Embracing the Gifts of Deep Rest and Celebration this Season

The winter months can offer us a unique opportunity for deep rest and celebration. Embracing this seasonal & cultural rhythm can have a profound impact on our overall well-being and creativity.

Here’s 5 gifts of deep rest & celebration during winter:

1. Deeper Sleep & Coziness: the dark and cold nights of winter invite us to slow down and conserve energy. It offers a natural time for the body to restore itself after the busyness of the year, promoting recovery and rejuvenation. It’s a great time to cuddle up and embrace hygge (pronounced hyoo·guh), the Danish & Norwegian word that describes the cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort.

2. Slowing Down Fuels Creativity: When you slow down and allow room to take in new information, you open up space for creativity and new insights. When we have time to feel bored we tend to explore more and try new, “just for fun” things. Embracing a beginner’s mindset allows us to create from a place of joy and empowerment. This can encourage learning, daydreaming, and making joyful plans.

3. Introspection & Clarity: The quieter, darker days provide more time and space for introspection. It’s a time to turn inward and reflect on personal goals and values. This can help you to reset your intentions and set the stage for exciting beginnings in the new year.
   
   

4. Deeper Connections & Celebration: Winter months are a time when we seek out community and companionship. We take time to gather and celebrate with friends and loved ones and to be present in each others’ stories. We enjoy the nostalgia of old holiday movies, music, and cultural traditions. It’s also a time for strengthening new bonds and creating new traditions, if that feels nourishing.

5. Increased Emotional Resilience: Deep rest also means taking the time to be with and process our emotions. It’s a space for healing and processing unresolved feelings and stress. This can lead to reduced anxiety and increased emotional clarity so that in the coming year we can take empowered action in greater alignment with our goals.

If you’re starting to dream & scheme about making a change in the new year, I’d love to support you with a guided, actionable plan. Schedule a complimentary consultation here.

5 Tips for Managing Election Anxiety

5 Tips for Managing Election Anxiety: 

1. Do Your Part: Vote, Donate and/or Volunteer to Your Individual Capacity & Ability
   
   DROP THE GUILT. If you are not eligible to vote, contribute in the ways you can. If you do not have money to donate, contribute in the ways you can. If you do not have capacity to volunteer, contribute in the ways you can. There’s a theme here: despite our limitations, we can all do something. When compounded, small actions lead to big results. Plus, taking action feels good.
   
   

2. Make an Election Night Plan that Feels Supportive & Healthy
   
   Do you want to participate in a watch party with others? Do you want to eat a warm meal at home & cozy up on the couch? Do you want to plan a time to take a quiet walk, or commit to turning off the news cycle & start your regular nightly routine? Plan in advance what you’ll eat, drink, & do to support yourself.
   
   

3. Catch Yourself when Future-Tripping or Catastrophizing
   
   If you find yourself venturing into “what if” territory, you are outside of the present moment & current reality. Imagining worst-case scenarios is not protective or preventative.
    

4. Take Intentional Media Breaks
   
   This means committing to stepping away from the news cycle and social media. Get outside, care for your plants, cook a meal, make something with your hands, or play with a pet or child to remind yourself there is more keeping this beautiful planet spinning than our human-constructed political systems.
   
   

5. Remember: You are Equipped to Live in Your Integrity Regardless of the Outcome
   
   You can treat yourself and your community with care & compassion no matter the elected official. Your ability to take positive action towards change will continue far beyond this election.

Finding Greater Self-Alignment

Are you in a place in your life or career where you’ve checked all the prescribed boxes, yet you find yourself feeling unfulfilled, dissatisfied, or maybe even bored?

I’ve been there many times.

As a chronic overachiever and recovering people-pleaser, I have raced my way to the top of a goal only to find myself looking around asking, “is THIS it?”

If you’re experiencing this, I want to tell you that it’s not because you’re impatient, fickle, or difficult to please.

You’re simply misaligned. 

Best-selling author and coach Martha Beck has coined the terms “essential self” and “social self” to describe the two parts of ourselves we embody simultaneously as we move through the world.

The essential self is your true nature. It’s your childlike self. It comes alive when you do the things you feel pulled toward, the things you do just for fun. It’s who you are when no one else is watching. Your essential self comes alive with the interests you love and find energizing.  

You also have a social self that helps you manage and present yourself to the world. This is the part of you that has been trained to succeed by cultural standards, to be polite, to follow the rules, to fit in. Your social self is concerned with being good enough, and it may even seek perfection in the eyes of others.

While we need both our essential and social selves to be whole, many of us give too much weight to the social self at the expense of our essential self.

If you’re out of alignment with your essential self, you feel it. You may be exhausted, irritable, and have trouble sleeping. You may seek relief through substances or use distractions to help you numb out.

If you’d like to take a self-inventory of where you fall on the essential self/social self-spectrum, you can start by making a list of your actions over the past week or month. What did you spend the most time doing, who did you interact with, and where did you spend your time? Alongside each of these responses, write the predominate feeling that came up. Pay close attention to what feels draining and what feels joyful and energizing.

Looking at your list, what percentage of your life now would you say is aligned with your essential self? What percentage are you giving to your social self? Are you happy with the balance or is there a shift you’d like to make?

If you’d like help getting into deeper alignment, I am here for you. Email coaching@robynneweaver.com and let’s get to the work of YOU.