Category: rest

a small drawing of a gold star with a happy face on it Go Team 2026: A Gentle Reminder To Give Yourself What You Need (When You Can, Of Course)
advice · fitness · Go Team · meditation · motivation · rest

Go Team 2026: A Gentle Reminder To Give Yourself What You Need (When You Can, Of Course)

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Hey Team, 

Here’s the short version of this post: It’s ok to give yourself the movement, the peace of mind, and the rest that you need.

I know this is not the first time I have given you (or myself) this advice but since I always need reminders about this stuff then I assume you do, too.

So, to reiterate:

Whenever you can, please, please, please, give yourself the things you need. 

If you need rest, then please get some rest

And please do that in a way that lets you meet your needs the best way you can in your current situation.

Resting doesn’t have to mean taking a nap (but a nap is great if you are able to take one!) It can mean resting in small increments, taking some deep breaths, pausing between tasks, choosing to limit the scope of some tasks, doing some yoga or stretching, or picking a restorative activity.

If your thoughts are feeling tangled and you need to meditate or journal then please meditate or journal. 

And please do those things in the way that meets your needs. 

Journaling doesn’t have to be pen on paper, it can be typing on a screen or drawing on an envelope or using voice to text or creating a collage or anything else that makes your thoughts more tangible and organizable for you. 

Meditation doesn’t have to mean sitting still (but that type of mindfulness is totally cool.) It can mean colouring, or doing walking meditation, or drawing a series of small lines, or doing a task with great care. It’s more about the nature of your attention than the specific activities involved.

If you need to get moving, then please get moving.

And please do that in the way that meets your needs.

If you need intense exercise, then push yourself hard in whichever ways are available to you right now. 

If you need slow movement, then take your time. 

If you need to lift heavy, lift heavy. If you need to lift light, lift light. 

And please don’t feel like you need to limit yourself to doing some sort of established routine. It’s totally ok to put on some music and flail around like a fish that got washed up on the beach. It’s totally ok to head to the playground and swing on the swings. It’s totally ok to do squats while you watch TV.  And it’s totally ok to stretch while you talk to a friend. 

As long as your movement meets your needs, then forge ahead.

If you need something, then please do what you can to meet that need. 

Even if you feel you *shouldn’t* (I still hate that word!) need it.

In fact, ESPECIALLY if you feel you shouldn’t need it. 

Your needs matter. 

You matter. 

And if you need some sort of permission before meeting those needs – in whatever way you are able to meet them at the moment – then consider that permission granted. 

I may not be the boss of you but I am perfectly willing to boss you into being kind to yourself. 

(Yes, I *am* the oldest sister, how did you guess?)

So, Team, please, please, please take good care of yourselves out there. 

And here is your gold star for your efforts to meet your needs – whatever they happen to look like right now. 

Go Team Us!

a small drawing of a gold star with a happy face on it
This little gold star cheered me right up. If you have a minute, draw yourself a gold star – you won’t regret it!

Image description: a drawing of a cartoonish gold star with a happy face on it. The drawing is on a piece of white index card and the background behind the star includes a bunch of small marks (some dots and some are a little more like lines) and five short lines that are near each point on the star like it is either glistening or in motion. The piece of index card is propped up between the keys on my computer keyboard which is black with white letters.

When Rest Feels Reckless
Fear · rest · self care · traveling · vacation

When Rest Feels Reckless

Mina2 Comments

the present/ is a feather/ on loan from the wings of time/ that only attention/ makes beautiful/ and only kindness/ valuable.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship to time (and work and rest), so when I read those lines from Maria Popova’s bird divination cards a few days ago, they felt like they were meant for me. I’ve been getting her newsletter for years and only rarely open it anymore. That I even clicked through to see the words had that divine timing feel (speaking of time again).

With sports, I’m diligent about taking one day of complete rest per week and balancing my workouts within the week. Where I’m not so attentive is when it comes to my work-rest balance. I am about to go away for five weeks. To spend time with family and friends. And alone. Usually work comes with me, anywhere I go. This time it is not. This will be downtime. I’ll be doing things I love, which fill my cup. Reading novels. Writing. Running. Hiking. Cycling. A meditation retreat.  I can’t remember when I last took this kind of work-free time for myself. Part of me thinks, I’m not successful enough to take this kind of time.

