June Is Where The Movement Comes In
I woke up the other day feeling paralyzed with everything on my to-do list.
There were a few tasks on my personal finances front, a full 6 years of data to integrate for the indigenous-led non-profit I work for, and a bunch of loose ends to tie up for my final contacts of the winter through The Art of Rest.
On top of that, I had at least 7 friends I had not yet responded to via text, 3 I needed to actually call back, and the weather was begging me to go kayaking again. My pile of laundry was staring at me from across the room, and I couldn’t remember if I had grocery shopped since getting back from my work trip in North Carolina.
None of these things was individually insurmountable, and thankfully, I was so grateful that each one of these items had a deep sense of purpose attached to them, but I also woke up feeling like I was tangled in a ball of yarn and didn’t know where to start.
If I moved too fast, the tangle turned into knots.
I challenged myself to stick with May’s theme of pausing for just half a second longer before moving forward. I knew I needed to continue moving forward bit-by-bit, but began to wonder if the quality of that movement mattered more.
Thinking back to every wilderness medicine training I’ve ever done, I heard a familiar phrase roll through. “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
Yes, yes. Smooth. Slow.
….Fluid.
I took three deep breaths. I noticed the panic, the grief, the excitement, the tiredness, the overwhelm—all wrapped up in my human body. Each breath stirred it around and sent it into separate currents in my limbs and torso.
Some of it splashed up against my ribcage.
Some of it caught me right in the eye.
I took a couple more breaths.
Be fluid. Be flexible. Trickled in.
“Ah yes, that’s right. I just taught about this the other day,” I remembered.
”What was it that I said again? That a sign of a healthy nervous system is that we can move in and out of stress and rest fluidly?”
Even as someone who psychoeducates about these things regularly, I am just as human. I still need the reminders, too.
As a compromise that morning, I gave myself 30 minutes to move as slowly and lovingly as I possibly could. Challenging my own internal ideas that jumping out of bed and getting “straight to work” is always the right way to be.
I danced in and out of the light puddles on the floor.
I swirled around my housemates in our small kitchen as we each moved through our morning routines.
I still pulled out my computer, my coffee, my triage list—but it was done with curiosity and care, rather than a militant insistence on productivity.
By 10 AM, I was sitting at my computer organizing my to-do list for the day, not feeling perfect, but like I could tackle whatever rapids were on their way.
This Time Of Year, Many of Us Are Thick In Transition
Summer sneaks up on us fast.
The transition in the fall is one we’re all often anticipating because we’re ready for it, and the weather often shifts more gradually. We get to dip a toe in and acclimate to the darker months.
However, the spring and summer transition often feels more like a sneak attack—it starts like a tickle of the nose and then all of a sudden we’re wildly sprinting across the horizon in our biggest strides.
It’s wild. Fun. Energizing. Bright. We’re laughing our heads off, losing track of time as the light often lingers around until well past 9 PM. 10 PM sometimes for those of us further North.
And even in all its unfettered joy— summer can often leave us in intermittent moments of waking up to ourselves and reflecting, “holy cow, when did I start moving so fast?!”
I think many of us dream of more space and slowness in the summer, only to realize we’re somehow actually moving a lot faster, but that our capacity magically expands to meet it. While, this isn’t a bad thing, it’s not always actually resting.
The challenge in the summer is often slowing down on purpose, or at least, allowing ourselves to move more slowly when the opportunities to do less present themselves.
What does it mean to travel at the speed of the water we’re floating in rather than paddling forward to get to the next rapid?
How can we hang out in the calmer currents when we have extra space, knowing that time in the summer is always gently nudging us along at a much different pace than winter months do?
When the movement comes in, how can we play with the quality of that movement as a means of finding rest? What does it mean to be fluid in our choosing our momentum?
I, personally, don’t have these answers. The questions continue to feel more compelling to me than anything else. I’m on the precipice of some exciting announcements soon, but I’m letting the current catch me and pull me downstream.
