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Can you rest?
I have preached to clients both in my wellness and coaching practices for over 20 years the benefits of rest. If you know me from those circles you would regularly hear me saying things like “The body only heals at rest”, “Your body is talking to you, you need to rest more”, “Are you resting enough?” “Are you resting at all?”, “Please go home and rest.”
You’d think with ALL that preaching I’d be the Queen of Rest. Honestly, I thought I was until, when I had my recent knee replacement surgery, I came to find out that I couldn’t practice what I preached.
RESTING. WAS. SO. HARD. FOR. ME.
Rising Above Inner Conflict
My body would be tired, in pain and inhibited by pain medications. I would think (through the haze of hydromorphone 😂) “I should rest”.
But then my 'busy mind' would pivot slightly to “I should read about what rest is. I should research the benefits of rest. Maybe I should take a course in rest and sleep.” I actually reached out to a sleep coach to see if she had any courses on the go that I could take while I was healing.
OH MY GOSH the struggle was real. So much so that one day I was plagued with chills. Tea, soup, blankets didn’t help, I could not get warm. My body was literally screaming at me to stop and rest, and when I finally did - you know what - the chills disappeared and never came back. The body knows.
Frankly, I was shocked that I couldn’t rest. It was one of THE biggest lessons of my surgery and healing journey. And I have never in my life been more grateful for the mindset work that I have done on myself. That I could shift my perspective to a higher vantage point - an eagle's view we call it in the mindset world - to see the two sides of me arguing about what 'rest' was for me. Was it researching, learning, taking a course, or was it lying the heck down and shutting my eyes and body for a while. It was really quite entertaining.
The Role of Rest on the Wellness Journey
So my message for you with this week’s blog post is to make sure you are taking time to rest! Whether you are in the stress of recovering from a surgery like me or just living your Earth life here on this crazy planet, rest is essential and when we don’t get it our bodies break down. They get out of optimal balance and fall into dis-ease.
REST:
reduces stress + anxiety
improves mood
decreases blood pressure
provides chronic pain relief
improves immune health
strengthens the cardiovascular system
aids healing of any dis-ease in the body
It’s important.
It’s imperative and - as I learned - if time isn’t made for it the body will force it by knocking it down.
Don’t wait for that.
Pause. Breathe. Ask your body does it need to rest? And for how long? Then listen for the body’s intuitive answer and do that.
Make the time.
Your health depends on it.
Till next week,
Audaciously,
Sharon xo
If you’re intrigued by the things I’m sharing here, because I’m Sharon 😉 I would love to share more about the offerings I have to help you live your best + most audacious life. Visit my website at www.theaudaciousempire.com or pop me an email or DM to say “tell me more”.
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