In the northern hemisphere where winter is in full effect, the month of January is a powerful time for catching up on rest – sleep, naps, moving slowly and more rest! Logically, it makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? The days are short, the nights are long, it’s cold outside, and the idea of cozying up with a cup of something warm while reading a book and taking a little afternoon siesta sounds simply divine!

However, our culture is so focused on moving quickly, being productive and achieving, that it might feel really awkward, or even taboo to you to consider giving yourself permission to rejuvenate yourself in this way. But here’s the easy thing to overlook: when you’re at rest, your body is busy doing some very serious biological restoration and physiological repair. So in this way, rest is actually very productive! It’s also a powerful way to maintain your internal balance amidst all of the go-go-go that is the norm.

I’ve been feeling that familiar tug that’s always present at the start of a New Year – that tug to get busy, go fast, be productive, have it all figured out, and be light years ahead of where I was last year at this time. It’s so easy to slip into this conundrum of wanting and needing to rest more, but also feeling like you should be doing more than you are.

The feeling of always doing, achieving and needing to be productive can actually become quite addictive because you start riding on adrenaline – that rush and high that you feel when you’re getting stuff done. I really enjoy that feeling at the end of the day, when I’ve accomplished so much and I feel like I’m in the flow and everything is on point.

But I’ve realized productivity and achievement aren’t my ultimate goals. Feeling good is! So if I’m burning the candle at both ends, always striving to be super productive and check, check, check things off of my list, but I’m exhausting myself in the process, the truth is that I’m really not feeling good. It’s just not a sustainable way of operating in the world.

I’m committed to revolutionizing my approach to work, goal achievement, and productivity this year. As I deepen my relationship with rest and slowing down, and as I discover more about the ways I require to listen to and honor my body’s wisdom, and to trust that all will be well when I do, I will share what I discover with you.

I feel it’s time for every woman to be able to trust herself and her needs, wants, desires and requirements more than ever before. It’s from this place of trust that we are able to completely rest, surrender even, and be filled with the possibility of who we may become, and all that we may do.