I’ve just taken a professional sabbatical – a full 8 weeks away from my desk and from actively growing my business. To be honest, it was scary to do it. It took me 9 days to unwind myself – mentally, emotionally and spiritually – from all of the fears, old belief systems, and stories I was carrying around about what it would mean if I took time off.

In today’s fast-paced, high-intensity life, even the idea of slowing down feels completely foreign to us. Most women learn about being a woman, and how to go about living that way, from their mother. And many of our mothers weren’t good at giving themselves permission to be kind, gentle and generous with themselves. As a result, most modern women aren’t good at this either.

We’re brought up to believe that our lives have value when we take care of others, and put ourselves last. We’re taught that giving is better than receiving. And we learn, at a very tender and early age, that our value and worth lies in our ability to be productive, and the speed at which we produce.

Most women have never taken a sabbatical, much less considered such a luxurious extravagance for themselves. In fact, the only time many women take time off is when they’re physically ill or incapacitated in some way. Many women will even attempt to work through an illness or injury because it makes them feel strong, capable, powerful and important.

All of this adds up to some pretty big cultural conditioning to overcome. It’s no wonder it took me days to trust and feel at peace with my decision to take a break!

So what is a sabbatical, anyway? At it’s core a sabbatical is all about R.E.S.T. – rest from your usual work or routine, rest from the busy-crazy-overwhelm of your life, rest from what you have grown accustomed to doing.

It may feel like your life will fall into itty-bitty pieces if you’re not constantly there keeping every ball in the air and plate spinning. And indeed, some things may need to stop and go on sabbatical with you. But I want to assure you that the earth will not stop spinning, the sun will still rise and set every day, and your life will continue to function if and when you take a rest for yourself.

Why is rest so important? I liken taking a sabbatical to how a high-level athlete trains and practices their craft. For instance, the most important aspect of Michael Phelps’ training regime wasn’t his diet, his swim schedule or how dedicated he was in the gym. THE most important aspect of his training were his rest periods. He took naps like it was his job!

What does Michael Phelps’ training have to do with you and your life? It’s important to remember that life is a marathon. It’s not a sprint (even if it feels like it is!). We’re taught to operate from a place of anxiety and fear – fear that there’s never enough time, that someone will “get there” before we do, and that “coming in last” would be an embarrassment that we want to avoid at all costs, and that we don’t have the support in our lives to be able to really take care of ourselves the way we know we need to.

Taking a sabbatical, at its core, is an opportunity to slow down, feel, appreciate, celebrate, and in some cases, create something new. A sabbatical can provide you with an opportunity to recalibrate yourself, your health, your professional world, your relationships, and even your entire life.

Often, the slowing down, stopping, and resting is the very thing that needs to happen so that you can really reorganize yourself and your life in a way that actually feels good to you, especially if there are things or places in your life that feel painful right now.

It’s powerful, and not the least bit coincidental, that many of my mentors are either planning or taking sabbaticals at this time. I believe there is a deeper recalibration happening inside of our world’s thought leaders and visionaries right now. I also know that every woman is feeling, on some level, an inner call to align her life more deeply with the things that please her and make her come alive with radiance, joy and happiness.

When you’re moving at the speed of light all of the time it’s difficult, if not impossible, to really feel yourself and your life. Slowing down allows you to feel more – the things that feel amazing, and the things that are perhaps more painful than you’d like to admit.

From this feeling place you have the opportunity to decide how you can increase the things that feel amazing to you. You can also choose to change or let go of the things that are painful. Without slowing down and getting honest with yourself, you can’t elevate and transform things into what you’ve always wanted.

All around the world, women are rising up inside of themselves. They’re making decisions to honor themselves more, even when these decisions go against tradition and dominant cultural thought. Taking a sabbatical is a perfect example of this, and one that’s allowing women to create more freedom and joy in their lives.

A sabbatical is a beautiful, balanced way to set yourself free from the things that are no longer working, and to open up to the possibilities and opportunities that can make all of the difference in how you relate to yourself and the world around you.

I’ll be sharing more about a few different ways to think about taking a sabbatical.  You might be surprised to discover that taking a sabbatical is a very real possibility for you, if you know you want to!

What are your thoughts on sabbaticals? Have you ever taken one? Do you want to take one now, or in the near future? What, if anything, is stopping your from taking a sabbatical? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!