HEALTH: Recharge, reset and reap the rewards

IN a world where everything goes a million miles an hour, there is a lot to be said for a period of pause. Some sort of a reset if you will.
Giving our bodies and minds a chance to calm is often what is most helpful in propelling us forward once again, and greatly needed in this fast paced world. It’s not sustainable to just go go go every day of the year and avoid running out of steam. Well that is in my experience anyway. If you have achieved this, you are doing something that very few people can do!
If you’re good at paying attention to your behaviour, feelings and thoughts, you may notice some signs that you need a recharge. The funny thing is that sometimes we can be quite poor at picking up on certain cues, and this is even more true if you are glued to the hamster wheel.

Be realistic
IF you get a chance to step away from the wheel, try not to compare other people’s downtime strategies to what you need. Your recharge period will likely look different in comparison to others. It should be tailor made for you. It could be setting an out-of-office email and spending days doing little in your home, it could be a catch up with some of the important people in your world or, if resources allow, it could be a bit of sunshine away from the not quite stretched evenings here at home.
Having realistic expectations is so important when trying to introduce new changes too. Don’t expect that one night of decent sleep is going to override all of the other recent (or lifetime) late or sleepless nights.
If you’re anything like me, you may have taken action a little too late in previous situations. This is when you wait until you are rundown and feeling the effects of the hamster wheel before trying to bulk your system up with vitamins, sleep and the likes. But really, you are unfortunately already a couple of steps behind. In an ideal world, you would be taking care of your mind and fuel your body on a regular basis, so that you don’t struggle when these busy or challenging times come along.

Tool kit
AS a recommendation, I would suggest starting to think about building your own unique tool kit that you can turn to.
Think of some items or practices that help you stay on top form day to day and try to maintain some routine with them.
Alongside this, think about what you need or what helps you if you do get run down. Because even with all of the good intentions, planning and prepping in the world, something unexpected can throw a spanner in the works. If it does, having some tried and tested strategies that get you out of a low point will be useful to have at your disposal. Plants are regularly watered so that they grow and flourish, so why not do the same for yourself?
As the expression goes, if you don’t willingly make time for your health and wellbeing, you may be forced to take some time out. So keep watering those flowers and don’t neglect yourself.

Sadhbh Dunne is a qualified life coach based in Westport. She is the founder of Ember Coaching (embercoaching.ie) and can be reached at sadhbh@embercoaching.ie.