Celebrating Self Care

I had a post a while back about noticing how many of us tend to judge our “down-time.” I suggested reframing rest and celebrating the time we take to self-care in this way. We need to rest. It’s a form of productivity in many, many ways.

That said- sometimes “rest” is masked avoidance and when we catch ourselves saying “I just wasted an hour” it might be helpful to explore briefly what was the function of the mindless time?

Was it to rest? Woohoo. You deserve it and please, try and stop judging yourself for it.

Or was it to push off something you feel anxious about doing? That’s avoidance and not rest!

I had a moment the other day where I needed to get some writing done and instead took out my phone (sound familiar, anyone? ). I didn’t need to rest in that moment. I was rested. I really needed to get this work done- but it was making me nervous, so I avoided. Now, I don’t think the word “wasted” is helpful- because it feels judgy to me. So maybe we can say- “oops! I just practiced avoidance for the last bit of time” laugh, and move on.

End of the week reflection: please rest. Please don’t judge yourself for it. It’s so necessary for well-being. AND- be curious about that avoidance. Notice if it’s becoming a trend. Allow it to inform you. Be playful with it! Don’t be harsh with language like “I wasted time.” Just be curious about your patterns- they are so informative!

Have a great weekend!

Leah