Hello my friends. How are you? I’m so glad to be with you today. It’s spring and I’m super excited about the upcoming Rest Session we have on Friday, and A Place to Rest community will open this week! As I sink deeper into rest and its components, I’m seeing so many connections to things in a different light that I’ve talked about previously. Rest is such a foundation for wellness on all levels, AND it’s so neglected in our society.
Today I’m going to talk about another component of rest, Self-Compassion. I’ve talked about self-compassion before in Ep 12. I have found that self-compassion is the heart of the work that I do with my clients and for myself. I know how challenging it can be to Rest. It can be so hard to actually stop doing all the things we think we need to be doing. Sitting still or not doing can be extremely hard when there is the critical voice in the head yelling about why we should be productive, or doing something other than resting. You might even find it hard to show up for the Rest Session I’m offering on Friday because you are too busy, you’re behind, or you just don’t have time. Notice what that voice says, and how it makes you feel in your body. Do you feel heavy? Or sludgy? Those sensations are your body communicating with you- it’s a compass of the direction to go
When we practice self-compassion, it’s a practice in being available for yourself. We avoid rest because there is stuff that comes up when we finally sit still and that stuff is uncomfortable. SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Self-compassion is the ability to learn to sit with all of that stuff and not make it go away or change it…just notice it with curiosity. When you are there for yourself in kindness over and over again, it becomes easier to rest because there is a relationship that is built on trust, love, and compassion. You know that when big stuff comes up, the compassionate part of you will be there, not that critical voice in the head that makes you feel yucky.
Self-compassion is the heart of Rest because it creates the safety necessary to rest in a society that doesn’t promote or even condone rest. When it feels safe, then the nervous system can switch out of fight/flight/freeze mode and into the rest/digest mode. The physical body changes because there is a whole different cascade of neurotransmitters to deal with- less cortisol, and more oxytocin or serotonin.
If you can’t feel like you can rest yet, my encouragement is to simply start with self-compassion. What kind words can you say to yourself today? It could be that you see that you are trying hard, or that you have your own back, no matter what. See what you would like to hear today, and say it to yourself. Say it with love, compassion, and maybe even with your hand on your heart. Then notice how it feels in your body when you show up for yourself with compassion.
Ok dear ones, I’d love for you to see how you practice self compassion, and how it might help you rest. And if you would like support, join the free Rest Session on Friday April 15th at 12pm ET and my community, a Place for Rest. Take good care of yourself.
Join me April 15th at 12pm ET for a Free Rest Day gathering! Register here.
A Place to Rest: A Community of Embodied Stillness begins on August 16th!
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