Tag: rest

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 HenneburyLeave a comment

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 HenneburyLeave a comment

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.

fitness

Beginning the Year as I Mean to Go On

Diane Harper1 Comment

Lots of people start the new year with some sort of physical activity, signalling their intention to be active. This year, I decided to signal my intention to make time for rest.

I spent two glorious days lounging in bed: napping, cuddling cats, and watching old movies.

Cat tax: this is Milo, my grey and white shorthaired fellow, who flopped into my arms and demanded cuddles on New Year’s Day.

I think it did me some good. I went to swim practice on January 3 and did more distance than usual I even did some full stroke instead of babying my sore ankle by doing arms only with a pull buoy.

Wish me luck remembering to rest for at least some of the next 355 days!

ADHD · fitness · self care

How Much Productivity is Too Much?

Diane Harper1 Comment

I live with nagging anxiety that tells me I should be productive, because I tend to connect my self-worth to my productivity.

This can be great when I’m planning a huge family meal, or volunteering with a local organization. It’s not so great when I’m also trying to cook everything from scratch (at least some of which I grew myself), get in all the exercise I think I need, volunteer with too many organizations, sew and do other crafts, hold a part-time job, manage elder care, and maintain a house to the standards of a 1950s TV mom. Oh, and sleep!

I have always needed to keep busy, so this isn’t a totally new problem. However, it seems to have gotten worse since I retired. Is it because everyone (including me) assumes I have more time to volunteer because I no longer work full time? Is it because I am slowing down and more easily tired? Is it because I’m a bit of an idiot and don’t know enough to say no? I’m betting on the last one, though the first to are contributing factors.

Meme taken from a TikTok video. It appears to be an older woman moving around her living room.

I wonder how much pain contributes to lack of sleep, which means I spend way too much time at night thinking of things I haven’t finished, or adding to the list. Then trying to do those things, so I don’t do the stretching/strength training/sleeping I need to get better.

I also wonder how common this is. My social media is full of women who have been diagnosed with things like ADHD later in life. Or who are overwhelmed with family and other responsibilities.

A quick Google search of “older women responsibilities” turned up some really interesting research on the responsibilities part. Not so much on the ADHD side. That turns up mostly YouTube videos and sites I wouldn’t trust for solid peer-reviewed evidence.

Another meme, that appears to be from the same TikTok video. It shows a middle-aged woman in a white top and blue and white skirt or shorts in an immaculate living room.

A friend uses the “five things” technique to clean house when she is managing depression or feeling overwhelmed. She cleans or throws out five things, no matter how small. Some days, tossing a pencil stub counts as a thing. Other days deep cleaning an entire room is a thing. When you have done five things, you are under no obligation to do more.

I love this and occasionally use it to motivate myself for cleaning. More often, I use it as a way to limit what I take on for the day. Five things is enough. And I try to remember that if I stop at five things, I am enough.

fitness · planning · play · rest · self care

Self Care September

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

I know, I know.

Thinking about self-care amidst the chaos of these times might feel a little ridiculous, somewhat of a distraction, a bit like you are gazing inward when you need to be looking outward.

And, yes, some people might take it to an extreme, focusing only on their own needs and buying a ton of unnecessary products in the name of self-care.

But most of us aren’t like that.

In fact, many of us could probably use a nudge to remind us to take care of ourselves.

After all, how are we supposed to do the important things we are here to do if we’re worn out, frazzled, and just churning through endless to do lists?

So, please let me remind you that it is ok – in fact, it is necessary!- for you take care of yourself, to be kind to yourself, to meet your needs, to rest, to connect, to get away from the push to be bigger, better, more. *

You can take care of yourself for your own sake – after all, literally no one benefits if you forgo self-care. It’s not as if you sacrificing a brief rest means that someone else automatically gets that time.**

And you can do it for the greater good. It will be hard to be part of the solution if you are too worn out to deal with the challenges we are facing – alone and together.

Yet, even when we KNOW that self-care is a good idea, it’s hard for us to take that time, to make that effort.