My trip, as it turns out, is coming at either the perfect time, or exactly the wrong time. The planning happened months ago, before I knew that my work would be in quite the state of transition it is (good and much needed changes, yet …). My plate is not as full as I’d like. I’m not a person with a full-time job and salary. I don’t have a long waiting list of potential clients. That’s good, in terms of making it easier to get away. And not good, in terms of I don’t know what September will look like workwise when I get back. What if none of the seeds I’ve planted take root and I come home to nothing?

This choice feels reckless and scary. I am going anyway, stepping back from the hustle. Not getting paid. Fear will board the plane alongside me.

And what a waste it will be if Fear rides along the whole time, leaching the joy out of my days and agitating my rest. Can I allow myself this period of resourcing and renewal, without getting sucked into a vortex of self-doubt? Or worse, the spiraling worry of how I will be judged? I can’t bring myself to write out the verdicts I imagine.

Still, I’m going. How will Fear and I spend this feather of time?   

Fragment of Maria Popova Bird Divination card

I’m counseling myself to be in the moment. In practice I find the present moment extremely hard to be fully inside of. Encumbered as it is by my past baggage and future plans.  

This is my gentle challenge to myself: Can I quiet Fear and heighten my attention to the feather? Make each present moment while I’m away more beautiful. A respite from pushing and chasing. Should-free.

Can I find that kindness the poem mentions and offer it to myself?

a small painting of a happy gold star Go Team 2026: Pare It Down
ADHD · Go Team · habits · motivation · rest · self care

Go Team 2026: Pare It Down

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Hey Team,

I don’t know about how things are going for you but my brain has been rather uncooperative for the past few weeks.

It differs from day-to-day – sometimes I can do what I planned, sometimes it feels like my ADHD meds aren’t working at all, and sometimes I feel like I get up in the morning, get spun around for a few hours, and then I’m dumped into 9:30 at night without any sense of what kept me feeling busy all day.

Needless to say, this has not been a fun experience at all.

And I think I could just wait out the tiredness, the frustration, and the brain fog if my capacity wasn’t all over the place. The fact that I can do some things with ease (and speed) and other things (that are normally straightforward) feel so difficult and convoluted that I either can’t get started or I end up moving so slowly that I get on my own nerves.

The worst thing is that I know the things I need to do to feel better, I am just having such a hard time making myself do them.

Now this is the part where some people would be saying “You just gotta push yourself. Try harder! This is just resistance.”

I’m voting no on that.

Sure, maybe there is some resistance in the mix of my challenges right now but pushing myself or telling myself to “just” try harder* is not going to be the solution.

Instead, when things are tough like this, what I always need to do is to figure out a way to keep putting one foot in front of the other, to do what I can when I can, and to rest when I need to – all while being very kind to myself about the process.

I don’t need to push myself or to try harder, I need to pare things down as much as I can.

And if you are struggling in any way right now, I invite you to do the same.

If you aren’t up to a full yoga practice, spend a few minutes in Savasana on your mat.

If you can’t write in your journal, do a little voice dictation into your phone or do some drawing in your notebook.

If you can’t tackle that big project, is there a smaller section that feels doable right now? Is there someone who can help you with it? Can you do anything to adjust your own or other people’s expectations around this project at the moment?

If you have been waiting to respond to an email until you have composed the perfect message, can you send a ‘Here’s a quick answer but I’ll get back to you in a few days with the details.’ type of message?

If you are having trouble eating the way you would like to, is there a quicker solution that keeps you fed and isn’t taxing on your brain? (Some ideas )

If you can’t stir yourself to go for a walk outside, can you walk in your living room?

If your strength training routine is beyond you at the moment, can you do some mobility exercises or leg lifts or some calisthenics instead?

You can see where I am going here, right?

When things are challenging but you know you will feel better if you take action, you don’t have to summon the energy to do the big version of something – you can do a smaller version. You can pare things down until that activity feels doable.

You can be kind to today-you and tomorrow-you at the same time by scaling your actions to match your current capacity.

And this applies at all times, not just when you are struggling. It’s ok – it’s ENCOURAGED – to meet yourself where you are rather than being annoyed with yourself for not being somewhere else.

