Real recovery, restoration, and relaxation VS rebellion
Happy First Fearless Friday of 2022!
I have had the great joy of rolling out of bed and onto my mat each day this week to practice yoga with friends from across the miles via zoom. I’m feeling pretty proud of not just the fact that I’ve gotten up and followed through on my commitment to myself (which does feel pretty great), but also because of the mental nudge I gave myself through committing to others to follow through on my intention. 🎉
But, truth be told, with the change in my sleep pattern + lots of extra inspiring work this week + school re-opening 🦠+ school re-closing ❄️ +++ I’m tired. And I am reminded that recovery, restoration and relaxation are as vital for progress as effort is.
Unfortunately, I have a long practiced tendency to translate the need for restoration into something that looks more like a rebellion. The thread goes something like this: Work hard ➡️ feel depleted ➡️ “re-energize” and “restore” with actions that are tantalizingly sweet (and quick!) pick-me-ups, but not truly nourishing: the extra shot of espresso, a piece of leftover Christmas toffee, a couple glasses of wine, mindless shopping, or doom scrolling. They do the job in the moment, but the fix is so short lived that we instantly need more. And, of course, the effect of the “rebel restoration” is actually not meeting the need we were trying to address.⁉️
Instead, what I’m challenging myself to do this weekend is to really restore: to rest, read, have some great conversations, play in the snow. Yes, I’ll probably have a glass of wine (no dry January for me this year) and eat a slice of pizza tonight, but I want to do it in a way that feels balanced and that actually leaves me feeling better. (Three glasses of wine and three slices of pizza are definitely not going to make me feel better tomorrow.)
If this feels familiar to you, take a moment to sit with these questions: What do I really need this weekend? What actions could I take this weekend that actively align with my true intentions? And if you end up in rebel restoration mode, just know you aren’t alone and you're collecting some helpful data points for practicing a new approach next time.
Looking for more on relaxation? This article inspired me this week.
Happy New Year.
Aransas
PS If you have kids in your life that would benefit from some calming mindset techniques (and couldn’t we all) please check out my audio series and e-books for kids ages 3 to 8 on the Encantos App. Thanks to a generous donor, the entire app is free!
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