Luckily, Action for Happiness has a whole calendar of small steps that can help you take good care of yourself this September.

And hopefully it can help you build even stronger self-care habits from now on.

Here’s the calendar:

a calendar of self-care tips from Action for Happiness
Check out Action for Happiness for more versions of the calendar as well as links to other resources. Image description: a calendar of daily tips for self-care. Each calendar block is either light blue, medium blue, peach, or red and the edge of the calendar is decorated with cartoon drawings of people doing self-care activities like meditaton, exercise, speaking positively to themselves, etc.

And here are three self-care tips from Action for Happiness in a video presented by Vanessa King.

A video from the Action for Happiness YouTube channel. The still image shows Vanessa King, a woman with her dark blonde hair pinned up in the back but with sideswept bangs in front, she is slightly smiling, and is wearing a red and white patterned shirt.

So, whaddaya think? Want to give Self-Care September a whirl?

*Ideally, you would have other people supporting you in this/taking good care of you but this post is about ‘Self-Care September’ not ‘Mutual Support May’ or something. Note: Mutual Support May should totally be a thing.

**Yes, I know there are exceptions to this. For example, if you pull a longer shift caring for your sick baby, your partner can have more time to sleep but that’s a short term benefit. It won’t actually be helpful in the long run if you end up getting sick because you are overtired or if you become so resentful that it creates friction in your relationship. Ultimately it would be better for you and your partner to alternate break times so everyone can take good care of themselves and each other.

rest · Sat with Nat · self care · strength training

Nat ditches the bike in favour of weights, walks & waterfalls

natalieh (she/her)1 Comment

I’m waking up this morning in Gananoque (ga-nan-KNOCK-way) in a four post bed. It’s ostentatious. It’s the exact opposite of every stay Michel and I have ever booked on our way home to New Brunswick.

The 1,000 Islands Bed & Breakfast was a Michel find. He convinced me that on the return trip we always drive through. We can afford the nicer stop on the way down.

A claw foot tub stands under a chandelier. It looks swanky.

Our vacation is one week. We will drive over 3,000 km by September 1. We know it is a lot but flying is expensive and doesn’t get us close to where our families live.

Last week we were gathering gear, cleaning bikes and planning cycling routes. Then Michel looked at me and said “What if we left the bikes behind?”

Huh.

What if we left the bikes behind?

We had both assumed cycling had to be the center of our activities over our vacation.

Huh.

Then we talked through what we enjoyed the most from vacations over the past couple years. Time together. Traveling light. Being spontaneous.

It then became clear, less stuff, less structure, more fucking chill. Like. Way more chill. Still more. Almost chill enough. There it is. Very. Fucking. Chill.

We need sleep and rest and recovery.

So we are tucking some dumbbells in the trunk.

A triangular metal weight rack has 5 pairs of dumbells. The lightest is 3 lbs, the heaviest 20 lbs.

We can keep our Peloton strength training going. It’s an app and I often just work out in my underwear. Super classy! Also very chill.

The rest of the week, when driving, we are looking for waterfalls that are short walks. It served us great in Iceland last year. We’d whisper “foss” (Icelandic for “falls”) and point. It was silly and wonderful. We need more of both.

Michel poses in front of Schribner Brook Falls in 2021. Lucy the dog is having a drink.

Four years ago we made it our mission to hike all the trails near McAdam NB. The shortest one was Schribner Brook Falls. It was a pullover and park with a, maybe five minute walk? It was a magical little stop.

So the cycling stuff is in London and that feels like a good choice this week.

So here is to a week of weights, walks and waterfalls with a giant serving of chill.

Gathering myself in
ADHD · fitness · mindfulness · rest · self care

Gathering myself in

Christine Hennebury

On Monday, I started the second half of my Storytelling tour with my friend Catherine and our first day went really well.

But you know what else?

It was really tiring.

The kids were great and the teacher was great and the school was great, but there was a lot of energy going in all sorts of different directions today – just the nature of a busy school day – and it made it a little bit challenging for my slightly-sleepy ADHD brain to focus on my stories and on the work I was trying to do.