So, Team, however today finds you, I wish you ease and I invite you to consider whether you need to reduce the pressure in any area of your life by paring things down.

And I’m offering you this gold star in celebration of your efforts to take good care of yourself.

Go Team Us!

a small painting of a happy gold star
Isn’t this a cheery star? I’m going to prop her up next to my computer. Image description: A small painting of a happy-faced gold star with lines in the bottom left that kind of make it look like she jumped into the middle of the white card she is drawn on. The card is propped up between the keys on my black computer keyboard.

*Christine shudders in neurodivergence. Never EVER tell someone with ADHD that they aren’t trying hard enough – you can’t see the effort they have to put in to focus their attention, corral their working memory, and try to get their executive functions to, you know, function. It’s exhausting and takes A LOT of effort – and that’s BEFORE they actually start the task.

a photo of a dog on a leash on a sidewalk April? Tomorrow? Really?
celebration · fitness · fun · mindfulness · motivation · play · rest · self care · time

April? Tomorrow? Really?

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

So, apparently we’re starting April tomorrow which is bizarre because I am pretty sure we just started March.

Time is a mystery.

But seeing as the calendar is insisting that a new month is imminent, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the fitness and wellness related days that have been assigned to April.

April is…

Move More Month – that seems pretty promising and it could be pretty easy, if the weather cooperates even a little. And for many of our bloggers and readers, it ties in nicely with the fact that April is also Active Dog Month -it’s like a 2 for 1 special, really.

Stress Awareness Month – I think we are all pretty aware of stress (ha!) but this could be a good time to pay attention to your stress levels and see if you can find some relief.

Speaking of stress relief, perhaps the fact that April is Poetry Month, the Month of Hope, and National Volunteer Month, could help find a good starting point for reducing your stress levels.

And if you need help with your stress, April is also Counseling Awareness Month – extra impetus to give it a try.

See more of the awareness days, weeks, and month-long reminders in April.

For me, though, the best awareness day this month is April 5 – which is My Sister Denise’s Birthday Awareness Day.

Denise is a fun, creative, outdoorsy person and I highly recommend that you celebrate My Sister Denise’s Birthday Awareness Day by finding some nonsense to participate in, by taking yourself outside for some fun, or by doing something creative.

In fact, if you *do* celebrate My Sister Denise’s Birthday Awareness Day on Sunday, let me know and I will draw you your very own gold star as a reward.

Denise’s birthday

a decorative artwork with a photo of a woman surrounded by a variety of patterned sections Sick Day(s): How Christine Spent The Weekend
fitness · rest · self care

Sick Day(s): How Christine Spent The Weekend

Christine Hennebury

I had a few “off” days at the end of last week.  I couldn’t really tell if I was just tired, if my allergies were acting up, or if I was getting a migraine. 

It didn’t even occur to me that I might actually be sick until Saturday afternoon when my head suddenly weighed about ten thousand pounds, my throat was sore, and I started sneezing.

Luckily, I didn’t have many plans this weekend and I could easily shift things around to make room to rest.*

Here’s what that looked like:

I wasn’t quite in ‘lie-around-and-read’ mode so I spent a long time playing with paints and markers and paint markers.

While drinking approximately 1.5 million cups of tea, of course. **

a tea mug
My favourite Tarot card – The Empress – on a mug sprinkled with gold stars. You probably could have guessed this was mine. 🙂 Image description: My mug is sitting on a folded red cloth napkin and both are resting on my worn wooden kitchen table. The mug is white with a black handle and black interior. The white parts are sprinkled with gold stars and in the middle is a black and white image of The Empress, a woman in a crown and flowing robes with a scepter in her right hand.

I had a lot of fun with this video from Art Therapy with Sana

A video from Art Therapy with Sana called ‘Feeling Overwhelmed? Try this Klimt Pattern Art Practice. Still image shows a patterned painting in shades of red, brown, and gold. On the left side of the image is a woman in red robes, the woman’s face is cut from a magazine. The rest of the image is made up of vertical sections framed in wavy lines and each section is filled with a different pattern – spirals, ovals. dots. Behind the first artwork is another work that features a collaged image of a woman with patterns drawn around her in gold and black.

