Christmas Blessing & 7 ways to rest this holiday season
1. Physical Rest
Whether in a hammock by the sea, or curled up with a good book on the couch, find a place you can doze off if you need to. Your body needs to stop, and to sleep a while. Instead of vigorous excercise, try some stretching or gentle walking in nature.
2. Mental Rest
It can be hard to switch off your brain. Life, work and ministry all carry their share of worries. So, schedule times to do the thinking and worrying and planning. Write the to-do lists. Dump your thoughts all down on paper or an electronic note. Then put it all aside and take time to pause. Take a break. It will all be there again when you pick it back up.
3. Sensory Rest
Get to know your own sensory needs. Tune into what irritates you, and what soothes you. For some, a long bath or a massage is soothing. For others, it might be a swim in the ocean. Steering clear of your irritation triggers may be finding a quiet space away from the noise of children, with your phone on silent. Consider it going on a “Do Not Disturb” break.
4. Spiritual Rest
Find multiple, short times in the day to be with the Lord and meditate on His word. Long, in-depth Bible study is not the goal here. Drawing near to Him, enjoying Him, worshipping Him and learning to practice His presence in and through the day is what will renew your strength – as He is the source of it.
5. Social Rest
Take time to consider who in your life gives you energy, and who drains you. When in a season of rest, take a break from people who exhaust you. More often than not, these are the people who are negative, critical and have a ‘glass is half empty’ way of looking at the world. It’s ok to take time out from them to restore yourself. If you are an introvert, you may even want to take some complete rest from socialising – just to re-energise, and then you can engage again.
6. Emotional Rest
This is the toughest for those of us that are care-givers. We want to love on people all the time, but in order to do that in a sustainable way, we also need to make sure we are keeping our own personal boundaries. It’s ok when resting to just spend time with the people you trust.
7. Creative Rest
Take time to create just for the fun of it. It may seem like effort at first, but once you’re in the flow, it can be so restorative to the soul. We were made in God’s image as the creator to write, draw, paint, dance, and play music, just to name a few. Also, look for the creative around you and go admire it – in nature, in the art galleries and museums you may be visiting these holidays. Praise God for what you see.
If reading this list made you cringe wondering how you’re possibly going to be able to fit these ideas in, or make those changes – even for a season – then you would benefit from some coaching or supervision to assist you. Please do get in touch for a FREE Discovery Call.
May you be blessed as you take a break this Christmas!
With much love,
Kathryn
Kathryn Martens
Founder, Professional Coach and Supervisor
Click here for our FREE Life Balance Assessment
Book your FREE Discovery Call today!
Thanks goes to Saundra Dalton-Smith MD for her TED talk for the inspiration for this list. Click here to watch.
Leave a Reply