Good morning friends! Happy mid-week to you all out there listening! I'm coach Kate coming to you with another episode of Minute Explorations for you. I host this space daily where we take a few minutes to dive into an idea, a quote or saying, or even some literature to connect and grow together. This space will be changing in the next few days, where we expand it past a few minutes, and invite more of you all to jump into the discussion as well, so be on the lookout as we host this space together moving forwards. 

Today I wanted to talk about how breaks are essential to our bodies AND our minds. We live in so much of a go go go world these days where rest, pause, relaxation, and even sleep are not only not prioritized, but often looked down upon as lazy attributes. The truth is, rest is essential to life and even what we put into life as well. It's about tapping into that balance that works for you, and so many of us have no idea what a restful balance looks like. I heard this quote on the internet a while back, and it pops up in so many different areas, all with different authors and attribution, so I wanted to share the general quote that goes around online with you all because I think it's powerful in its ability to assess our rest and go balance. Here it is:

if you don't schedule a break, your body will take one for you

What this means, is that if you don't find a time to prioritize you and take a break, your body will find it for you. why? Because rest is essential to our bodies and our minds. That means it's not a luxury, it is an essential need, and if our bodies don't get that need-- it will do whatever it takes to make sure that need is met. That can look like slowing down, starting to feel sick, getting injured more often, falling asleep at random times, or even being more moody and aloof because we don't have the energy to engage or care.

So how do you find that balance? How do you open the door to accepting rest as an essential part of your routines? The first part of this is just accepting it as a part of life, and to many of us-- that is a the hardest part. Because many times we can't quantify the output of sleep directly, or even assign numerical value to it, so it feels like a negligible variable. However, we can start cueing into ourselves to figure out what that balance can look like for us. That requires us to keep checking in with our bodies and asking ourselves how we feel, and that's tough to do, especially when you're used to looking at things with absolute variables, like a scale to assess the state of your body and weight. 

So next time you start to feel irritable, sluggish, tired, hungry take note. Also, the next time you feel rejuvenated, happy, energetic, and connected, also take note.

Your feelings are roadmaps to get you closer to what your body needs both in the moment, and over time.

By tuning into these emotions, these feelings, and being brave to ask yourself how you are, you tap into creating a balance with rest over time that helps you thrive and live the best life for you. 

I'm Coach Kate. Thank you for tuning into today for our short Minute Explorations. This has been an episode on rest--so take some time today to disengage, and figure out what rest means to you, and how you can regain that balance in your life. If you like what you heard today, feel free to give me a follow. I'll be hosting more Minute Explorations and an exploration hour in the future with you all, so you wont want to miss all that's ahead. See you all again tomorrow

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebomb.substack.com