Here’s what mine turned out like:

a small painting that's fairly abstract except for a drawing of a woman's face between two sections of the drawing that kind of look like a robe.
My version of the first painting from the art therapy video posted above. The colours are shades of red, purple, yellow, pink and gold that work well together (I hope!) Near the centre of the painting I have drawn a woman’s face looking out between two sections that form a robe. The rest of the painting is formed from wavy lines that mark off different sections that contain different patterns of squares, circles, dots, lines and spirals.
a decorative artwork with a photo of a woman surrounded by a variety of patterned sections
My version of the second painting from the video. I cut out a picture of a woman in a blue and green patterned dress – you can see her from the waist up- she is leaning towards her right shoulder and looking down. The rest of the painting is divided into sections filled with patterns – squares, spirals, grids, circles, and squiggles, all patterned in green, yellow, and blue.

And since I like to listen to podcasts while I draw, today I chose Old Gods of Appalachia – a horror anthology show with incredibly strong writing, world-building, and performances. (Yes, I do like spooky stuff!)

When my head got too heavy I tried the exercises in this video. They helped a lot.

One Move to Quickly Relieve Sinus Congestion – YouTube

And I borrowed some moves from Joelle here:

Yoga for Sinus & Cold Relief – Feel Better in 10 minutes!

When I needed a nap on Saturday, I did Yoga Nidra: Yoga Nidra For Sleep & Rest | The StillPoint

And on Sunday, I fell asleep to some ghost stories from the Classic Ghost Stories Sleep Compilations.

My husband thinks it’s pretty funny to fall asleep to ghost stories but the stories on Classic Ghost Stories are more ‘creeping dread’ than ‘scar them with the horrors’ kind of tales and Tony Walker is an excellent narrator.

My weekend wasn’t all art and ghost stories though, I also did my usual stuff – walking the dog, making meals, puttering around, but at a much slower pace than usual. 

It is no fun to be sick but being ‘too sick to go out’ and ‘not up to doing much at home either’ was a great reason to prioritize rest, creativity, and taking good care of myself. 

What are your go-to activities when you are feeling under the weather?

*As I write this on Monday afternoon, I am feeling better than I was on the weekend but still not great. I actually ended up having to reschedule a dentist appointment AND a mammogram so I could keep my germs at home instead of taking them on tour to various medical facilities.

** Don’t worry, it wasn’t all caffeinated. I alternated between Cold 911 from David’s Tea, Ginger Peach, Chocolatey Chai, Wild Sweet Orange, (no caffeine so far!) and black tea (there’s the caffeine!) with the occasional foray into boiled water with lemon, candied ginger, and honey. I also drank regular old cold water.

A drawing of lots of gold stars of various sizes Go Team 2026: Rest Is A Key Ingredient
advice · fitness · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · rest · self care

Go Team 2026: Rest Is A Key Ingredient

Christine Hennebury

Rest is one of the most important and most overlooked components of any efforts we are making to move towards the life we want.

Your rest doesn’t have to wait until all the work is done or until everything is figured out. It’s not extra or a ‘nice-to-have-if-you-have-time’ – it’s actually part of the process of doing things and figuring things out.

No matter what practice you are currently developing, the underlying goal is going to be similar – everyone’s goals in this area are about feeling good and inhabiting all of the corners of their lives.

The connection between your actions and the practice you are developing is generally pretty clear but the connection between rest and success may be a bit more murky.

Basically, in your quest to improve your well-being rest is vital. 

Resting is not ‘taking a break’ from your practice, it is PART of your practice, part of your routine, part of your process.

Not only is rest valuable in itself but with all of the effort you are putting in, you need to rest your body, your mind, and your spirit or you will struggle to do the other things you want to do.

You need periods of action and periods of rest in order for your practice to work.

If you constantly try to push yourself forward without rest, you may be able to keep up your practice but your tasks (and your enjoyment of them) will suffer because of your lack of rest.

Now, I know that not everyone has the same amount of time to rest in a given day, a given week, or a given month.

I’m not suggesting that everybody can just drop everything and rest on a whim.

BUT

Given that rest is so important to your practice and to your well-being in general, it’s worth reconsidering what rest *can* look like for you.

Maybe you can’t take long periods of rest but maybe you can take short periods of rest here and there.

Maybe you can batch your tasks so you can create time to breathe before switching to a new set of activities.

