Why resting can be so difficult & what we can do about it
Our next gentle adventure: how to rest
Rest is the bread and butter of going gently. It allows us to recuperate, regenerate and replenish ourselves. It gives us the space to reflect, review and reorient. It gives us the energy for recreation and - allow me one more word starting with re… rejoicing!
Animals rest. Plants rest. So why can we find it so hard?
I’ve had my own journey with not-being-very-good-at-resting. I used to spend most Fridays in bed, doing my telephone counselling work from under the duvet because I’d used up all my energy during the week. I didn’t know how to enjoy holidays and was impatient to get back to work. I was alarmed by the prospect of a blank weekend. I frequently ran myself into the ground, and then felt resentful of others and furious at myself for allowing it to happen AGAIN.
I still have parts that tend towards overworking, but we rub along much more easily these days. I move more slowly than I used to. I take yummy naps when my schedule allows. I have a full blank day in my diary every month so I can do whatever I need to do - sometimes recover, sometimes rest, sometimes play. I look forward to holidays and take them more often. I’m even planning a six week break from work when I hit 50 next year…
Rest is one of those things where small changes can have a big effect. We all have our own unique barriers to rest and of course may of these will be systemic and non-negotiable - the sacred work of raising a family, the financial necessity of two jobs or long hours, long-term habits or compulsions that feel impossible to shift. That’s okay - we will be starting where we are, being realistic about our own limitations and about the constraints of our lives, and keeping an open mind. Taking everso-slightly more time to rest, a teensy improvement in the quality of your sleep or your rest, a new insight into why it’s been so difficult to slow things down - these small changes can add up to something significant.
This course will offer you various perspectives to help you understand your own resistance to rest, and ideas to put into practice. We’ll cover delicious microrests, our internal barriers to rest (using a bit of Internal Family Systems), rest as resistance (a look at external systems such as capitalism that conspire to keep us from resting) and the gift of longer rests.
The format is four weekly messages with exercises and journal prompts, delivered to your inbox, and a safe online space to share your experience with fellow travellers. It won’t be onerous - who wants a course on rest that stresses you out?! - maybe aim to put ten minutes aside a day. You can also read/travel at your own pace.
We will begin on Thursday 1st of June but you can catch up if you’re late (and once you’re subscribed you can access the whole archive of my month-long adventures including the complete mindful writing and Internal Family Systems adventures). If the time is right for you to welcome more rest into your life, do subscribe below.
Join the How To Rest Gentle Adventure!
If you are teetering on the fence, have a week’s free trial on me and you can read the first week’s message before you pay me any moolah.
Thanks for reading & whether you decide to join me or not, maybe you can sneak a little bit more rest into your schedule this month… it would make me happy 😊
Go gently,
Satya <3
PS if you know anyone who could do with a teensy bit more rest, maybe buy them a gift subscription for a month or just share this post - here are the buttons.