A change in perspective

😪 Last week I’d had a particularly bad night’s sleep and the following day I was struggling to work through the things I’d planned.

✨ Luckily, it was a Friday when I’m only answerable to myself. I had no meetings and had just finished delivering an 8-week mindfulness course so had no course commitments.

😪 So, at 11am I decided to have a nap. Only I didn’t nap! I just lay there. Feeling frustrated I got up again, had some lunch and then felt overwhelmingly tired. So, at 1pm I went back to bed to see if I’d nap then.

🤔 As I lay there, I noticed my thoughts with “you’re wasting the day” being a particularly loud one that created a sense of panic within me!

💡 I became really curious about that. Why was looking after myself wasting my day? Was my only sense of a day well-spent one that involved productivity? Wow! That’s not what I believe. Where did that come from?

💛 I reminded myself of the importance of self-care, of that being something I valued and then I practiced self-compassion.

💛 I placed my hand gently on my chest and connected with my breath in my stomach, and I told myself “it’s okay to rest, it’s okay to look after yourself, you’re doing the right thing”. Then I napped and woke an hour later recharged and energised and had very productive couple of hours!

💛 Mindfulness helped me to notice my thoughts, instead of being lost in them panicking. It helped me to be curious and to be self-compassionate. This all deactivated my 'fight and flight' system, and engaged my soothing 'rest and digest' system so I could nap.

😴 Today is National Sleep Day and I wanted to share the importance of listening to your body and being kind to yourself as support for you to get the rest and sleep you need.