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This week's pillar: Mental
You are not bad at resting. Your nervous system just forgot it was allowed to stop.
Hey, Glow Getter,
Have you ever been so tired that you could not sleep? Or cleared your entire afternoon just to rest, only to spend it staring at the ceiling, scrolling your phone, or mentally running through everything you should be doing instead?
If that sounds familiar, I want you to hear this clearly: that is not a character flaw. It is not laziness in disguise. It is not proof that you are broken, lack motivation, or that rest just is not for you.
It is what happens when a woman has been running on empty for so long that her body and mind no longer recognize stillness as safe.
Think about it this way. When you spend months or years in constant output mode, always producing, always managing, or always being needed, your nervous system adapts. It recalibrates around that pace. It learns that busy is the baseline and that slowing down is a signal that something must be wrong. So when you finally create space to rest, your mind floods it with noise. Not because you are doing rest incorrectly. Because your nervous system is doing exactly what it was trained to do.
This is not a motivation problem. It is not solved by a better planner or a stricter bedtime. It is a nervous system that needs to be gently and patiently taught that stopping is not dangerous.
And that teaching takes time and repetition. It also takes small moments of intentional stillness that gradually convince your body it is safe to come down from the alert level. Remember this…
Rest is not a reward for finishing everything. It is the condition your body needs to keep going.
The shift I want you to make this week is not about doing more resting. It is about releasing the story that you are bad at it. You are not bad at resting. You are someone whose nervous system has been working overtime, and it simply needs a little grace and a little practice to remember what safe feels like.
The next time you sit down to rest and your mind immediately starts churning, do not fight it. Do not tell yourself to stop thinking. Just notice it and say, quietly or out loud:
"My mind is working hard to keep me safe. I am safe right now. I can slow down."
That is not affirmation fluff. It is a direct message to your nervous system in the language it understands. Over time, that message starts to land.
This week's self-care ritual
The Five Minute Wind-Down
Once this week, before bed or before a rest period, give yourself five intentional minutes to signal to your body that it is time to downshift. You do not need candles or a special setup. Just a quiet spot and a willingness to try.
Sit or lie down comfortably. Close your eyes. Breathe in slowly for four counts, hold for four, and breathe out for six. Repeat that four times.
Then, starting from the top of your head, slowly scan downward through your body. Not to fix anything nor analyze anything. Just to notice what is there. Quietly and gently ask yourself:
Where am I holding tension right now? Can I soften there, even just a little?
Five minutes. Four breaths. One scan. That is all. You are not trying to fall asleep or clear your mind completely. You are just practicing the signal. And every time you practice it, your nervous system gets a little more familiar with what coming down feels like.
I will be back in your inbox next Tuesday. Until then, be patient with your body. It has been working hard for you. It just needs to know the work can pause.
With warmth,
Dee D
Glow & Flow Holistics
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