Maybe you can choose not to do certain activities on certain days so you have a little room to rest. (Your practices won’t be ruined if you structure them to include downtime.)

You can reduce the nature, scope, or details of some of your activities and practices to free up some time and energy.

Like so many other areas of our lives, rest is not an all or nothing situation.

You don’t have to choose between perfect rest and not resting at all.

Just like you can benefit from short bursts of activities, you can benefit from even small amounts of rest. (Here are some ideas from PHE Canada)

So, Team, today I invite you to remember the value of rest in developing your practices (and in enjoying your life more!) AND I invite you to consider how to add at least some small rest periods to your schedule.

And here are your gold stars for your efforts today whether you are trying to rest or in an active phase of moving toward the life you want.

Be kind to yourself out there.

And, always…

Go Team Us!

A drawing of lots of gold stars of various sizes
Lots of stars of all different sizes to reward all kinds of rest or all kinds of effort. Image description: a drawing of over 60 stars in various sizes (but most are small), each outlined in black. The background is filled with thin, diagonal black lines that extend downwards towards the right. The lines sort of give the impression of connecting some of the stars. The edges of the drawing are trimmed in black.
Star shaped holiday lights hang in a darkened window. Christine practices winding down
ADHD · fitness · rest · sleep

Christine practices winding down

Christine Hennebury

There’s a certain irony in when I’m writing this post.

You see, during December and January when I’m writing daily ‘Making Space’ or ‘Go Team’ posts, I occasionally forget that I also need to write my regular Tuesday post.

And that’s what happened today.

The irony comes in because this post that I’m writing at 10:41PM on Monday is about how I’m trying to do a better job of winding down before bed. Obviously I do a better job on some days than on others.

Like a lot of people with ADHD I often end up, trying to cram a lot of stuff into my evening and I sometimes find it hard to switch out of doing mode and start getting ready for bed.

But I do know that a good wind down routine helps me to switch modes and get ready to rest so I’ve been working on that.

Last week I mentioned that I have found that evening is a good time to do yoga.

And that practice has become a key part of helping me wind down for the evening.

However, I’m now ready to add something else to my routine, but I haven’t quite figured out what that is yet.

I thought about adding journaling, but it’s all too easy for me to either slip into writing a lot or avoiding writing because I don’t want to write a lot.

I don’t want to add more exercise because that will wake me up again.

I already read once I get in bed so that wouldn’t be extending anything.

The obvious thing to add is meditation, but I’m finding myself resisting that for some reason.

And the only other thing I can think of is to do some sort of drawing before I go to sleep.

But if I decide to do that, going to have to figure out something specific or related to draw each evening, so I don’t get caught up in a decision loop.

Quick question: Does this type of thinking happened to everyone or is this an ADHD thing?

Obviously, the next step in this process is to start experimenting and I had planned to start that experiment this evening.

But now that it is 10:55PM, I think the experiment will have to wait till tomorrow night.

I’m just going to do a short yoga practice, get my pyjamas on, and tuck myself into bed with my book.

A photo of a light haired dog on a bed
Khalee thinks I am foolish for staying up just to do yoga. I tried to argue that she was doing downward dog just a second ago but she’s having none of it. Image description: a photo of my dog in profile as she sits on my bed. The photo really only shows her from the collar up and shows one of her paws. Khalee is light haired and medium sized and is lying on a blue blanket with some pillow in the background. Her head is raised slightly off the blanket so she’s not in full rest mode.

A small drawing of the number 24 Making Space 2025: Day 24
fitness · holiday fitness · mindfulness · rest · self care

Making Space 2025: Day 24

Christine Hennebury

For some of us, this is Christmas Eve.

For some of us this is just Wednesday.

For many of us, it’s something in between.

For all of us, it’s near the end of a busy month.

At this point, it’s really hard to know what kind of space we might need to make for ourselves.

Maybe we need some focus.

We may need something restful to do.

We might need to make space for movement.

We may need a mindful activity (and, remember, almost any activity can be done mindfully!)

And all of those needs are important and they all matter – because YOU matter and the things YOU need are just as important as all of the other needs you support on a day-to-day basis.

So today I’m inviting us all to find ways, even small ways, to give ourselves what we need right now.

Maybe you don’t have time for the hour long nap that you need, but perhaps you have time for a short break that will be helpful even if it doesn’t fully meet your needs.

