“Treating each other and ourselves with care isn’t a luxury, but an absolute necessity if we’re going to thrive. Resting isn’t an afterthought, but a basic part of being human.”
― Tricia Hersey, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto

What does restful rest feel like for you?

Winter can be a season that invites us to slow down, turn inward, and perhaps even make space to listen to what our bodies are most needing. This can feel conflicting with the “New Year New You!” messaging that we’re usually bombarded with in January. In the Northern Hemisphere, we’re still in Winter, yet marketing ads shout at us to start the year strong and do all the things. 

Here at Holistic Aquila, we’re all about integrating rest into the schedule all year round, and especially in January, February before we start stirring awake into Spring.

Rest is important for everyone, and perhaps even more so for those of us living with chronic illness, disability, or neurodivergence. This darker phase of the year can be an extra call to rest, an invitation to pause before our bodies force us to. What does it look like to rest pre-emptively, to declare “rest is important” before rest is all you can do? 

At the start of November last year, during our LGBTQ+ Full Moon Circle online, the Taurus Supermoon brought themes of slowing down, finding stability, and connecting to what keeps us grounded and supported. It was so special to gather in community and share gentle rest practices together; simple ways of remembering that we are allowed to soften, release, and truly rest. Although it was a few months ago now, these themes have stuck with me in my own practice over the Winter months.

Wherever you’re reading this from, I’m wishing you a gentle, grounded start to the New year. Read on for more on these themes of rest.

 

 

Rest as an Essential Part of Holistic Healing

For many of us, especially those navigating the world with bodies or minds that don’t fit the neurotypical pace of productivity, rest isn’t optional. It’s a vital part of our healing toolkit. More than that, it’s a part of our survival. 

As a neurodivergent and chronically ill somatic therapist, I’ve learned that rest isn’t earned. It’s not a secondary reward after working ourselves into the ground. It’s an innate part of being human, as Tricia Hersey talks about at length in her incredible book Rest is Resistance.

I need to rest. My work in somatic therapy online, reiki training, and other holistic healing offerings, simply would not be possible without my own rest practice. Of course, it’s an ongoing exploration - I don’t always make enough time to rest, sometimes life happens, medical admin and other responsibilities pile up and the rest I need can get impacted. That’s life.

But the important thing is that rest is on my radar. It’s seen as a matter of priority, a must have not just a “nice-to-have.” And this is a big shift in perspective that I support my clients to make too. It’s a shift that allowed me to take extended time off work over the holiday period to truly deeply rest.

 

Building a Rest Practice in Online Somatic Therapy 

Through somatic therapy online, we create a supported space to slow down, to be with yourself and to explore a felt sense of relaxation in your body. There is no one “look” for rest, it can be experienced in so many different ways. 

In my somatic therapy online sessions, reiki training, and other holistic healing offerings, a common theme that comes up is our cultural relationship to rest and how many of us can feel unsafe slowing down to meet rest.

Having the container and progressive journey of a 6 session block of somatic therapy online gives us the time, space, and presence to find out what rest means to you, and how to feel safer in your own body.

Accessing rest can require some foundational work of establishing a felt sense of safety in the body. Somatic therapy is a very effective practice to do this, and to start befriending the body.

 

Gentle Invitation For Trauma-informed Support

As the Winter envelopes around us for it's final month, may you find small, accessible ways to rest, however that looks for you. Whether that’s an early night with your starlight display, listening to a song that soothes your nervous system, or cosy-ing up on the sofa with your dog in front of your comfort shows, every little moment of rest counts.

If all this talk of rest has got you reflecting on ways to explore this topic more for yourself, I currently have limited openings for 1:1 Somatic Therapy online sessions. 

These sessions are held in packages of six to allow time for gentle integration, pacing, and working our way slowly through the practices. It’s a space where your needs are centered and you’re met exactly where you are with no pressure.

You can book a free call here to have an obligation free chat with me and see if Somatic Therapy online feels like something you’d like to explore.

Whether it’s through Reiki Training, Somatic Therapy online, Moon Circles, or Sound Baths, it’s always an honour to hold space for people to feel seen, heard, and valued.

May this month of February offer you small moments of stillness and hopefully, a budding feeling inside that you truly do deserve to rest. 🌙