We’ll all know when it’s time to paddle together.
In the meantime,
With deliberate restraint in speed and a few intentional big breaths,
Dagny Rose
Sleep Fluidity—3 Basic Tenets of Healthy Sleep
Each month we focus on one specific element of sleep health. This June, we’re asking what makes sleep fluid.
Healthy sleep has many components. Too many to count, really. However, when I’m educating folks the big-picture elements of sleep what healthy sleep is, three elements rise to the top. When we think about sleep as a whole, sleep and wakefulness should feel somewhat fluid. Not like hitting a brick wall on either end of the night.
I try to remind folks that overall, healthy sleep is three major things to achieve this fluidity. Sleep should be: consistent, reliable, and flexible.
I could write an article about each one of these elements individually; however, if you’re interested in healthy, fluid sleep you can check in with each of these three elements and see if you have any areas that need a tune-up:
Is my sleep consistent?
Do I typically go to bed and wake up at the same time every day? Even on non-work days? Why or why not?
Do I try to play ‘catch up’ with my sleep on my days off? What does this say about how much sleep I’m getting during my work week?
If I were to shift something in my life to get slightly more consistent sleep, what would that be?
Is my sleep reliable?
When I lie down at night, can I reliably fall asleep when I am supposed to?
If I need to take an occasional or scheduled nap, can I trust that I fall asleep quickly and easily?
If I cannot count on falling asleep easily when given the opportunity, what feelings, emotions, and thoughts are often present?
Is my sleep flexible?
If I deviate from my preferred bedtime routine, how many days in a row does it take me to get back on track?
Does my bedtime routine feel urgent and rigid? Does my bedtime routine feel soft and easeful? Is it somewhere in between?
If my bedtime routine is easily disturbed, or I miss one good night of sleep, what does this tell me about my relationship to sleep?
Most of us have at least one of these categories that could use a little TLC. There’s no shame in this—just a place for a bit more tenderness and attention. If you’re struggling to get things back on track, my books for the summer are currently closed but will open back up again August 1.
If you know you’d like to work together when my books open back up, feel free to shoot me an email at dagnyrose@theartofrest.me to set something up.
I have closed my 1:1 bookings for the summer! If you’re interested in getting on my waitlist for the fall, my 1:1 books will open again on August 1.
Last Month’s Articles & The Art of Rest Updates
Pause Into The Sweet Darkness— Our monthly bonus material for paid subscribers only! A guided meditation around pausing to notice our moment-to-moment sensations.
May’s Monthly Update— Our Monthly Newsletter update for May. Pausing to explore our word of the month, and some updates and reflections as we shift into the light season.
Pause & Pivot— Our monthly mindful art exercise where we explore the possibilities of pausing and continuing, or pausing and pivoting all together.
More Spring Cleaning— How Dreams Do The Dirty Work While We Sleep— Instead of our regular long-form science communication piece in written form, we share Part 2 of our podcast series with All Things Vagus and explore what happens in the landscape of our bodies and minds while we sleep.
May’s Vessel — A Place To Play— Exploring our May “Vessel of the Month” as a place to play
Our Community Announcements:
Freeflow River Camp — August 22 - August 25 — Freeflow Institute — An adventure for women of all backgrounds, focused on cultivating river skills, resilience, and tools for creative expression in a supportive, connective environment | Women Specific |
This sub-section of The Art of Rest, keeps our most vital attention…well…ours. Welcome to our Monthly Newsletter.
Here the Art of Rest we believe there is nothing more precious than the agency to choose where our loving-attention goes. We want to celebrate folks who are trying to keep their inboxes clean, their minds clear, and the energy of their lives headings towards the things they care about the most.
This Monthly Newsletter section is only the high-level updates of what’s going on here at The Art of Rest. It recaps all of our important stuff so you don’t miss a thing, but also so you can keep your own life in attuned to what you really want to do. Less virtual clutter, more time for creative rest. If you want to shift your subscription preferences, a step-by-step guide can be found here