Why Rest Doesn't Always Feel Like Rest
The other week I went to my first ever Creative Mornings event in Sydney. Emilya Colliver from Art Pharmacy was the speaker, she curates beautiful art spaces for corporates.
She said something that made me really think.
She talked about the choices behind curating a space, what earns its place, what gets removed, what the space is actually there to do. And then she made the point that struck me most: we should be curating our lives just as deliberately. And I couldn't agree more.
The Thing Nobody Tells You About Curating Your Life
Curating your life mindfully is so important, really delving into what you want and what you don't want. Being the creator of your own dreams and desires, not just drifting through life on autopilot and letting it happen to you.
And just as important: understanding that your wants and desires will evolve. They'll change, just like the spaces Emilya curates, they don't stay the same forever. I think there's a big shift in what we want when we hit perimenopause and menopause, so many women talk about a veil being lifted.
But often we're so exhausted looking after so many people and things that it becomes much harder to give ourselves the time and space to actually curate our lives. And it's simply not possible to curate or work any of this out if you're running on empty.
I honestly think so many women, especially those in the sandwich years, are exhausted. And as women, we just don't get nearly enough proper restorative rest.
What Real Rest Actually Gives Us
I've been reading a lot recently about restorative rest, and just how important it really is. In his book The Brain at Rest, neuroscientist Dr. Joseph Jebelli explains that real rest is what allows clarity to emerge, problems to get solved, and the strength to make meaningful change. I'd add to that: it's only when we're truly rested that we can actually think clearly about curating our lives. But how many of us actually know how to properly rest, how to truly switch off?
The Pause to Unpause Experience
That's exactly what my The Pause to Unpause Experience is for.
A four-hour workshop where you're nurtured in a beautiful, warm space, with nowhere else to be and nothing else to think about but you.
Just a small circle of women (no more than 12 of us), and time to properly understand what's happening in your body and mind when you can't switch off, and how to begin shifting your nervous system out of constant high alert.
We'll weave in some restorative yoga throughout our time together, share a nourishing lunch and afternoon tea, and give your body and mind the chance to experience what true rest can feel like, so you can reconnect with yourself and what you need. Because it's much easier to hear what you want when you're no longer running on empty.