REST

Yes that is me, taking  a selfie without being able to see..ha ha.

REST 

It has been on my heart lately. Summer is over and busy season is happening. As moms, we have kiddos back in school, which brings homework, and sport practices. As a professional photographer I am starting my super busy portrait season. 

Do you ever feel like you have to do it all, or your world will come crashing down? Do you find you put yourself last to keep everyone else thriving? I see and talk to so many women who this is their world. Girlfriend me too. My husband works far away and days at a time sometimes. I tell my kids, " I am a one woman show today" . Meaning give me some grace kids, I have to do it all today. 

My hearts passion lately is to figure this out, how can we slow down and still do it all?? This is where I am so grateful for yoga in my life. I am not about to tell you to bust out crows pose right now and you will  have so much peace, ha! Before I jump into that lets take a look at what stress does to your precious health. Too much stress can cause weight gain, hormonal issues, fertility, high blood pressure, not to mention stiff neck and shoulders. When we are stressed running around we are not fully breathing. Yup, we are taking small breaths in and out when we are stressed. Sometimes living in the flight or fight mode. We don't do full deep breaths ( belly  breaths ). We hold onto stale air left in our lungs. Right now as you are reading this, take a full breathe in through your nose and then slowly let out all your breath. This is what Beth Shaw founder of Yoga Fit says about breath: "It's common during everyday life to use only the upper third our lungs.This kind of shallow breathing is generally caused by tension or stress. Because the blood vessels are more plentiful in the lower lobes of the lungs, we need to use our entire lung capacity to get enough oxygen into our bodies, and to release the toxins eliminated as we exhale. The increased oxygen we breathe in gives us more physical energy and improves our concentration and mental clarity, which is one of the first things we lose when we are under stress. Focus on deep naval breathing."

 We hold onto a lot of stuff and not even realize it!! 

Everyone can do this . Do it at a stop light. Stop for 30 seconds while doing dishes and do it. 

Now for rest. I am the girl who does not have a tv show I am watching. I feel out of it at times, like I am a hermit. But here is the deal. When I watch TV at night, I stay up way too late. It takes a while for my brain to "shut down" when I am watching television. I fought it for years.I have a tv in my bedroom. Finally I decided to stop watching it at night. And I even try and go to bed when my kids go to bed on school nights. I get up early, which means I need more sleep. But as a photographer sometimes I have to do work on my computer after hours and then I just give myself some grace. But back to the no tv at night , I am sleeping better which means my afternoon crashes are little to none these days. I no longer need coffee in the afternoon. Hence I go to bed earlier, you get my drift. Look at what you can do to go to bed earlier, I promise you , your body will thank you. And maybe social media surfing before bed too, ugg my brain just won't go to sleep when Im surfing. 

Day time rest. That photo above was about 1:30 in the afternoon. I was dragging. So I put the mask on and set my timer to 30 minutes. Put my phone on airplane mode too. Then I put Stress away oil on and allowed my self to rest. Did I fall asleep, sadly no. BUT I rested. I took a few deep breaths and allowed my eyes to stay shut. And you know what, it helped!! Heres a  great quote from mind, body and green. "When you take the time to sit and rest even for a few minutes a day (this is why meditation is so powerful), you are allowing your body on a cellular level to recharge itself. Having a simple bath or shower with a few diaphragmatic breaths can be enough to just re-infuse your inner light."

May you find rest today. May you invest in you today. You are worth it!!