BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF

Many of my patients have told me this week is that they’ve been feeling fatigued, exhausted, and not having enough energy to do everything that they needed to do. I just want to offer you that as we approach the shortest the day of the year, here in the North East, that as humans we are not nocturnal. We are meant to sleep when its dark outside. So, what that really means is that our bodies need more rest right now than they do in the middle of the summertime.

I want to offer you a bit of self-compassion for not having the energy to get everything done on your to-do list. Maybe we need to shorten that to-do list this time of year. We can take a lesson from the animals, the non-nocturnal animals. The squirrels, they’re not running around busy at night. I don’t see them, so I assume that they are sleeping.

Maybe what we really need is more sleep and rest? And it’s not that we’re exhausted and can’t get the stuff done that we should be, but rather we aren’t designed to be able to do all the tasks this time of year that we’re expecting ourselves to do.

What’s the difference between exhaustion and relaxation? I would offer that it’s just perspective. Am I too exhausted to do something? Or am I really too relaxed and need to just rest?

So, be gentle with yourself. And as you lay down and put your head on the pillow each night, think about how much love did you radiate into the world? Because your value is not measured by how many tasks you got done. 

Much love, Amanda