So, I had to use a lot of energy to concentrate and stay on task and, at the end of the day, I felt a bit jangled. Kind of scattered. A little bit at loose ends.

I know from previous experience that when I feel that way, it’s all too easy to lose the rest of the day to kind of aimlessly wandering from task to task in search of ways to settle my brain.

On Monday, though, I refused to lose my evening to that feeling. Instead, I decided to take action to find equilibrium, to gather my energy back to me.

I started with a good chat with Catherine about the interesting parts of the day and the things we especially enjoyed.

Then, while Catherine was out for a walk, I did some journalling and had some tea.

My journal, a pen, and a mug of tea on a table
A photo of my journal, a patterned, pink, soft-covered notebook, with a teal and silver pen on top. Above the notebook is a mug of tea, the mug has a moose and the word Canada on it.

I followed that with meditation and deep breathing before heading out on my own solo walk (around Port Union, NL, in case you’re wondering)

A photo of a river in early spring
Photo of a river with a grassy incline in the foreground, a few large rocks in the water, and a rocky, shrubby incline on the other side.
A photo of the trunks of two birch trees
A photo of two birch trees growing close together, the trees don’t have leaves yet and the trunks have interesting patterns in the bark.
A photo of a small harbour
A photo of a small harbour with scrubby grass in the foreground and rocks outlining the water

And when I got back from my amble, I lay on the floor for a while in a restorative ‘legs up the wall’ yoga pose.

A photo of my legs resting against a pillar
A photo, taken from my perspective as I lie on the floor, of my jean-covered legs resting against a pillar in our rental unit as I do legs up the wall pose.

It all helped and I feel much more at ease.

And, sure, I may have felt better with just one or two of these things but I was enjoying the process so I decided to roll with it.

Do you know that scattered feeling I am referring to?

What process do you use to gather yourself in?

Christine’s April Plans
fitness · habits · health · mindfulness · motivation · self care

Christine’s April Plans

Christine Hennebury

I’m starting April while on a school storytelling tour with my friend Catherine (not blogger Catherine, a whole other marvellous Catherine) so the month is truly off to a good start.

Storytelling is great for my mental health and the fact that I am taking a break from my usual routine AND hanging out with a dear friend compounds the positive effects.

And this tour has been good for my physical health too because Catherine is a big proponent of finding energy by getting outdoors. So there have already been several times when her choice to go for a walk has shifted me into a more active rest mode after a busy day instead of just sitting around.

(To be clear, there are times when sitting around would be the right thing to do but in this case the walk felt waaaaaaaay better.)

Since the month is starting on such a positive note I have decided to add more positive health elements.

1. I found out yesterday that April is Afternoon Tea Month which is definitely a made-up kind of commemoration but as an avid maker-up-of-things, I’m here for it.

I’m going to celebrate by taking an afternoon tea break every day.

I can hear my sisters’ voices as I write that, “Chris, don’t you already drink tea every afternoon?”

And the answer is “Of course I do!”

But my April plan to to focus on the ritual of it, the making of the tea, the clearing of mental space, the sitting down to drink it.

This isn’t going to be a ‘drink tea at my desk while working’ kind of thing, it’s going to be an actual break in my afternoon.

A cup of tea in an octopus mug
One of my favourite cups for tea (a gift from my friend Mary) Image description: a cup of tea sitting on a small mat on my table with my ebook slightly out of focus in the background. My cup has a blue octopus on the side (only part of it is visible) and it has an ice cream cone held in one of its tentacles.

So that’s a small April addition for my mental health, now on to my physical health.

2) I mentioned last week that I am following the Active April calendar so that is staying part of the plan but I am also going to really commit to evening yoga (again!) and I have made a YouTube playlist to choose from each day.

And since I know sometimes get stuck in the decision making process, I am giving myself the default that if I can’t pick one, I have to choose the video immediately after the one from the night before.

I have often done evening yoga before and I throughly enjoy it when I do but I have gotten out of the habit so this is as good a time as any to get started again.

