There is something we all secretly are asking for.
But we don’t know how to get it or we deny ourselves of it.
It’s rest, recovery, and nourishment.
Amidst wars, natural disasters, systemic colonization and discrimination, and a general sense of insecurity it is understandable that many of us feel time is of the essence. We must do something now!
The thinking goes, “We don’t have time to rest!”
The Price We Pay
Our minds are constantly buzzing.
But there is a price we pay.
By choosing not to pause and check in on ourselves, we reinforce our lack of unawareness.
This decreases our ability to make decisions from a place of clarity. We feel less confident. We start feeding the belief that what we are doing is not good enough.
By suppressing our emotions, we inadvertently increase our mental and physical health issues.
We are likely to experience anxiety, depression, headaches, brain fog, digestive issues, insomnia and more.
Pausing, checking in with our emotions, and acknowledging them is tough.
But not taking these actions means we can’t process them and feel relief.
So, I guess we rest, recover, and nourish…but how?
Especially when we don’t have time.
The Investment We Need
Dealing with difficult emotions requires resilience.
Resilience is the ability to adapt to change as a result of being present, clear, grounded, and empowered.
So, we need to invest in resilience which means, resting, recovering, and nourishing ourselves.
Here are a few simple ways to do this that require a minimal but crucial investment of time.
Rest and Recover
Resist looking at your devices immediately.
When you wake up in the morning, resist looking at your devices immediately.
Instead, breathe in and out slowly 3 times. Doing so amounts to 20 seconds. You can afford to invest 20 seconds in your resilience before reading emails.
Book time for a break.
Book time in your calendar to take a walk away from your desk (preferably after a meeting or after the completion of a task and for 5 minutes or more) during the day.
Notice what how you feel. Notice thoughts that rise to the surface. Maybe you’re aware you need to stretch. Maybe the break lets you see a problem with a fresh perspective.
Tuck yourself in.
Budget time to wind down before bed. Put devices on silent/plane mode/do-not-disturb mode. Focus on your breath coming in and going out if you start to feel anxious. Be present with your breath to shift from anxiety to calm.
Nourish
Time for You.
Book time to do whatever you want with no deadlines.
Use this time to decompress.
Read a book (for fun and pleasure). Colour or paint. Cook or bake. Garden. Listen to music with a friend. Knit. Play with your kids. Play with your dog. Remove any responsibilities or decision-making from your activity.
The Add-On.
Commit to 1 small add-on to your day.
Eat well (eat an apple or a carrot). Drink water. Move (walk, stretch, exercise). Sleep (maybe set an alarm to signal it’s time to go to bed).
Reflect.
Book 5 minutes in the morning to answer these 2 questions I learned to ask myself from Kate Northrup (entrepreneur & author):
What do I feel like doing today? How can I honour that, even in a small way?
Take 1 action to build your resilience.
Give Yourself Grace
The aim of these suggestions is to refuel your energy and resilience when you need it.
From a neuroscience perspective, you can’t automatically follow through with new habits. You need to work up to being consistent.
Each time you repeat a new habit at the same time of day, in the same kind of way, you build new neural pathways in your brain. You build brain infrastructure to maintain the new habit.
So, if you miss taking action to build your resilience one day, try again the next day.
Give yourself grace.
Try to follow through with taking action that aligns with how you want to feel for the day.
Taking these actions will help you feel better, clearer, grounded and confident. They will allow you to make the next right decision for you and those you support.
P.S. Want more help? Sign up to my mailing list below. In December, I’ll deliver a free audio series to help you experience clarity, confidence, and the drive to create the life and career you want. It’s short, doable and only available if you’re on my mailing list. Sign up below!