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Are you in tune with the phases of your body and mind?
Do you notice that you have a similar experience at the same time each month or year? Do you ever feel like you’re resisting against an inevitable current?
For example, each winter I get sick around January or February. In 2020, I was down for the count for almost two weeks. Back then, being ill would have been the only way I could be convinced to rest.
These repeating phases are cycles. These are daily, monthly, weekly, and yearly cycles that you go through. Women experience menstrual cycles, but this applies to both men and women. Yes, some of these feelings have to do with your hormonal cycle—and yes, this applies to men—but it’s also about the seasons, the planetary cycles, and much more.
How do you manage these cycles in a healthy way?
Honor where you are.
I am not an expert on any one of these specific “cycles,” though I’m learning a lot about each one. What I do know is that honoring where you are and what is happening in your day, week, month, and year is key to living your life with less resistance.
I’ve also learned that if you don’t accept where you are, the universe will likely take over and make you accept it.
This February, I listened to my body. I made the conscious decision to take time off from social media. I took time to rest and reflect. I gave myself space.
Each of us is designed differently, and this girl right here is not meant to be on social media, really media of any kind, every day—personally or professionally. So I took a break. What was originally planned for a month turned into three.
Avoid shame.
For a short while, I shamed myself. I told myself that I was doing something wrong and that it was going to hurt my business if I didn’t get back online in some form.
Then I stopped. I reminded myself that there was a reason for this down time. I chose to embrace, not shame, where I was in my cycle. To honor the rest and break I needed.
Embrace your need to rest.
We are told, directly and indirectly, that we must go, go, go, to be successful—whether it’s in your career or at home with your partner or your kids. Very few of us are told, let alone taught, that it is okay to rest.
We are rarely shown the value of honoring what your body is telling you, what you need.
Choose you.
It is time for you to rest. To break the old cycles, the old habits, remove the have to, must do, should have, and would haves. To honor where you are at in the moment. To honor what your body needs in the moment. To honor you.
No one can do this for you, but once you choose to do it, it will become the best new habit you’ll ever have. Choose you, choose to honor and embrace your needs.
I’m here to help you, guide you, support you, and cheer you on!