Rest- Day 1 of the Self-Care Challenge

Today is the first day of the Self-Care Challenge, and the prompt is ‘Rest.’ Here’s what rest looked like for me today.

I slept in until noon. I never sleep until noon.

The night before, I stayed up way past midnight reading a romance novel—something I haven’t done in ages. Maybe staying up late seems counterproductive, but that’s kind of the point.

I recently finished my summer term and hadn’t really taken the time to unwind. As a full-time student, I don’t get much chance to read for fun, so I found a short book I could finish in one sitting. After my kids went to bed, I dove into the story without worrying about the time. It gave my mind a break from the yoga, workouts, and workshops I’m usually focused on during the day. It was something just for me—no deadlines, no interruptions.

((This is the book I read, by the way. Review coming soon))¹

And then, I slept. I turned off my alarms and let my body decide when it was ready to wake up. When was the last time you did that?

Usually, I sleep about 4-6 hours a night, so I reminded myself that I needed one night to truly rest. I woke up a few times in the morning, but my body said, ‘Not yet,’ so I went back to sleep. Around noon, I woke up feeling refreshed and happy.

Most days, I have to force myself out of bed. I want to get up but it’s a fight between my brain and my body. My mind races with all the things I need to do, while my body feels heavy and resists. On days like that, I get things done but often find myself cranky and drained by afternoon.

Today, though, I feel calm. I feel rested. My brain is still buzzing with the to-dos in my planner, but I’m not dreading them. Instead, I feel ready. There’s no pressure or rush. I’m definitely not used to that feeling.

I’m going to try to create a better sleep routine so that I can get more than 4-6 hours of sleep a night. I’m not sure what I’m going to do but I’ll let you know when I figure it out.

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