Carrie Baker – The Growth Collective

Today, I went and sat on this beach with my journal and pen. I should have been continuing with the spring clean we decided to get done this half term week, but my body has had some things to say.

Listening to our body and making time for rest when we need it, is often at the bottom of our To Do list. There is much we need to get done, some of it urgent, most of it is important and there are only so many hours in a day. Does this sound familiar?

We shouldn’t wait until we’re run down and exhausted, to rest. The consequence of that can sometimes be more than we count on, and take a lot longer to recover from.

Rest looks different for each of us.

Today for me, it was sitting on the beach, sometimes it’s reading a book or going for a long walk with a friend.

For you, it may look like taking a bath, going to bed early, sitting quietly with a cup of tea, or snuggled up on the couch watching a favourite movie. It may be that there are lots of different ways your body needs rest. Why not make a quick list of the ways you like to rest, ready for when you need to?

We can always find time for the things that are important. Rest should be up near the top of the list! If rest was more important than our To Do list, we would find that we’d get more done, or make better choices on what is really necessary and leave off the list whatever isn’t important.

In an age where we live life at breakneck speed, there is an even greater need to slow down. When we allow time to recover from a working week, a busy day with little ones, or just all the responsibilities we carry daily, we can regain some of that energy we expend. If we don’t rest, we quickly become depleted.

You can’t pour from an empty cup.

– Norm Kelly

You have probably heard this saying before. Essentially, it means that we can’t give out of what we don’t have.

Think of it like this: You having a garden. You work hard, digging, turning the earth, weeding, adding compost, and planting. When you work without enough rest, it’s like creating a beautiful garden, but not having enough water to keep it alive. If we expend energy at a constant deficit, sooner or later something is going to break, or wither and die. (The first thing that withers and dies for me is my patience!)

Our incredible bodies are created with an inbuilt warning system, similar to the light that comes on in your car when your fuel is low.

Here are some signs that your bodies gives you when you need to slow things down and rest:

• You feel more cranky than usual, and small things set you off. You feel tightly wound.

• Your body feels achy and your muscles feel tight, especially in your neck and shoulders. This can also cause headaches and back aches.

• You just feel constantly tired, even sometimes when you feel like you had a good nights sleep.

• You have an eye twitch.

• You find it difficult to stay focused, or you feel like you have a bit of a brain fog.

• You find you are dropping things or generally being clumsy.

• You feel rundown and seem to get unwell regularly.

Well, that sounds kind of dire…

The good news is that there are some ways to combat some of these symptoms, during your busy day:

• Step away from your desk or work situation for a few minutes. Take some deep breaths or do some breathing exercises.

• Take the breaks that your workplace allow, use them to go out into the fresh air, take a short walk or just get some sunshine on your face if you can. Make sure you eat too, life looks a whole lot better after you’ve eaten!

• Try going to bed a little earlier a few nights a week, or even just start your bedtime routine a little earlier, so you have more wind down time before trying to sleep. Try switching off devices an hour before bedtime. (Apparently this works)

• Stretch your body and move it a little more. While sitting or taking a short break, roll your shoulders, stretch your neck and back to release some of that tension and stiffness in your body.

• Take regular mental breaks, look away from your screen, or go and make a cup of tea and think about something non work related for a short while.

• If you are trying to multitask and do too many things at once, you will find you won’t do any of it well. Slow down, do one thing at a time. Less haste, more speed, is a saying you may have heard from your grandma. It means that if we try to do things too quickly, it ends up taking longer in the end. Or another way to say it is; slow down to go fast.

Be intentional with your rest.

If that means scheduling it in your diary, then do that. I will mean that you will sometimes need to say no to an invitation, or even back out of one that you already said yes to. Have grace for yourself and what your body needs, it can change from each day or week. Think about what you have coming up in your schedule; if you know you have an exceptionally busy week ahead, block out some recovery time around and after it.

If you need it, this is your permission slip to say no when you need to, and to cancel plans too. (Just tell them that Carrie said so!)

We are better able to take care of others when we first take care of ourselves.

When our cup is full, everything we put our effort and energy into goes well.

If you haven’t already, make that ‘Rest List’, and put it somewhere you will see it. This list will act as a reminder to rest when you need to.

How will you choose to rest today?

Sending you love,

Carrie xxx