What are *your* plans for April?

health · holiday fitness · meditation · mindfulness · yoga

Making Space 2024: December 1

Christine Hennebury

Hey Team,

It’s December 1st and we’re back with the another edition of Making Space, a series of (mostly) short posts designed to encourage you to make a little space for yourself this month.

No matter what you celebrate (or don’t celebrate!), December is one of those months of ambient stress and busy-ness. There are so many posts and articles full of lists and ideas about how to do more, more, more, and so much discussion of finishing things before the end of the year, or getting ‘the most’ out of the rest of 2024, that it is enough to make your head spin.

Now, I am NOT pretending that you aren’t busy.

And I am not going to be doing any vaguely condescending posts about how if you *just* change your attitude then all the hecticness will just melt away.

Instead, I am going to acknowledge that we all have a lot going on at this point in the year AND I am going to invite you to make a little space for yourself in your days.

Each day, I will post a short exercise/physical activity video and a short meditation/mindfulness video that you can do if you WANT to.

If the videos I post don’t appeal to you, I hope that you will still create some space for yourself and pick something *YOU* like to do.

(Taking a nap, texting a friend, drinking a very slow cup of tea, lying on the floor staring at the ceiling – those all count as making space.)

Giving yourself that space is worthwhile and important, even if you have to ditch something else from your to do list.

So, with all of that said, let’s start on the right foot (ha!) with this short video ‘Foot Stretch for Healthy Feet‘ from Yoga with Bird.

A YouTube video of foot yoga – the still image shows a woman sitting on a yoga mat with her legs crossed and she is massaging her left foot with both hands.

And here’s 1 minute of drawing meditation/mindfulness from Tamara Michael. If you don’t have a pen and paper handy, you could draw with your finger or just breath in and out along with her drawing.

A YouTube video of a drawing meditation that shows a person’s hands drawing lines and dots on a white coil-bound sketchpad. They draw a squiggly line downward for breathing in and a series of dots next to that line for breathing out.

I hope you are able to make the space you need in your day.

Wishing you ease today and always. 💚

A close-up photo of a dog against a white background National ‘Just Because’ Day
celebration · fitness · fun · self care

National ‘Just Because’ Day

Christine Hennebury

Apparently, today is National ‘Just Because’ Day so this is your official permission to do something you’ve been waiting for a good excuse to do.

For example, for my own amusement, I can post this picture of my nephew’s Guinea pig, Powder, in full drama mode.

A black and white Guinea pig looks through the bars of her cage.
Image description: my nephew’s white and black Guinea pig looking through the squares on the side of his cage. Powder has his front paws on a ledge and he is looking slightly to the side. His long hair is flipped back over his head so his large black eyes seem to be emphasized and he looks oddly dramatic and glamorous.

Maybe you can use today as a reason to eat your lunch outside.

Or as a reason to text a friend to join you for a walk/for a new class/for an afternoon on the beach.

Perhaps it’s an excuse for extra rest. (Not that *need* an excuse but it can sure as hell feel that way sometimes.)

Maybe you can spend extra time reading.

Perhaps you can challenge someone to a race or to a dance-off.

Maybe you can try a new-to-you meal or play your favourite music or watch a movie you love.

Or you could spend extra time playing with your dog (technically National Dog Day was yesterday but let’s be realistic here, every day is National Dog Day!)

You could say you’re going to meditate ‘just because.’

You could journal or draw ‘just because.’

Two monster drawings on index cards taped to a red box
On Saturday, my friend Mary and I represented our community arts organization and hosted a table at a local art crawl held by an artist-run gallery. A lot of people took us up on the invitation to try squiggle art…just because! Image description: two monster drawings on index cards taped to the side of a red box that contains markers. The box is sitting on a purple tablecloth in the sun.

Whatever you decide to do on Just Because Day, I hope you have a grand time with it.

Because you deserve some ease and some rest and to have the joy of moving your body and you deserve to enjoy a challenge and you deserve good things.

Why do you deserve those things?

Say it with me…

JUST BECAUSE!

💚💚💚