Welcome. Whether you’ve stumbled across this blog or you’re someone I’ve worked with in sessions, I want to say I’m glad you’re here. This space was created to offer something real and somewhere to explore the deeper, often unspoken layers of life – the emotional, cultural and psychological truths that shape us.
So it feels only right that the first post starts with something many of us need, but rarely allow:
Rest.
Not the performative kind. Not the one we reward ourselves with only after ticking every box. But true, unapologetic, life-giving rest.
Sometimes we forget that we’re allowed to stop.
Not just for a holiday and not just when we’ve earned it or ticked off everything on the to-do list. But because we’re human and we need rest – we weren’t made to keep pushing, giving, performing, proving. However, somewhere along our journey society, culture and maybe even some families made us believe that rest is lazy. Perhaps that time off is indulgent and slowing down means we’re falling behind. Maybe we feel the silent pressure of needing to keep going and external pressures like work, family and society sometimes reinforces it. When we are exposed to these limiting (and untrue) beliefs for too long, we’ve internalised the idea that our value depends on how much we do, on how much we offer to those around us. That we are only worthy if we keep doing and giving and performing and we fast become the gatekeepers of these beliefs. In a culture that teaches us to perform for our worth, choosing to rest is a quiet but rewarding rebellion. It’s a reminder that you’re not here just to meet expectations. You’re here to live. To breathe. To be.
Trust me, I learnt the hard way working in law and corporate governance. There was always another case, another meeting, another court hearing. It doesn’t slow down, stop or end, because the system doesn’t. It’s a machine – it was designed that way. But that doesn’t mean you have to keep going and run (even drag yourself) alongside it.
You don’t need to earn your rest. You already deserve it, because life is hard. You don’t need a justification or valid reason to slow down.
Your break doesn’t have to be a flight to Bali or a Yoga retreat either. Sometimes it looks like cancelling plans, sleeping in, taking a Friday afternoon off just because you can, booking a massage or spa day, even sitting in peace. I’ll share – I could never do this before; I’d loathe sitting on a beach because I had nothing to show for it, and now, it’s one of my favourite ways to relax! Give me the sun, a book and a beer and I’m a happy girl!
The more we do, the more we condition ourselves to endure stress and anxiety, and that fast becomes chronic stress and states of anxiety; we begin to live in this heightened stat that it becomes the norm and we don’t know how to slow down and if we leave that switch turned on for too long, it becomes chronic illness – high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, IBS, food intolerances etc…
Your body might be trying to tell you it’s tired. Your mind might just want to be empty for a bit; and that’s okay. No if’s, no but’s, no need to find reasons to justify it. Do it for yourself, it’s your mini gift to you. If someone you loved gave you a gift you really wanted, you’d take it, no? So why not take the gift of peace you can give to yourself; even if for 5 minutes?
And if you feel you can’t because something is just too important or needs to get done or it’s just one more thing. I invite you to take a moment now to consider why you believe this;
What is the deeper belief about myself that keeps me thinking this?
What the fear in taking a break?
What does that part of me fear will happen if I do?
Maybe it’s a disguised form of self-sabotage to protect you from core wounds?
So the next time you feel like you should take on one more thing—pause. Let it go. It won’t be the end of the world. And that means you can choose to step out of it too if you truly want to…
– N x
P.S. If this spoke to something within you, I’d love to stay connected. You can join my free community space over on Podia – a quieter corner of the internet where I share monthly reflections, healing insights, gentle reminders and early access to new offerings. It’s a space to pause, reflect and come home to yourself again and again.
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