Spaciousness. Ease. Peace. Rest.
About six months ago, I felt my body start to whisper that things needed to slow down… that I needed to slow down. That whisper turned to a rumble and I knew that I would either need to choose to rest or rest would be forced upon me.
And while I resisted it as long as I could, I finally surrendered to its nudging earlier this year. I decided to close enrollment to my most popular program. I decided to block my calendar to any new projects. I even decided not to fill the void with new offers.
My team and I have turned inward to serving our current clients even more while prioritizing our inner work and growth. We have come back in so we can focus on our mission and vision, and we embodied how we want to show up in the world as powerful, grounded, embodied coaches.
Even though I stepped into this season of rest kicking and screaming, the clarity that I longed for is starting to reveal itself.
I’m writing this today because I have heard from all of my private clients as well as many of our coaches that the desire for spaciousness and rest is strong. However, actually giving yourself spaciousness and rest is a challenge.
Here are five things I’m discovering during my season of rest:
1. Rest is not lazy.
One of the biggest reasons people avoid rest is because this belief that resting means you’re being lazy. That couldn’t be further from the truth. There are times when all of us need to disconnect with some mindless social scrolling and Netflix. But disconnecting as a form of avoiding is a slippery slope.
Rest for me has been a deep process of reconnection to myself.
A client of mine recently defined rest as “asking what my body needs and honoring it.” The more I’ve allowed myself to rest, the more I’ve come back into connection with a deep sense of purpose. I feel a greater force (for me, that is God) at work in my life.
Which brings me to my next point.
2. Clarity comes through action and rest is an action.
I’ve always loved the sentiment ‘clarity comes through action’. I built a world-class, world-wide coach training company taking one step at a time. When we treat rest as ‘lazy’ or ‘inaction’ we miss the gifts that it brings.
I know you are juggling so many things in your life and business. I know you desperately crave clarity on what your best next step is. You want to see the bigger picture and connect back into your alignment.
There are seasons where ‘massive action’ is key. And seasons where ‘rest as an action’ is required. And if you don’t know which season you are in, take a breath and ask your body because it has probably been trying to tell you for a while.
3. Rest is a forcing function.
The past few years have felt like I’m on the surface of choppy waters trying to navigate the ship (my business) in the dark. Surrendering into this season of rest has felt like my awareness has dropped below the chaos of the surface and back to the deep current of purpose that truly guides my life.
Making rest a priority has required me to evaluate all the things I was doing and really truly ask myself what is essential. In turn, I’ve shed layers of beliefs, habits, actions, responsibilities, program deliverables, and just stuff that was making me lose sight of what really mattered.
While my head thought I was turning ‘off’ the valves of cash flow and abundance by surrendering into rest, what I have found is there is so much more abundance and flow in this space. The difference is, I’m not having to force it into being. It comes naturally from a state of flow.
4. If you desire ease in your business, rest has to be a priority now.
The reason why folks get into business and become entrepreneurs is to have a life of freedom… and then work themselves to the bone in hopes that one day they’ll check all the boxes and finally have the ease and freedom they desire. I’ll just rip that bandaid off for you right now:
The only thing on the other side of your to do list is more things to do.
If you crave a business that gives you ease and spaciousness, you have to make rest a priority now. It can not be an afterthought. It will not be the shiny pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. In fact, the path to a business that gives you ease and freedom starts with making rest a priority now.
5. Rest is the ultimate form of receptivity and rebellion
(and that sh*t is scary and vulnerable as f*ck!)
What I have heard from so many of my clients is that the ability to feel safe and supported so that they can rest is really the sticking point. They fear that if they stop doing, the money, the clients, the support will stop with it.
This awareness reveals the toxicity in our culture’s obsession with doing and productivity. As a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual, married woman, even writing about the topic of rest is layered with privilege. I also believe that rest is essential to changing these toxic systems in the first place. (Go follow @thenapministry on instagram for more).
Allowing yourself to rest is about sending a message to the universe that you, as you are, are worthy of receiving. Surrendering into rest is fully receiving all that is in this glorious moment.
I can’t help but wonder about all the patriarchal systems and structures we get to break when we make rest a part of how we operate instead of the reward.
This is just the beginning of my journey in this season of rest and I’m excited to see where it leads and how it leads me to the next chapter of my life and business.
Now I would love to hear from you!
What do you feel is the biggest challenge you are currently facing in your business? Which one of these five insights most resonates with you?
Shoot me a message on instagram and let me know!
Xo,
Laura
p.s. Want to be the first to know when enrollment for The BodyMind Coaching Certification Program opens again? Add your name to the waitlist here.
