blue waves, water

By: Sarah Cawley, PA-C, IFMCP

You know the feeling…the one where you feel like you have 37 tabs open in the browser of your brain…where you can’t quite settle down because it always feels like something is left undone? Or the one where your mind just can’t seem to be quiet with the worries of life? How about the one where even simple tasks take extraordinary effort- where just thinking about answering emails seems overwhelming?

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. We live in a culture of busyness. Our busyness is acceptable- praised even. FOMO rules and we end up way over our head with a myriad of obligations. Our soul can’t quite catch it’s breath, and we end up feeling it deep down in our bones. We are beyond exhausted. We are empty.

Consider for a moment that we were created for rest. Created for quiet. For a break from the endless “asks” of the little red badges on the icons of our phones. To pause the relentless ping on our hearts of everything we consume on the news or social media. Could this be the reason so many of us have trouble slowing down, and how many of us actually know how to rest?

I have many patients who tell me they can’t relax, they can’t meditate, they can’t turn off their mind…these habits and patterns are so deeply ingrained in our neural pathways that it’s nearly impossible to do without two things: practice, and priority.

Carving out time for rest with building both shorter daily breaks that are intentionally planned, and longer periods of rest at least weekly is critical for helping our bodies to restore, repair, and reprogram. Little by little it becomes the routine our bodies are used to and come to rely on. Creating rhythms of rest that feed the soul is a life giving practice and has a ripple effect that flows outward to every other aspect of our lives.

For the daily rest routine, I suggest utilizing apps like Headspace, Calm, or Abide. For a weekly practice, I recommend setting aside an entire day to do things that only bring rest and restoration- a day you know you can rely on during the week as you continue to serve all the demands of your life. An entire day may seem like a stretch, so start small! To begin building in longer periods of rest into your week, I recommend floatation REST in one of the open float pools at Marigold Wellness Collective- just downstairs from our offices!

As you effortlessly float on top of the water in 1400 lbs of magnesium salt you will be amazed at how time both speeds up and slows down. For one hour, you can find space to reconnect with your breath, your spirit, and the heartbeat of your life. For those who find it difficult to meditate, many people feel that the pool actually meditates you. I can attest to this!

November is a great month to try to begin to build in new self care routines as winter approaches. If our practice can be of any help as you navigate this process, feel free to reach out!

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