleep showed a shutdown of the medial prefrontal cortex, which normally helps keep our anxiety in check, while the brain’s deeper emotional centers were overactive (this sounds a while lot like what I lived with PTSD and panic disorder).
In addition to good sleep, other forms of rest are vital to our mental health, too. Our brains need mental breaks, moments between the busy to just be.
Consider the obstacles or resistance that typically hold you back from rest – Time? Lack of structure or routine? A chaotic or cluttered home? Over commitment? Grief or trauma? Anxiety that makes it hard to quiet your brain? Physical issues? A lack of self-trust? Perhaps, you aren’t even sure what would help you feel rested and don’t know where to begin.
Whatever your relationship with rest currently looks like, I trust that this resource page will spark new creativity and inspire you to make more space for rest in your life.
10 resources TO support you in giving yourself permission to Rest and Recalibrate
REMEMBER: Slow down; your worth isn’t found in performance or productivity. Give yourself permission to rest, restore, recalibrate, and get resourced through healthy community, brave boundaries, and whatever else you need to (re)build your resilience bank account.
three purposeful questions I ask myself each night
For years I’ve asked myself these meaningful questions at night to end my way with intention – I keep at it because I notice the benefit to my life. It tends to be the small habits practiced with consistency that help build a life worth living. Read the full post.
9 “Bad Habits” I Think You Should Adopt for a Happy Life
For a happy life, you might need to push back against many of the ideals you’ve clung to for years. You might even choose to joyfully disregard much of the wisdom du jour. Read the full post here.
Slow Down and Lie on the Couch All Weekend
For happiness and a full beautiful life, it’s essential that we slow down and make space for purposeful rest. We can’t pour out what we don’t first pour in. Read the full post here.
On Building A Right-Sized Life: I Choose Simple Over Easy
Building a right-sized life means a made from scratch, handcrafted, customized life that is honest, authentic, and helps us walk out each day on purpose. Read the full post here.
When Slow Living Feels Busy and Stressful
Because we are human. Because people are messy. Because we still have to eat and sleep and live in community, even simple living can feel busy and stressful. Read the full post here.
OVERWHELMED BY LIFE? GIFT YOURSELF AN ABUNDANCE OF REST
In a culture that idolizes doing more, acquiring more, being more, and that conditions us to believe that our worth is tied to our level of productivity or achievement, it feels brave to make rest an integral and delightful part of our lifestyle and live vision. It can also feel deeply uncomfortable. Read the full post.
MORE AND FASTER ISN’T BETTER: DO LESS FOR MORE IMPACT AND JOY!
It’s incredibly easy to fill our lives to overflowing and end up burned out, sick, and unhappily living a life we don’t really want. More and faster isn’t better. But we can learn to honour our wiring and true energetic and emotional capacity in each season of life. Read the full post.
MIDLIFE WOMEN: 3 POWERFUL WAYS TO HELP YOURSELF WHEN YOU’RE OVERWHELMED BY LIFE
When we feel overwhelmed, we feel disempowered, unable to function. This doesn’t always mean it’s objectively TRUE that we’re unable to function but it’s true that we feel that way. Read the full post.
HOW TO BUILD BRAVE AND FLEXIBLE BOUNDARIES WITH YOURSELF FIRST
Living with leaky boundaries increases anxiety, resentment, anger, and depletion, keeps us distracted, and robs us of joy. It harms us and it harms our relationships. It is not kinder to diminish your needs or dampen your voice to keep the peace or try to make others like you. Read the full post.
QUALITY SLEEP: LOVE YOURSELF WELL AND LIVE WITH JOY
Rest matters. A lot. Yet THE most important thing that deeply impacts our brain and body, both in the short and long-term, the thing that some researchers say “guarantees wellbeing and mental health”, is quality sleep. Read the full post.
NOW WHAT? RESOURCES TO HELP YOU give yourself permission to rest
Take good care of yourself – here are two simple starting points.
the brave boundaries workshop
Learn how to reclaim your voice and build brave and life-giving boundaries that honour your wiring and demonstrate that you trust your inner wisdom and are rooted in the truth of who you are and what you want and need in this season of life. Learn how to listen to the wisdom of your body so you can set brave boundaries.
the brave + beautiful membership community
The Brave and Beautiful Membership Community is one way that as brave, curious, and weary women+ in the messy middle of life we can gather together, forge healthy relationships, and practice choosing our response to life. You’ll receive quality evidence-based education, weekly coaching, and an invitation to quarterly workshops to nourish and strengthen you mind, emotion, and body. BB members also receive two free courses about the trait of high sensitivity and exploring the enneagram. Learn more about The Brave and Beautiful Community.