Maybe you need a half an hour of high intensity exercise to sort your cluttered thoughts. But if you don’t have half an hour right now, maybe you can do a shorter workout and do some sort of list that gets all of those things out of your brain so you can see them clearly.

Maybe you need a long, slow meditation to soothe your nervous system and help you feel more like your favorite self. But if you are feeling hurried and frustrated, that might feel impossible right now. Perhaps you can try for a shorter version of your usual practice or you can ask yourself what ELSE helps you to feel like your favourite self and give that a try.

(When I take my list out of my head onto paper onto a screen, it becomes easier for me to see which ones actually need to be done. Which ones I can delegate and which ones can actually wait quite a while before they need to get done but inside my brain, they feel equally important.)

I guess the key thing here is to recognize that it is OK for you to need something and it’s OK for you to try to meet that need, even if you have to do a smaller version for now.

I know you probably have a lot of competing priorities and a lot of things to get done for others but please try not to put your needs at the very bottom of your list.

And no matter what you need right now, what you want right now, or what you have to deal with at the moment, positive or negative, I wish you ease with it.

As much as possible, may you have peace in your heart and in your mind.

Here are two movement practice suggestions for today:

The still image of this Yoga for Brain Power video from Yoga with Adriene shows Adriene with her hair pinned up and wearing black leggings and a gray sleeveless shirt. She is standing on a yoga mat that is divided horizontally into two different colours of grey. She is doing tree pose with her left foot resting on her right inner thigh while she’s standing up and she has her arms raised above her head. She is smiling and looks happy. Her dog Benji is asleep behind her next to some large plants in pots, there are windows behind her and there’s also a table with plants and some decorations on it nearby.

In the still image for this jumpstart cardio workout from Fitness Blender the instructor sitting on a blue yoga mat with their legs crossed and their hands in their lap. There is a large light haired dog sleeping next to them sort of curled around the right knee. The instructor is wearing two layers of tank tops one peach and one blue and they have on black exercise pants. Their long hair is parted on one side and is hanging down past their shoulders. They’re smiling and they look happy.

And here are two mindfulness practices for you to try.

In this 5 Minute Mindfulness Art Meditation Practice from Nicole Schyns, the still image is divided in two parts on the left-hand side. The instructor is shown with their eyes closed, sitting in their living room in front of a low table. They have a pencil in one hand and they’re holding an object in the other. They are wearing a long sleeved light brown turtleneck, and their long brown hair is pinned up on top and hanging over their shoulders on both sides. On the right side is a close-up of a couple of their drawings so they have but looks like two rocks the actual items there and below them are their drawings of those items. One of the rocks looks like it’s made up of a bunch of different small pieces or maybe covered in barnacles and the other one is a gray rock that is almost semi-circular.

And a steel image for this 10 minute Guided Meditation for Inner Peace from Declutter Your Mind you can see a wooden dock that extends through what looks like a merch with plants growing up on either side to a a lake with trees on the other side of the lake that are reflected in the water.
Small drawing of the number 17. Making Space 2025: Day 17
ADHD · fitness · habits · holiday fitness · mindfulness · rest · self care

Making Space 2025: Day 17

Christine Hennebury

Hey everyone,

I don’t know about you but the time has come for me to rewrite my list!

Earlier in the month me didn’t know what I know about how the month has unfolded so far and I need to make some adjustments to her plans.

Past me was much better at making lists than she once was.

Before medication and practice and developing more reasonable expectations, she would have planned to show up in superhero mode every day in December and by now she would have been exhausted.

This year’s planning was pretty reasonable but it obviously couldn’t fully account for bad weather, a few off days, and a little extra work that came my way so I had to adjust things on the fly.

Now, at a little over halfway through the month, I want to take a few minutes to adapt my list to my current reality so I can match my time, my priorities, and my expectations.

And I would like to invite you to do the same.

The key element here is to avoid judging ourselves for a) the size of our initial lists b) not getting everything done c) changing our plans.

Making a new list is not a sign of failure, it is a recalibration based on new information.

And while you are recalibration, please remember to include fun and rest on your to do list.

You don’t have to fill every waking moment with tasks – even if they are things you want to do.

And if anyone argues with you on that, send them to me – I’ll deal with ’em.

