Rest is not just sleep

Rest... in the world that we live in we can forget what rest truly means, in a world where our phones and society is on all the time we can forget how to take time out. Rest is much more than sleep and sometimes we need to recalibrate and remember what rest is. Remember the way we rest is unique to each of us.

I have been reminded of the important of rest other than sleep with a sudden bout of sinus pain and vertigo, there is nothing quite like the world spinning when you move to remind you that you have to stop. I have spent 3 weeks mindfully doing less. Writing a to do list and then deleting everything non essential. I have curled up and watched the TV series the Good Witch, perfect "chewing gum" for the brain. I have put all on hold and said "no" to many things, including writing emails for my email subscribers, but now with 2.5 weeks of poor sleep, I need to recharge and that has been my reminder that rest is not sleep alone.

I work with a lot of companies in Europe and have lots of contact across the Mediterranean countries, and when I am sending out my emails I am getting out of office replies from lots of them saying, back end August or even September. I do feel we have a lot to learn from our European brothers and sisters, I've really noticed how this year with the heat we have had in the UK, that I find the heat depleting, I really want to do a longer rethink and embrace a slower pace and learn from the continent on how to rest and do less in the summer months. But for now I just have to think of the here and now.

My first thoughts were what are the things draining me, where is my energy leaking away where i haven't noticed. I know spending time on video calls and on my computer is draining, I long to be outside but as it has been so hot, I have not been able to do this, gosh i long for wind and rain. I cannot do the housework o due to the dizziness and having to step over things as I cannot bend is frustrating. Sometimes rest is asking for help, something I am not very good at.

I then needed to see how I was straying away from my true self, what am I doing that lights me up and am I doing enough of it? Simple answer is no I have not being doing enough of what lights me up.

I then needed to be grateful for the here and now, I have been involved in a lot of future thinking tasks for myself and my family and earthing myself in the now is important. Constantly grasping onto the future can be depleting too.

I need to listen to my mind, body and spirit, the 2 weeks before I became ill I was saying to myself, in 2 weeks i will take a rest. My body told me I should have stopped sooner. So I am taking naps and pausing to do nothing.

I need to dream more and find my places in nature to sit and day dream, I used to do this in my garden, but due to houses being built all around me, I no longer have the quiet I used to, to allow my mind to wander and to heal. So I need to find a new way and a way to feel safe in my home with all this disruption having taken away that feeling of safety.

Ultimately it is about recognising where I thrive - pottering in the garden, reading book, gentle walks, being near water and in nature, quiet, day-dreaming, creating, cat cuddles, and health foods. It's about focusing on making the here and now right for healing, for thriving and for slow growth. With trips to the sea, less time at my computer, and generally being kinder to myself.

It's time to take it easy.

How will you rest?