Last week I took the whole week off.  I mean completely off.  I didn’t check emails, I blocked out the appointment diary as “unavailable”, I let everyone that I could think of know that I would not be at BEST Studio and therefore I was officially off the grid, incognito, gone underground, as such.

The unnecessary effort made prior to my break is incredibly telling. I was officially suffering from guilt-related time out. I felt guilty for taking a few days off?….  Surely not?! Maybe you relate to how this feels… The feeling that if you put down the ball voluntarily the roof is going to cave in and you are woefully neglecting whatever it is you do in your workplace or within your daily life..

This got me thinking about who I was and who I am now.  Mainly about how much my outlook has changed in the last 10 years. 10 year ago Emma would never have had an issue with taking a week off… Well, actually I would have probably been a bit miffed that I didn’t take 14 days…  so what has changed? Me.  That’s who/what.  I love my work, it is my passion and life purpose so going to work each morning really is a pleasure. However, somewhere along the way, I had forgotten a very important lesson, one of our Six Essentials in life…….How I rest.

Quite often when I discuss this particular essential with my clients we talk healthy sleeping habits and routines and about taking time out for ourselves… This is all very good “stuff”. A regular healthy sleeping routine is paramount to health and wellbeing. When our bodies are resting correctly, our parasympathetic nervous system engages and our body begins its “housekeeping”.. Clearing out toxins, restoring and repairing at a cellular level, digesting, the list is endless.  Us humans are very clever at repairing ourselves and us sleeping is a great environment for restoration and mending.  Holidays and time away from our daily routine is a great way to recharge our batteries as we have the opportunity to switch off for a change.

However, when we finally switch off, it could be that we need more rest than we realised.

This was certainly the case for me.  I spent 2 days listening to my body’s request to slow up for a while.  Once my brain had acknowledged that a break was on the cards, my body responded appropriately.  I rested up for a couple of days, spent some time catching up on movies and cuddling the dogs on the sofa.  It was just the ticket… I started feeling better straight afterwards and on day 3 I was out back up and alive, walking in the Queensland sunshine, training at my local dojo, spending quality time with my partner and eating lovely nutritious foods. The guilt evaporated and I embraced my time away from the daily routine with vigour.  Shopping at the local markets, taking pictures of our glorious coastline during our walks, training and catching up with all my karate friends… And drinking a lot of tea and mineral water.

The end result was a transformation.  I felt healthier, rested, energetic and with a renewed sense of purpose.  I look back on my guilt-ridden text messages now and am thankful for the lesson that was shown to me… Take your holidays regularly!

Is change as good as a holiday? I am going to venture yes AND no.. For me, a holiday led to a change.. And this change now leads to more holidays!   I have already booked another “health week off”… In 3 months time… and instead of going back into my guilt pattern I am reframing my approach and looking forward to my next 7 days of resting, restoring and enjoying life to its fullest…Happy days 🙂