Anyway, Team, I am wishing you ease as you make space for yourselves today.

Go Team Us!

Here is our movement practice suggestion for today:

The still image for this ’10 Minute Chair Cardio Workout’ from Caroline Jordan there are two people exercising on chairs in the foreground, the title of the video is above, and, in the somewhat blurred background, you can see a couple of end tables with plants on them, some free weights, a exercise roller, and two exercise balls. Both people are smiling while doing a side extension with their left arms extended over their heads and to the right and their left legs extended outward to the left. The person in front has long blond hair (in a high ponytail), light skin, and she is wearing a black tanktop and blue leggings. The person slightly behind has long black hair, light skin, and is wearing a white tanktop and blue leggings.

And here’s our mindfulness practice suggestion for today:

The still image from this 10 Minute Guided Meditation – Just As You Are video from Great Meditation shows a drawing of a person sitting in a cross-legged meditation position with their hands on their knees, palms upwards, with their thumb and index fingers forming a circle on each hand. The person has brown skin and dark brown curly hair, their eyes are closed and they look peaceful and contemplative.
A card with the number 13 on it Making Space 2025: Day 13
ADHD · advice · fitness · habits · holiday fitness · holidays · mindfulness · rest · self care

Making Space 2025: Day 13

Christine Hennebury

Hey everyone,

Sometimes, especially when I am busy, I forget to simplify.

I’ll end up following an old plan, doing something in a complicated way, or making a task much bigger than it needs to be, just because it doesn’t feel like I have time to think it through and/or make new decisions about it.

This can result in me doing a lot of unnecessary work or being needlessly stressed and it definitely reduces the possibilities for enjoying the process.

So, for a while now, when things feel complicated, I have been going back to one quick reminder:

Do the easy thing!

And, sure, that could be interpreted in multiple ways but in this case it means to find the easiest way to accomplish what I am setting out to do and only add extra things if I know I will have time and energy.

So, for example, if I was hosting a dinner for a group of people, I might initially have the idea that I was going to cook a bunch of stuff.

But if that starts to feel too stressful, I would look for the easiest way to accomplish my task (which, in this case is finding a way to enjoy hanging out and feeding with those people – it’s not usually about the specific food.)

That might mean ordering a meal, or buying some precooked items at the grocery store, or making pancakes, or switching to a dessert party, or any other solution that reduces stress and scales the task to a manageable level.

And if I decide that I am making pancakes and then have the time/energy/inclination to make side dishes or dessert, it’s a bonus, not a commitment or an obligation.

So, Team, today I’m inviting you to consider what ‘Do the easy thing!’ might look like for you.

Is there something coming up – a task, a commitment, and event- that you could pare down to a simpler version?

Are you putting pressure on yourself to do something perfectly that you could challenge yourself to make as easy as possible instead?

And, yes, I know that you may get pushback from people who are counting on you to overexert yourself so they can enjoy something stress-free but they can just shut-up. Decide on a response in advance (“This is what I can do this year.” “I know you prefer it the other way but this is how I have to proceed this year.” “If you would like something different, feel free to take this on yourself.”) and stick with it. Try not to make excuses or waffle about it, that gives people the idea that you will give in if they push – just state it as plainly as possible and forge ahead.

You deserve to enjoy your December and to minimize your stress.

You deserve to have more space in your own life.

You deserve kindness, care, and consideration, just the same as everyone else.

And I wish you ease in the process of finding it.

In the spirit of doing the easy thing, here are our practices for today:

My favourite warm-up routine! It’s not fancy but it is pretty easy and I feel great when I’m done.

A five minute warm-up video from Fitness Blender. The still image shows a person with long light brown hair in exercise clothes standing in a white room. They are in the middle of one of the warmup exercises so they are standing on their right foot with the lower part of their left leg lifted up behind them.

And here’s an easy, short, visual mindfulness practice from SunFlow. It’s a YouTube Short so it can’t be embedded but it’s worth following the link and watching on repeat.

The image shows a pink ball moving back and forth through an open-ended spiral against a green background while directions to breathe in or out appear near the spiral. If you are just listening, there is a breath sound to follow – they begin by breathing out.

https://youtube.com/shorts/bIu5yiAgTHk?si=aDq-rCgTQZh69q8r