FREE WEBINAR - REPLAY NOW AVAILABLE: Finding your flow. Living a life that feels good!

Taking time to consciously relax...

planning taking action wellbeing Jul 15, 2019

Call it fallow time like Bonnie Tsui has in a recent New York Times article, or Thrive Time like they do at Thrive Global, taking time out to rest, recover and re-energise is key to success.

It is something we would ordinarily do naturally if living in tune with the cycles of the seasons. Shorter days in winter are the time where we should be doing less, sleeping more and getting ready for the spring. Our modern lifestyles with increasing pressures of work, home life, family time and social connections (online and offline) have pushed us into a cycle of relentless 'always on'.

Ariana Huffington's article, published last week, really resonated with me. So much so that I cleared a couple of days out of my diary this week and I'm taking some time out for me, to do my thing..

It has been a really busy year, so far. Much of it fun. Lots of it stressful.

And having done some planning and thinking for the second half of 2019 there is plenty coming up.

Time out is needed.

The process was interesting. Yes I need, and want, a break .. Where shall I go? What should I do?

Obviously I love being outdoors and walking ..

I love spending time with my pup ..

I haven't been to the coast for a while ..

There is a full moon, with a lunar eclipse, this week ..

Which could be visible soon after the moon rise around 21:30 ..

Best seen from the south eastern parts ..

Sounds like a good enough reason to head to the Yorkshire Coast 😀

This is not one of my 'proper' retreats. This is for me...

But natural instinct was to plan, prepare, take time getting organised..

Which almost defeats the objective. I 'put it out there' to see if any of my friends might need a break and feel inclined to join me.

Then paused..

If I was doing this for me, which I am, I would chose to go camping ..

to smell the scents at night ..

to feel the ground and the earth ..

to hear the lambs and birds early in the morning ..

to just be quiet .. still ..

to witness .. to observe .. to sense .. to be ..

So I changed my plans, and I'm going to do just that.

to go to bed soon after dark ..

to rise early with the coolness of the day ..

to walk .. to pause .. to reflect .. to re-energise ..

and if the sky is clear ..

I hope to see the moon rise over the sea ..

to witness the partial lunar eclipse ..

as this eclipse doorway closes ..

I think we all do this naturally but we would all benefit from taking breaks more consciously.

Taking time out to pause .. to acknowledge achievements and good work done .. to prepare through creating space for the next goal, objective, project, task ..

I work with the 12-week year model and I have the final 2 weeks in this current year - the pressure is on.

But the effort over the past 10 weeks has been consistent and productive. The last 3 weeks have been intense and largely operating in a crisis recovery mode - more on trusted relationships in another musing...

So in my plan for this week ..

I have downtime planned ..

as important as my strategic thinking time ..

as important as my delivery time ..

Going forward ..

I will consciously block time for recovery ..

vs sliding into it when my brain just won't process anything further until I do ..

I will continue my mini-computer breaks ..

stretching for 15 seconds every 15 minutes ..

and taking a 10 minute 'away from my desk' break every hour ..

I live much of my life conscious of the cycles ..

of lunar cycles when planting, pruning and nurturing my garden ..

of seasonal cycles when witnessing and recording wildlife events ..

of business cycles when working with companies ..

of project cycles when consulting or mentoring big changes ..

of personal cycles when supporting people through life changes ..

I write about the Action Cycle in The Success Formula ..

Life is all about cycles ..

day and night ..

winter, spring, summer, autumn ..

effort and rest ..

yin and yang ..

breathe in and breathe out ..

I hope that you, like me, realise that we are human and we need breaks to increase our efficiency, our success and our happiness quotient.

✅ take that walk at lunchtime ..

✅ sit on a bench in the sun for 15 minutes during the day ..

Happy Monday 😎

Happy rest time 😴

Happy exercise time 🏃‍♀️

Happy quiet time 🧘‍♂️

Have a great week ..

If you resonate with some of the thoughts included here please comment and share.

If you are struggling with stress, overwhelm, lack of confidence, panic attacks and would like some help contact me.

If you would like to receive more musings, please join the newsletter mailing list, no more than one email per week with a summary of what's happened and links to blogs.

Stay connected with news and updates!

Personal Coaching

Everyone is unique and I work to customise your experience. Your success is my success!

Invest In You

Join the Insiders List

Join the Insiders List to hear about new retreats before they are released publicly.

Insiders List

Get Set For Success

An introduction to the 12 week year system for managing your life and reducing your stress.

Free Training

Upcoming Retreats

Find peace and reconnect with who you truly are

Treat Yourself