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Around this time last year I had just returned from one of my first restorative yoga trainings and was coming to terms with the fact that I was completely burnt out. The thing is I knew I was exhausted long before this, I just thought it was an inevitable by-product of doing a “good job”. I remember spending many therapy sessions pondering why I couldn’t will myself into wellbeing. Was I simply not trying hard enough? Was it even possible to continue working this way and ever be well? I knew the answer was a big resounding no, but it took a while for my mind to catch up with the messages from my body. To understand the way I was working was not sustainable. My reserves were depleted and I needed to allow myself to take a much needed break. We cannot simply talk ourselves into being well. We have to practice noticing when our needs require tending and understand why it doesn’t always feel accessible to prioritize our wellbeing in the first place. This inaccessibility does not exist in a vacuum. It is not that we don’t want to prioritize our wellbeing, it is that we exist within a culture that's current and longstanding structures are dependent on us not prioritizing it. A culture that does not afford all bodies the safety, support and resources needed to be well. Rest is both an innate need and a state that physiologically differs from sleep and wakefulness. It is a state in which our system slows down, digests, and recovers. Through rest we connect with our ability to reflect. To imagine how to create structures and be in relationships that fundamentally support our collective wellbeing rather than work against it. This is the state where we connect with our capacity to repair and build anew. Every moment we spend creating the conditions for the body to know it is safe to step towards rest and wellbeing is meaningful. As we dive into a new month, remember your body makes so much sense and innately knows how to support you and be well. No matter how long the body has been outside the spectrum of wellbeing it has the capacity to find its way back to it. What does it look like to create the conditions for your body to know it is safe to do so? Sending you gratitude for continuing to show me it is possible to work in a way that feels both sustainable for me and supportive for others. And offering a loving nudge towards whatever your body is asking for today.
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