The “wellness” space might feel a little noisy right now, as we head into “cold and flu season.” We’re nudged on all sides with reminders and practices to boost our immune system, stave off infection, and stay well.
Cook warming soups, they remind us. Stock up on your plant allies. Cut back on sugar and stay toasty and dry.
Of course these are all valid and wonderful. I love learning about these tips and implementing them whenever I can. We need reminders of traditional health practices and grandmotherly advice.
But amidst all of this, I can’t help but feel we’re overlooking the biggest, most important self-care practice of all. The grandmother of all self-care practices. The highest-leverage, most radical and revolutionary.
Sleep, dear Sister. Sleep.
Getting good, nourishing sleep is the first line of defense against illness. Sleep is when all of our rest and recovery, rebuilding and replenishing happen. And it is the foundational practice which makes all of those other self-care practices (nutrition, herbal allies, etc.) more effective.
As we head into cold and flu season and you consider how to take care of yourself, I invite you to really consider rest as a foundation for your wellness – and for other self-care practices you may be implementing.
How rest supercharges the rest of your self-care …
~ Good nutrition supports the immune system … and good sleep promotes healthy digestion and gut bacteria, so you can better absorb and make use of the nutrients from that healthy food you worked so hard to prepare.
~ Reducing sugar and processed food can lower inflammation … and good sleep increases your willpower reserves, so you can more easily say no to foods that don’t make you feel your best.
~ Emotional stress and worry can be corrosive to your nervous system and immune response … and good sleep can center your emotions, increasing your patience and resilience, and even help you have the challenging conversations you need to have, to resolve conflict.
While you juggle all the other tasks and self-care practices in your life this season, don’t neglect the foundation: rest.
Sleep is extremely yin.
In Classical Chinese medical thought, yin is associated with inwardness, stillness, darkness, nourishment, and receptivity. Sleep, then, is almost the prototypical yin activity: we get still and silent, turn within, rest, and restore.
Sleep is not a temporary interruption from wakefulness – it is an important, valuable part of life, itself. We inhale, we exhale. Activity, rest. Yang, yin.
This cycle is reflected in the seasons, too: summer is the height of yang, with its warmth and expansion and call to activity. Winter is the depth of yin, with the cold, stillness, quiet, and inward motion. As we head into Autumn and Winter, then, it’s natural for our bodies to feel the urge to rest more and embrace a more yin rhythm.
The natural world does everything it can to encourage us to sleep more during this time, too – longer nights, shorter days, chilly temperatures that make a cozy afternoon nap sound divine.
Nourish yourself with more rest, darkness, and yin this season.
While our modern world expects the same amount of work hours and activity from us in every season, the natural world moves through different seasons and cycles … and our bodies don’t just feel that, they’re a part of that.
When we resist that cycle, our bodies suffer for it. Want a surefire way to make yourself susceptible to illness? Skip sleep. Want to nourish your body and spirit with the single most powerful thing to keep you resourced and healthy? Get good sleep – and plenty of it.
Chances are, you already know this, though. It’s far too easy to neglect rest, especially as women. We’re taking care of our families and communities. We’re pushing and working and volunteering and self-sacrificing. But on average, women need more sleep than men. So we’re even more depleted.
Maybe you don’t feel like you’re allowed to take time to rest. Perhaps you’re waiting for permission – almost a prescription – from some authority to take the time you need to sleep.
Well, I’m not in the business of doling out permission slips. But consider this your enthusiastic encouragement to honor your own wisdom around rest – and an invitation:
Join me in the season’s most radical act of self-care: REST.
Turn within. Let’s get creative. Consider …
- What would it be like if you allowed yourself to get the sleep you need … for one week?
- Could you arrange your work and life schedule to make this happen? To not need an alarm for a whole week?
- What even IS your natural sleep and rest rhythm? Have you ever discovered it? (You owe it to yourself to do this.)
- Can you find creative strategies to take naps? For example, can you grab a nap in your car on a work break?
- Can you knock a few things off of your To Do list to allow yourself more time to rest?
- Can you make rest a priority – within your heart first, and then within your daily life?
- What can you say no to, to make rest a priority … and what can you tenderly say yes to, to make your sleep better?
- How can you make your evening routine more supportive of quality sleep? My personal routine includes ending screen time (and blue light) early, doing some light stretching, sipping a cup of herbal tea (I love mugwort with a little blue lotus leaf for good dreams).
- How conducive is your bedroom to quality sleep? Are your pillows soft and supportive? What are you wearing to bed? Do your curtains block enough light? Can you experiment with turning off your phone and internet? What about a hot water bottle next to your feet? (I can’t sleep if my feet are cold!)
- Worry and anxiety can delay sleep for many people. What would feel good to you to decrease this – some journaling, meditation, or prayer before bed?
- How can you listen more to the natural world and its invitations to prioritize sleep in this season?
Frankly? Prioritizing rest is a pretty punk rock, revolutionary act. Women especially are socialized to be continuously available—emotionally, relationally, domestically, professionally. But yin – turning within, resourcing, gathering, resting – is strong, too. Just in a different way.
Receptivity isn’t weakness. Stillness is also strength. Rest isn’t failure to produce – it is part of the essential rhythm of life.
I fully support your rest, Sister, especially during this season.
This fall, remember: you don’t have to squeeze every last drop of productivity out of yourself. Even – or especially – when it comes to self-care. The season is teaching us something different: to slow down, turn inward, nourish, and rest. And that’s tremendously beautiful.
Make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter so you don’t miss our next blog post. >>SUBSCRIBE<<
