This post is not for those of you who rest & sleep easy; this is for those of you who don’t.
Isn’t it easy to succumb to the ever-present pressure of being “as good as” [insert peer] at [insert area of life]…?
This fear of not being enough can stem from early life experiences: family, culture, school. Any experience where coming first, winning, achievement or outcomes were prioritised and emphasised over process, joy, health or wellbeing. It can also be due to the present influences (think social media) that send us the undercurrent message that we’re not enough.
The thing is, the rush to achieve can impact health: fatigue, exhaustion, a nervous system that is constantly in fight or flight mode, leading to burn out. Eventually this can erode our ability to rest, digest, sleep, connect… enjoy our day… enjoy our lives.
Freedom from this fear of being “less-than”, is definitely possible, albeit most likely not a quick fix. However, the short circuit to protect our health in the meantime, is feeling the fear and prioritising rest anyway.
By making rest a scheduled, non-negotiable daily habit, we can protect our health while life continues to be a work in progress. A habit forms, and it becomes like brushing teeth: we take care of our teeth, we take care of our nervous system – even on days we don’t really feel like it or see the immediate benefit.
This can look like building the habit of setting aside 30 minutes to lie down and listen to calming music, each day.
Some tools below:
– deep body scan
– binaural beats
– gentle hypnosis for sleep
– survivor self-care for coming back into your body/the present a.k.a “grounding”
For me it’s a process of trial and error and an eventual collection of tools that work… Happy scheduled rest!
Naomi
Hope & Motion 
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